Chapter 9: The Secret Reed Never Told Me

I barely slept that night.

Reed's final words kept repeating in my mind.

Your parents weren't killed because they discovered Pilar and me.

They discovered what we were planning.

By sunrise, I had made my decision.

I was going to find out exactly what my parents had discovered.

Daniel arrived at my hotel carrying a second file.

“We traced the executive who visited the garage.”

I opened the file.

His name was Marcus Hale.

He had been Reed's chief financial officer for nearly a decade.

“Where is he now?” I asked.

Daniel looked at me carefully.

“He resigned six months ago.”

“Why?”

“The official explanation was health problems.”

He slid another document toward me.

“Unofficially, he disappeared after a large transfer from a Ferraro account.”

I studied the transaction.

The payment had been made only three days before my parents died.

“Find him.”

Two hours later, Daniel called.

“I have an address.”

Marcus was living outside Boston under his mother's maiden name.

I drove there that afternoon.

When he opened the door and saw me, the color drained from his face.

“Fernanda.”

I stepped inside without waiting for an invitation.

“You knew my parents.”

Marcus looked away.

“Yes.”

“You knew about the car.”

His silence answered me.

“Did Reed order you to release it?”

Marcus finally sat down.

“Not directly.”

My heart sank.

“Then who?”

He rubbed his hands over his face.

“Pilar.”

I froze.

“Pilar?”

He nodded.

“She called me the day before the accident.”

“She told me your parents were becoming a problem.”

“She said they had evidence against Reed.”

I stared at him.

“What evidence?”

Marcus swallowed.

“Financial records.”

“Your parents had discovered that money was being moved through several companies.”

“Money belonging to Ferraro Holdings.”

I remembered the shell companies from Clara's report.

“Why would Pilar care about financial records?”

Marcus looked directly at me.

“Because she was one of the people receiving the money.”

My stomach turned.

“How much?”

“Millions.”

I closed my eyes.

Pilar had never simply been Reed's mistress.

She had been financially connected to his empire.

“What were they planning?” I asked.

Marcus hesitated.

“Your parents discovered that Reed intended to move a large portion of Ferraro Holdings into offshore accounts.”

“They threatened to expose him.”

“And Pilar?”

“She knew about it.”

I stood slowly.

“Did Reed know my parents were going to confront him?”

Marcus nodded.

“He knew.”

“Did he know the car was unsafe?”

Another pause.

Then Marcus whispered, “Yes.”

The room seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

For years, I had believed Reed was grieving beside me.

He had held me while I cried.

He had told me that my parents' deaths were a terrible accident.

All the while, he had known the car might not be safe.

I looked at Marcus.

“Why didn't you go to the police?”

His eyes filled with regret.

“Because I was afraid.”

“Reed had influence everywhere.”

“And after your parents died, Pilar warned me that if I talked, my family would suffer.”

I slowly clenched my fists.

“She threatened you?”

Marcus nodded.

“She was different back then.”

“Cold. Calculating.”

I thought about the woman who had cried in front of me, begging for forgiveness.

The woman who had called herself my sister.

The woman who had told me my parents' ashes were flour.

I finally understood.

Pilar had been lying to me for years.

But there was still one question.

“What did my parents have that could destroy Reed?”

Marcus looked toward a locked cabinet in the corner of the room.

“Your father gave me a copy of the records.”

My heart stopped.

“You still have them?”

He nodded.

“I never destroyed them.”

He unlocked the cabinet and pulled out a small black box.

Inside was a USB drive and a handwritten letter.

The envelope had my name on it.

Fernanda.

My hands trembled as I opened it.

The first line made my breath catch.

“If you're reading this, your mother and I are no longer here.”

I pressed a hand over my mouth.

My father's final letter had been waiting for me for eight years.

And now, at last, I was ready to learn why they had died.