Chapter 3: THE ACCOUNT WITH HIS NAME
Lisa sat on the edge of the bed and did not move for sixty seconds.
Then she opened the banking records she had already sent to the investigators and searched for one name.
Daniel Bennett.
Her brother.
Missing eleven months.
And there it was — a joint signatory on a charity sub-account opened on October 14th.
Three weeks after her wedding to Ryan.
Her phone buzzed again.
Dana.
*"Are you okay?
Lisa, answer me."*
She typed back: *"I'm fine.
Don't let anyone into the office.
Lock my server room.
Do it now."*
Three dots appeared.
Then: *"Already done.
But Lisa — there's someone here.
He says he's a military investigator.
He's been waiting for two hours."*
Lisa stood up.
She pulled on her jacket, picked up her laptop bag, and looked at the bedroom door.
Ryan was still downstairs.
She could hear him — low voice, careful words, the particular tone he used when he was managing a situation rather than having a conversation.
She opened the window instead.
The drop to the side garden was eight feet.
She had measured it once, absently, the way you measure things you never expect to need.
She needed it now.
She landed hard, caught herself on one knee, and walked to her car without looking back at the house.
Her phone rang as she pulled out of the driveway.
Unknown number.
She answered.
"Ms.
Bennett." A man's voice.
Measured.
"My name is Agent Carver.
I've been sitting in your office building for two hours because your colleague Dana wouldn't let me leave.
I think that was the right call.
Are you somewhere you can talk?"
"I'm driving," Lisa said.
"Then I'll be brief.
The charity account in your brother's name — we flagged it eight months ago.
We didn't contact you because at that point, we weren't certain whose side you were on."
Lisa's hands tightened on the wheel.
"And now?"
"You sent us six months of records at four in the morning after your mother-in-law assaulted you.
That answered our question." A pause.
"Your brother is alive, Ms.
Bennett.
He has been for the entire eleven months.
But he didn't disappear on his own."
The traffic light ahead turned red.
Lisa stopped.
"Where is he?"
"That's what I need to show you in person.
How far are you from your office?"
"Twelve minutes."
"Drive carefully," Carver said.
"Ryan will notice you're gone within the hour.
When he does, he'll make a call.
We need to be ready before that happens."
Lisa looked in the rearview mirror.
The house was already out of sight.
"I'll be there in ten," she said.
May you like
She ended the call and pressed the accelerator.
Behind her, the bedroom light in the house came on.
