“Amelia.” Katherine’s voice was tight. “Richard isn’t at the house.”
The warm relief in my chest turned to ice.
“What?”
“The FBI went to your estate at eight o’clock as planned. He’s not there. His car is gone. We’ve checked his credit cards, his phone—nothing. He’s running.”
I sat up too quickly, the ultrasound wand falling away. “How? How does he know?”
“We don’t know. But Amelia—there’s something else.” Katherine’s pause made my stomach drop. “When the FBI searched your house, they found something in Richard’s office. Documents. A lot of them.”
“What kind of documents?”
“Evidence that Richard isn’t just after your money. He’s been systematically moving funds from your company for the last eighteen months. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars, Amelia. He’s been planning this much longer than we thought.”
The room tilted.
“That’s impossible. I would have seen—”
“He had help. Inside help. Someone with access to your financial systems.” Katherine’s voice softened. “Someone you trust.”
My mind raced through the possibilities.
My CFO, James, who’d worked for my father.
My personal assistant, Miranda, who’d been with me for five years.
My head of security before I hired Marcus—
“David,” I whispered.
“Yes.” Katherine’s confirmation was gentle. “David Morrison was on Richard’s payroll. He’s the one who disabled your security systems tonight. He’s also missing.”
David. The man who’d driven me to business meetings. Who’d stood outside my office door. Who’d known my schedule, my routines, my vulnerabilities.
I’d fired him two months ago when I started suspecting Richard.
But I hadn’t suspected him.
“There’s more,” Katherine continued. “Richard took out a life insurance policy on you last year. Fifty million dollars. And he filed paperwork three weeks ago to declare himself the father of record for your baby, giving him legal rights to her inheritance if anything happened to you before she was born.”
The pieces clicked together with nauseating clarity.
Richard hadn’t just wanted me dead.
He’d wanted control of everything.
My company. My fortune. My daughter’s inheritance.
All of it.
“Where is he?” My voice came out flat. Cold.
“We’re looking. But Amelia—” Katherine hesitated. “Richard called someone fifteen minutes after the helicopter landed. We pulled his phone records. The call lasted three minutes.”
“Who did he call?”
“Your mother.”
