Nothing in letter
Aunt Mackie wants to borrow rose dishes
My breath releases in a squeal from my tight chest. I call Alyssa back, but it goes right to voicemail.
May and Mackie. She’s such a bright one. I shake my head as I sit back down. All of this has something to do with Meymack. Of course it does. We got the ETFs on their platform in record time. What about the reference to Florida? Was that just to throw off anyone who was listening? But no. Meymack has a huge operations center in central Florida. If she got ahold of the investment income reports, maybe something about one of them referenced Meymack’s ops center?New return address.Makes sense.
Except it doesn’t.
Securities lending of even the hardest-to-source funds can’t be thatlucrative. Our individual positions are not that huge, and only some of them are valuable. Could it really be worth all this effort? It can’t be about the money. Or it can’t only be about the money.
I try Alyssa back again, and it again goes to voicemail. I send her a text to go home.
Maybe I should just call Phil and admit what I know. If he’s in on this deception, do I even have a chance of getting out unscathed?
I know a lot of facts, but none of them fit. It’s like I have pieces to a few different puzzles and no boxes to show me the pictures I’m creating.
45
A CALL FROM OFFICER KOMOROSKIlights up my screen. Perfect. He’s the one I need to talk to. I quickly answer.
“We found something troubling.” No niceties, just a gruff voice on the other end.
“Give me a second.” My voice is surprisingly steady.
I grab my purse from the floor and walk toward the other side of the flattened bleachers. I realize if someone has been watching me, I might have looked rather distressed on my phone. As I tuck myself behind some storage canisters, I search for Erika. She is still talking to the two girls. They all seem to be smiling. More than that, their body language seems to indicate they are very interested in whatever Erika is saying. Her stunt with that awful substitute has likely given her some star power at school.
“Okay. I’m ready. What did you find?” My throat constricts on the wordfind.
“A tracker on Erika’s phone. Quite a sophisticated one. We didn’t even see it right away.”
“A tracker?” The word inside my mouth is like a warm oyster. I almost gag. “Like, so, what, someone can track what she’s doing on her phone or, um, does it show where she’s going or what?”
“Both. We found it in the Messenger app and also tied to her location services.”
I shut my eyes and then immediately blink them open. “Which phone?”
“Her iPhone. The other one she was using is clean.”
My baby is being stalked. Oh, and the picture Erika sent. Who has it? My heart tumbles in my chest. It’s as if someone is explicitly trying to destroy my family.
“What can you tell us, Meredith?”
“About what part?” I spit out. This is outrageous. Someone is coming after our daughter. I glance around the folded bleachers. She’s still talking with those girls. Can they be trusted?
“You tell us. Maybe about the tracker? What do you know?”
“I don’t know anything about a tracker. Someone is after her. How do we keep her safe?” My heart pounds in my chest. Is this related to the stolen tests?
Erika hasn’t moved. She looks relaxed. Her head is slightly cocked to the side.
My palm is suddenly damp. I switch my hold and wipe my hand down my khakis.
“Meredith, we have reason to believe you’re keeping something from us.” The officer’s aggressive tone feels like a shove. I keep getting shoved. Not the best way to gain my trust.
“What reason is that?” I feel the chill in my words as they leave my mouth.
“You asked for our help. Your home has been breached. Your daughter has been threatened. Help us put the pieces together.”
