When we arrived back at the farm, we each went in separate directions. Vivi went to the barn to spend some time with her horses, and Belle went up to the attic to gather some of our mom’s things.
I didn’t fully understand what had happened at the lawyer’s office, but something told me my simple and clearnowould not be the end of our fight. What made him think he could force us to sell? There had to be more.
I’d avoided my father’s office since he’d died. We used to have our morning meetings in there. Him in the dark leatherchair behind his desk, and me in the plush grey armchair in the corner. The room smelled of him, leather and whiskey, and tinged with the slightly musty smell of dust. I went straight to the safe behind a painting. I entered the code I knew was my mother’s birthday and it popped open. Inside, I found the rifles, the deeds, and the false back panel he had told me about. I twisted it open and my fingers found a heavy book. A black bound ledger, which was strange since I had all the books on the new accounting system. I opened the front page and a small USB drive fell out. The front page was filled with little V shaped pen marks. Not paying any attention to my dad’s doodles, I grabbed the USB and pushed it into my laptop.Fuck.It required a password.
I tried several options
ELIZA - my mom’s name.
Access Denied
ARGENT - since they were after the farm.
Access Denied
Frustrated, I tried my mom’s birthday, mine and my sisters. Combinations of all of the above, our initials. None of it worked. My eyes snagged on the ledger once more. Specifically, on those V shaped pen marks. What if they weren’t Vs. What if they were birds in flight? Specifically, hawks in flight. It was worth a try. Four Vs meant four Hawkes. One for each of us.
4HAWKES
Access Granted
A list of files loaded onto the screen. The files were not farm records. They were bank records and offshore accounts. Wire transfers to shell corporations and then to individual accounts. Each account was linked to a name on a list.
A judge from Lexington, a state senator. Bribes maybe? All with the initials AG in the description column. Argent Group?
I opened the ledger. The physical backup of the electronic records. My father’s blocky handwriting. He wasn’t involved. Not really. He was a pawn. A money launderer.
A truck stopped outside the house. Quieter, and therefore newer than Archer’s, that was for sure.
Two doors slammed and the men spoke as they scanned the property before walking past the window toward the front door.
“Julian wants the old man’s personal effects.” His voice was low, as if he didn’t want to be heard. “He wants the ledger and the drive.”
My breath hitched and my chest tightened. They had come for the items I had just found. Before I knew what I was doing I grabbed my own encrypted usb drive from my handbag.Drag & DropCopy never felt as long as it did in those seconds. After many hours disguised as a few minutes, the laptop signalled the copy across was complete.
I grabbed my handbag, and shoved both drives in them. One a little deeper than the other. I sent a text to my sisters.
Rory:ELIZA
It was our code for when we were in trouble with my mom as children and we’d meet behind the post office to get our stories straight. I needed to leave, and I needed to do it undetected. Fortunately, I knew my house better than the men outside. I quietly made my way through to the kitchen. In the mudroom, I picked up our go-bags.
That was not something my dad had taught us. Archer had forced us to fill a duffle bag a while back with what he calledessential shit.We had a few changes of clothes, some long-life food and energy bars and a few other items. It also had a small amount of cash and a burner phone he had provided each of us with. At the time I thought he was being a bit dramatic, but now I was glad he had insisted.
I made it back to my car and pulled out slowly, with Belle following behind me. I was surprised I never met her inside. We pulled into the alley behind the post office and all three of us stepped out of our cars.
I tried to control my breathing and talk at the same time. “I think dad was killed.”
“He was. I heard them.” Vivi kept her voice low as she started typing on her phone. “Julian and the Sheriff were in the barn. They spoke about it so casually. They didn’t know I was there as well. Didn’t hear me leave either.” She held her phone up to me. “Found it.”
Before I could ask what she was talking about Belle held out a photo album she’d been hugging to her chest. Her normally pale skin had gone sheet white and her eyes were wide. “I think the Argent Group is like some kind of secret society. Look at this.”
She opened the album but there weren’t just photos, there was another list of names and photos of men and women in rather compromising positions. Our father, the senator, the judge… all of them.
Between what we held and what Vivi had overheard, I knew we had a lot. The confession to murder, the financial motive, and the blackmail. I let out an exhale. And there was nothing we could do. “The sheriff is in on this and who knows how high up it goes. We know they’re blackmailing a judge and a senator.”
“They have no idea where we are, but they’ll be searching for us soon. And they’ll realize all the evidence they need buried is missing too. We need to get out of town as soon as possible.”
“Okay.” Vivi nodded. “We need to get Mrs. Shell to print this. “And we’ll sign it and ask her to hand it to Archer.”
