“What’s going on?” I ask.
Meg looks around like she doesn’t want anyone to hear, but when I scan the room I notice a tension simmering through the air, and for some reason, all eyes seem to be trained on the girls from Bloodroot, on Jordie and Bianca.
They’re oblivious, with heads bowed toward one another, matching bows sitting high on their ponytails. They both have Ava’s eyes. Her nose, too. They look like Ava did at their age. Determined and smart, but breakable.
“It’s the Cantors,” Meg whispers. She shoves a piece of newspaper toward me. I unfold it carefully and am greeted with a clipping from theNew York Postwith today’s date. An all-caps headline dominates the top of the page.
FINANCE HERO MARK CANTOR BECOMES OVERNIGHT ZERO THANKS TO MAJOR TAX EVASION SCANDAL
I bite my lip and my heart speeds up. Heller was right. “Has anyone else seen this? It’s not like the kids have internet.”
Meg clenches her fists and darts her eyes around the room. “News travels fast here, so, uh, yeah.”
“Shit,” I say again. I look around for Ava. Even though I still have so many questions for her, I need to find her. There’s no way she can deal with this on her own.
“Everyone’s staring at them like they’re zoo animals.” Meg looks like she’s about to break into a sweat. “I’m gonna bring them to the office with Stu and Mellie. Can you get all the other girls ready for swim?”
“Of course,” I say, though all I want to do is find Ava. “Do they know? Jordie and Bianca?”
Meg looks over my shoulder at Mellie and mumbles some sort of goodbye before scooping up the twins and leading them out of the room.
I ball up the article in my fist and head to the bathroom. It’s only when I’m locked inside a stall that I lay it flat on the toilet paper dispenser and start to read.
Cantor Assets, founded by Wall Street legend Mark Cantor, has officially gone belly-up. The former New Yorker has been accused of knowingly helping his clients avoid taxes by working with Swiss bankers to allegedly set up illegal offshore accounts. While this activity was legal as recently as the mid-2000s, it’s now against the law to maintain these kinds of hidden funds, often used to obscure how much income the ultra-rich actually have. Those found to have hidden offshore assets could face serious jail time.
Sources say Cantor Assets was facilitating one of the largest networks of secret accounts from US residents. Cantor refuses to give up his full client list, but the IRSclaims he was working with tech CEOs, celebrities, and foreign adversaries of the United States.
When we reached his attorney for comment, Cantor’s lawyer declined to say anything and instead hung up the phone, but not before calling this reporter “a putz.” This story is developing but Cantor’s future in the financial industry will not be.
Everything I read buzzes around my brain.Thiswas what Heller was trying to get out into the world. The sleigh bells ring out in the dining hall and I know that’s my cue to bring the girls back to the cabin.
I blow out a puff of air and hustle out of the bathroom, gathering the campers with a hurried gait. I keep an ear out, trying to hear if they’re talking about the Cantors, but no one brings them up. These girls are too concerned with swim lessons and the tennis tournament, friendship bracelets and Mad Libs. They barely notice the twins are gone.
The girls rush inside Bloodroot to change for swim, and I pause on the porch, breathing in and out, trying to keep my cool.
“Have you seen her yet?” Imogen appears next to me with frazzled hair and wide eyes.
“Nope,” I say, holding my sweatshirt tightly around my waist.
She leans back against the wood railing. “You heard the news, right?”
“Yup.”
“I can’t believe it came out.”
My stomach hardens and I turn my head toward Imo.
“You knew?”
Imogen turns red and her mouth gets small. “A few days before we left for camp, Ava’s mom told her she was moving a bunch of assets into more secure environments.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
Imogen shrugs. “I don’t know but Ava took it as a sign that her dad was up to some shady shit and her mom was trying to cover their tracks, keep their funds safe.” She looks around. “I guess those rumors from a few years back didn’t start from nowhere.”
I cover my mouth. Heller wasright. But how did he know?Whydid he know? Why did he even care?
“Ava called me crying, totally freaking out. Told me not to tell anyone.”
