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In my pocket, my phone rings. I pull it out, half expecting Nia’s name to pop up on my display. I’m hoping she’ll tell me she’s at this cafe and ask me to join her.
Instead, the caller ID indicates it’s Bethany.
What the hell? I didn’t think we’d talk until I decided Stratus’s future—if even then.
I almost don’t answer, but Nia still seems to be inside, and I can say a few words right now to make my ice queen of a biological half sister go away. Giving her what she wants is distasteful, but her wishes align with mine for the moment, so this shit is unavoidable.
“I’m not selling to Lund,” I say without any preamble or greeting. “You’re getting your wish. Congratulations.”
I expect to hear her gloating, even a chilly laugh. Instead, she sobs.
“E-everyone was right. You were right.”
Bethany sounds desolate and nearly incomprehensible. What’s going on? She rubbed me wrong when we first met…but now I can’t help responding to the pain in her voice.
“About what?”
“Barclay. He…” She stops to cry in noisy, heart-rending gasps. “He lied to me. Almost nothing he told me was the truth.”
This doesn’t surprise me nearly as much as it does her, and I don’t know why she called me, of all people. But weirdly, I feel for her. “What happened?”
“The FBI started questioning me about what I knew. When Barclay told me all the pending charges against him were a misunderstanding, I had no reason not to believe him. I told the police everything I knew. Or thought I knew. They started showing me evidence to prove Barclay had been lying to me—and everyone else—all along. He stole from those people. All of them. Their life’s savings in some instances. Without remorse. I was…shocked. And I knew I had to find answers for myself.”
She breaks down again, her jerky, stuttering breaths almost painful to hear.
“What did you do?” I prompt gently.
Compassion isn’t something I’ve exercised much in the past. But it’s softening my attitude now whether I want it to or not. Her world has fallen apart. I know that feeling.
It takes a long moment, but she manages to gather herself. “Just before he got arrested, he installed a safe in my condo. He said it was because he needed to hide things from Linda because their divorce from that bitch was getting ugly. I had no doubt he was right, so I never snooped. Until today.” She lets out a shuddering breath. “I hope you’re sitting down.”
I’m not but whatever she has to say has likely rocked her world far more than it’s going to upend mine. “Go ahead.”
“Over the years, Barclay stole money from a lot of people, including the Lunds.”
Taking money from the man and impregnating his daughter? Wow, my biological father is a real peach…
“They want to buy Stratus because they want access to Barclay’s secret account on your storage cloud network,” she goes on. “He didn’t register it under his name or email address. If he had, the feds would have already found it. I discovered the login information in his safe and accessed it. Swiss bank account numbers. Records of client funds he exchanged for precious metals and stashed in safe deposit boxes offshore… He’s got money in every form, everywhere, hidden from everyone—his wife, the IRS, the investors he swindled. If I hadn’t seen all the proof for myself, I still wouldn’t believe it. I just can’t… Oh, my god. He let me spit out one falsehood after another to clients. To the FBI. If the feds hadn’t believed me, I could have gone to prison. How could my own father betray me like this?”
She’s totally disillusioned. She’s imploding and trying not to crumble.
“I’m sorry.”
“That I was wrong?” she spits.
“That he hurt you. I grew up knowing he was an asshole. You only realized that today.”
I’m still not sure why she chose me to call, except that I have the ability to look into Barclay’s records, maybe help give the people who lost their money a chance to see some of it back.
“I’ll lock down his files for you.”
“Thank you. I’ll text you his login ID, along with the name of the FBI agent on the case.”
She’s asking me to turn her father in. Maybe she can’t bring herself to do it…or even say it. Maybe she’s still reeling too much. Whatever the reason, I respect her terrible, brave choice.
“I’ll take it from there,” I assure her. “Bethany, you’re doing the right thing.”
“I needed to hear that. I’ve devoted my entire life to that man, and some part of me still can’t believe I’m turning on him. But I’m not. He betrayed me. I just need to make everything right.” She drags in a shuddering breath. “There’s more you need to hear.”
