The List

"The other one," Elena whispered, the words barely escaping her lips as the wind carried Julian's confession away. "You said 'if she finds the other one'."

Julian looked at her, his eyes hollow. "I didn't mean another document. I meant another person."

"Sebastian?"

"No," he said. "The witness."

Elena felt a jolt of electricity. "Who?"

"The nanny," Julian said. "Mrs. Gable. The one who was here in 1996. The one who took care of... them."

"Mrs. Gable is dead. Mrs. Vance said she died years ago."

"Vance lies," Julian said. "It's part of the job description. Mrs. Gable didn't die. Mother paid her off. Sent her away with a pension that would make a senator blush."

"Where is she?"

"I don't know," Julian said, running a hand through his hair. "But Arthur does. He handles the payments. Every month, on the first. Just like the insurance premiums."

"If Arthur pays her, there's a record," Elena said, her mind racing. "A check. A wire transfer."

"It's cash," Julian said. " delivered by courier. Untraceable."

"Nothing is untraceable," Elena said. "Not if you know where to look."

She pulled out the burner phone. She had Marcus's number programmed in. But she couldn't call him now. Not with Julian standing right there.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"Because I'm tired, Elena," he said, his voice cracking. "I'm so tired of the lies. And because... because I saw the way you looked at Leo this morning. Like you were saying goodbye."

He reached into his pocket. Elena flinched, but he only pulled out a set of car keys.

"Take my car," he said. "The Rover. It's not in your name. Arthur won't be tracking it yet."

Elena stared at the keys. It was a lifeline. Or a trap.

"Go," he said, tossing them to her. "Find her. Before Arthur realizes you're gone."

Elena caught the keys. She didn't say thank you. She didn't look back. She ran to the Rover, climbed in, and floored the accelerator.

She drove for an hour, putting distance between herself and the estate, before she pulled over at a rest stop. She dialed Marcus.

"I need a list," she said without preamble. "Every nursing home within a two-hour radius of the estate. But not the nice ones. The ones that take cash."

"Elena?" Marcus sounded exhausted. "Are you safe?"

"For now. I have Julian's car. Listen, Marcus. We're looking for a woman named Gable. First name probably Margaret or Mary. She was the nanny in 1996."

"Got it," Marcus said, the click of keys filling the silence. "Gable... Gable... I'm cross-referencing with the employee database you downloaded before the lockout."

"She won't be in the active database. Check the archived payroll from '96."

"Found her," Marcus said. "Margaret Gable. Terminated November 1996. Reason: 'Health Reasons'."

"That's code for 'knew too much'," Elena said. "Where is she now?"

"I'm running a skip trace," Marcus said. "It might take a minute. While we wait... Elena, I found something else in the tax returns."

"What?"

"The charitable donations. They're massive. Millions of dollars to a non-profit called ' The Serenity Foundation'."

"Let me guess," Elena said. "The foundation shares an address with the shell company."

"Bingo. And the board of directors? It's just Arthur."

"He's laundering the money through a charity," Elena said. "It's perfect. Tax-exempt. protected from scrutiny."

"And it means he's vulnerable," Marcus said. "Charities have to file public disclosures. Form 990s. If we can get those..."

"Focus on Gable," Elena said. "The paper trail is good, but a witness is better. A witness who saw two babies."

"Okay," Marcus said. "Got a hit. Margaret Gable. Age 78. Receiving state disability benefits."

"Where?"

"It's not good, Elena," Marcus said. "Her current address was a state-run nursing home. The cheap kind."