My grandmother took one look at my worn-out clothes and the baby in my arms and asked what happened to the $180,000 she’d sent me after my husband died—but when I told her I’d never received a penny, my aunt dropped her candle, and Grandma immediately called her lawyers...

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Daniel standing in our kitchen on the morning he died.

He was wearing his favorite blue work shirt.

His coffee was too hot, so he kept blowing across the top of the cup.

Lily had been crying all night, and he told me I looked beautiful even though I hadn't washed my hair in three days.

Then he kissed me.

"I love you, Em."

Those were his last words to me.

Now I lay awake in a luxury hotel room, wondering whether someone had known he was in danger.

At six the next morning, I called David.

"I need everything connected to Daniel's accident."

He was quiet for a moment.

"Emily, your grandmother told me about the phone call from Vanessa."

"Then you understand why I'm asking."

"I do. But we need to be careful about separating evidence from speculation."

"I know."

"The original collision investigation concluded that a mechanical failure contributed to the accident. We'll request the records and see whether there was anything the investigators overlooked."

I stared at Lily sleeping in her crib.

"Do you think Patricia hurt my husband?"

"I don't have evidence of that."

"Neither do I."

My voice broke.

"But I need to know."

David promised to contact an investigator.

Then I remembered something.

Daniel's old laptop.

After his death, I packed most of his belongings into storage bins because looking at them hurt too much.

His laptop had stopped working several months before the accident.

Or at least that's what Patricia told me.

She offered to have it repaired.

I hadn't seen it since.

I called Rachel.

"Do you remember seeing Daniel's computer at your parents' house?"

Rachel hesitated.

"His silver laptop?"

"Yes."

"I think Dad put it in the storage room."

My heart jumped.

"Are you sure?"

"I saw it when I was looking for Christmas decorations last year."

I sat upright.

"Rachel, please don't touch it."

"Why?"

"Because it might contain something important."

An hour later, Rachel called back.

Her voice was tense.

"Emily, the laptop is gone."

My stomach dropped.

"What?"

"I went into the storage room. The shelf is empty."

"Could someone have moved it?"

"Maybe. But there's something else."

"What?"

"Mom and Dad are screaming at each other."

I pressed the phone closer.

"About what?"

"About a recording."

A chill moved through me.

Rachel lowered her voice.

"Dad keeps asking why Mom never told him Daniel was investigating Evergreen."

I closed my eyes.

"And what does Patricia say?"

"She says Dad shouldn't ask questions he doesn't want answered."

Then I heard shouting in the background.

"Rachel!"

Patricia's voice.

Rachel whispered, "I have to go."

The call ended.

I sat staring at the phone.

The woman who had stolen my grandmother's gift, hidden my husband's insurance proceeds, and apparently used my identity to purchase a house was now fighting to keep a recording secret.

And I had no idea what was on it.

That afternoon, David called with an update.

The insurer had confirmed that a $750,000 death benefit was paid into the designated account. Its fraud department was reviewing the authorization documents after receiving notice of the suspected forgery.

A forensic accountant was tracing the money.

And investigators had located the closing attorney involved in the lake house purchase.

But David's most important discovery was something else.

"Emily, we found a former employee of Evergreen Residential Holdings who worked with Daniel shortly before his death."

I leaned forward.

"Who?"

"Thomas Reed."

The last name sounded familiar.

"Reed?"

"Yes."

I swallowed.

"Is he related to Vanessa?"

A pause.

"He's her older brother."

I closed my eyes.

Of course.

Another connection.

Another secret.

David continued.

"Thomas says Daniel contacted him about suspicious transfers from a charitable fund connected to your grandfather's estate."

"What charitable fund?"

"The Bennett Family Community Foundation."

I remembered that name.

Grandpa Henry had established the foundation to provide housing assistance and educational grants to families in financial difficulty.

After his death, Patricia became its administrator.

Grandma supervised the overall charitable mission, but she relied heavily on Patricia and the foundation's outside bookkeepers for its day-to-day operations.

"Daniel thought she was stealing from the foundation?"

"Thomas says Daniel believed funds were being moved into companies controlled by relatives and business associates."

I felt sick.

"How much?"

"We don't have a verified total yet."

I looked at Lily.

My daughter was sitting on the carpet, stacking colorful blocks.

She had no idea what was happening.

She didn't know her father had left her a fortune.

She didn't know someone had stolen it.

And she certainly didn't know I was beginning to question the official account of his death.

"David, I want to meet Thomas."

"We're arranging a formal interview."

"I want to be there."

He hesitated.

"I'll discuss that with the investigator."

Two days later, Thomas Reed agreed to speak with us at David's office.

He was thirty-five, thin, and visibly nervous.

He looked nothing like Vanessa.

Where she was outgoing and charming, Thomas seemed quiet and exhausted.

He sat across from me, turning a paper coffee cup between his hands.

"I'm sorry about Daniel," he said.

I nodded.

"Tell me what you know."

Thomas looked toward David.

Then he began.

"Daniel asked me to review several vendor invoices about three weeks before he died. He noticed that the foundation was paying a construction company for renovation work on properties it didn't own."

My pulse quickened.

"Which company?"

"Mountain Crest Development."

"Trevor Mills's company?"

Thomas nodded.

I gripped the edge of the table.

"Vanessa's boyfriend?"

"Yes."

Thomas continued.

"The invoices looked legitimate, but the addresses didn't match the foundation's projects. Daniel followed the payments and discovered that some of the money was being transferred into Evergreen."

I stared.

"Patricia's company."

"Correct."

"Did Daniel confront her?"

Thomas looked uncomfortable.

"He told me he was going to ask her for an explanation."

"Did he?"

"I don't know."

A long silence followed.

Then Thomas reached into his jacket.

"I kept something."

He placed a small black USB drive on the table.

"Daniel gave me this three days before the accident."

My heart pounded.

"What is it?"

"Copies of invoices, bank reconciliation files, and some emails."

David looked at the drive.

"Have you examined it?"

Thomas shook his head.

"Not recently. I was afraid."

"Afraid of Patricia?"

Thomas looked at me.

"Emily, after Daniel died, my sister suddenly had enough money to quit her job. Then she told me Patricia was helping her launch a consulting business."

His voice cracked.

"I started wondering whether Vanessa was involved."

"Why didn't you come to me?"

"Because I didn't know what to believe."

I stared at him.

He wiped his forehead.

"And because Vanessa warned me that if I interfered, Patricia would ruin our mother's life."

My stomach tightened.

"What did she mean?"

"Our mother depends on a property Patricia owns. Vanessa said Patricia would evict her."

I leaned back.

Patricia hadn't merely used money to control people.

She had used fear.

David placed the USB drive into an evidence sleeve.

"We'll have this copied and examined."

Thomas nodded.

Then he looked at me.

"There's something else."

I waited.

"Daniel left a message for you."

My entire body went still.

"What?"

"He asked me to give it to you if anything happened to him."

I stared.

"Why didn't you?"

Tears filled Thomas's eyes.

"Because I didn't believe anything would happen. Then he died, and Patricia told me the message was private family business. She said you were too fragile to hear it."

My chest tightened painfully.

"Do you still have it?"

He reached into his wallet and removed a folded piece of paper.

It was yellowed along the edges.

My hands shook as I opened it.

The handwriting was Daniel's.

I would have recognized it anywhere.

Emily, if you're reading this, something has gone terribly wrong.

I found discrepancies in the Bennett family accounts, and I don't yet know who is responsible for all of them.

Please don't sign anything Patricia gives you until you have independent legal advice.

And remember the little wooden music box I gave you on our honeymoon.

The truth is where our song begins.