I didn't sleep that night.<\/p>\n
Jackson had always been the family member everyone treated as fragile.<\/p>\n
He was the one Mom defended.<\/p>\n
The one Dad rescued.<\/p>\n
The one I was expected to understand.<\/p>\n
I had spent years assuming his irresponsibility came from being spoiled.<\/p>\n
Now I wondered whether it had been cultivated.<\/p>\n
Margaret gave us copies of the documents she still possessed.<\/p>\n
Most were harmless.<\/p>\n
Some were not.<\/p>\n
One showed Jackson attending a private meeting with Eleanor Vale.<\/p>\n
The date was eighteen months before his wedding.<\/p>\n
Another showed him signing a confidentiality agreement.<\/p>\n
A third listed him as a prospective trustee.<\/p>\n
The trust name was unfamiliar.<\/p>\n
Northstar Family Preservation Trust.<\/p>\n
I read the document twice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy was he selected?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was easier to control.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe owed money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time?\u201d<\/p>\n
She checked the file.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost $400,000.\u201d<\/p>\n
That wasn't enough to explain everything.<\/p>\n
Then she showed me the second page.<\/p>\n
Jackson owed the money to a Northstar subsidiary.<\/p>\n
It wasn't a normal debt.<\/p>\n
It was leverage.<\/p>\n
If he cooperated, the debt disappeared.<\/p>\n
If he refused, they would expose his financial fraud.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was trapped.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they recruited him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they want him to do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarry Khloe.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Khloe's family owned a company that held several properties your grandfather once controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wedding suddenly looked different.<\/p>\n
Jackson hadn't simply been marrying someone he loved.<\/p>\n
He had been entering another business arrangement.<\/p>\n
But Khloe had never known.<\/p>\n
That explained why she left him.<\/p>\n
She had been used too.<\/p>\n
I called her.<\/p>\n
She answered cautiously.<\/p>\n
\u201cI've been waiting for you to call.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know Jackson was recruited by Northstar?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he ever mention Eleanor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he ever ask about your family's property?\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kept asking what my father planned to do with the coastal properties.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Northstar wanted the properties.<\/p>\n
Jackson was supposed to gain access through marriage.<\/p>\n
And my inheritance was supposed to finance the acquisition.<\/p>\n
It was all connected.<\/p>\n
The wedding wasn't the beginning.<\/p>\n
It was the final step of a plan that had started years earlier.<\/p>\n
Khloe asked, \u201cWhat do you need from me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything Jackson ever gave you.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was silent.<\/p>\n
Then said, \u201cI kept something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA USB drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
She had found it inside Jackson's office after leaving him.<\/p>\n
We met that evening.<\/p>\n
Khloe handed me the drive.<\/p>\n
The files contained financial spreadsheets.<\/p>\n
Most were encrypted.<\/p>\n
One folder was not.<\/p>\n
It was titled Emily.<\/p>\n
Inside were photographs.<\/p>\n
My apartment.<\/p>\n
My workplace.<\/p>\n
My car.<\/p>\n
The restaurant I visited regularly.<\/p>\n
Someone had been monitoring me.<\/p>\n
The dates went back three years.<\/p>\n
I felt cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho took these?\u201d<\/p>\n
Khloe shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was one final photograph.<\/p>\n
It showed me entering my apartment building.<\/p>\n
Behind me stood Jackson.<\/p>\n
He was talking to someone.<\/p>\n
I enlarged the image.<\/p>\n
The person beside him was Nathan Vale.<\/p>\n
I called Marcus.<\/p>\n
He answered immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat's wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJackson and Nathan knew each other years before the wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't have proof.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI do now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus asked me to send the photograph.<\/p>\n
Minutes later, he called.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNathan wasn't the only person in that photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
I enlarged it again.<\/p>\n
In the reflection of a parked car, another person was visible.<\/p>\n
Margaret.<\/p>\n
She had been watching them.<\/p>\n
She had been investigating.<\/p>\n
That explained why she had kept the registry.<\/p>\n
She wasn't protecting Northstar.<\/p>\n
She had been trying to expose it.<\/p>\n
Then she called me.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily, don't trust the drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was altered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a tracking file.\u201d<\/p>\n
I checked.<\/p>\n
She was right.<\/p>\n
A hidden program had been installed.<\/p>\n
Someone could see where the drive was.<\/p>\n
We disconnected it.<\/p>\n
Then my phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
A message appeared.<\/p>\n
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST ALONE.<\/p>\n
No number.<\/p>\n
I showed Marcus.<\/p>\n
He told me to leave immediately.<\/p>\n
We did.<\/p>\n
As we drove away, an SUV followed us.<\/p>\n
It stayed three cars behind.<\/p>\n
When we turned left, it turned.<\/p>\n
When we stopped at a light, it stopped.<\/p>\n
Marcus called police.<\/p>\n
The SUV accelerated.<\/p>\n
It passed us.<\/p>\n
The driver never looked over.<\/p>\n
But the passenger did.<\/p>\n
Jackson.<\/p>\n
I couldn't believe it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is he following us?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus didn't answer.<\/p>\n
The SUV disappeared around the corner.<\/p>\n
We returned to Margaret's farmhouse.<\/p>\n
She had already locked the doors.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked frightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows about the registry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does he want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same thing everyone wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cControl.\u201d<\/p>\n
She explained that the trustee did not merely control the money.<\/p>\n
The trustee controlled the information.<\/p>\n
Every person named in the registry could be exposed or protected.<\/p>\n
Every hidden property could be returned or sold.<\/p>\n
Every criminal liability could be pursued or buried.<\/p>\n
Whoever controlled the registry could control thousands of lives.<\/p>\n
Jackson had been selected because Northstar believed he would obey.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he betrayed them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about the photograph.<\/p>\n
The tracking file.<\/p>\n
His appearance behind us.<\/p>\n
Maybe he hadn't.<\/p>\n
That night, Jackson called.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomewhere safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you working with Northstar?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why were you following me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to warn you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't understand what they are planning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen explain.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don't want your money anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do they want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my throat tighten.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the registry names the person who can expose the entire network.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He lowered his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the room where Rebecca was sitting with Margaret.<\/p>\n
Jackson continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey believe Rebecca still has the original registry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe doesn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey think she does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe doesn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Margaret.<\/p>\n
She had gone pale.<\/p>\n
Jackson whispered, \u201cMargaret never had the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward her.<\/p>\n
She closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the rest?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Margaret answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
Jackson said, \u201cLinda took the final section.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is in it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe names of the people who financed Northstar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cPoliticians.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich ones?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know they are planning to kill Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call ended.<\/p>\n
I stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
I told her.<\/p>\n
She didn't look surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew they would come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to move.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed toward the old cemetery outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a vault beneath your grandfather's grave.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're telling me there's another secret room?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm telling you there is a grave that isn't occupied.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn't sleep that night. Jackson had always been the family member everyone treated as fragile. He was the one Mom defended. The one Dad rescued. The one I was … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feel-every-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feeleverystory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feeleverystory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feeleverystory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feeleverystory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feeleverystory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/feeleverystory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14788,"href":"https:\/\/feeleverystory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14742\/revisions\/14788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feeleverystory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feeleverystory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feeleverystory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feeleverystory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}