Chapter 3 - THE SAFE HOUSE
An hour later, a sleek black SUV pulled into the driveway of a private residence on the outskirts of Bellevue.
It wasn't the grand, sprawling estate Valerie shared with Daniel in Medina. It was her late father’s stone cottage—a secure, hidden property that Daniel had never managed to get his name on.
Valerie led Thomas and Nick inside. The warm light of the foyer revealed the full extent of the damage. Nick was limping, holding his ribs, and his face was severely bruised. Thomas had deep red finger marks on his arms where Daniel had grabbed him days earlier.
“Laura,” Valerie called out as she locked the heavy oak door behind them.
Laura, Valerie’s oldest and most trusted friend—who also happened to be a top family law attorney in King County—stepped out of the kitchen with a medical kit and a laptop open on the counter.
“I heard your message,” Laura said, her eyes widening as she saw the two boys. “Good God, Valerie. Is this the boy from the audio?”
“This is Nick,” Valerie said, guiding the boys to the leather sofa in the living room. “He saved Thomas’s life.”
While Laura carefully cleaned and bandaged Nick’s injuries, Valerie sat beside her son, wrapping a thick wool blanket around his shoulders.
“Thomas,” Valerie said softly, taking his trembling hands. “Why didn't you tell me sooner? Why did you carry this alone?”
Thomas wiped a tear from his cheek. “Dad said... Dad said he had doctors lined up. He showed me papers that said you were emotionally unfit. He told me if I said a word about his mistress or the money, he’d have you committed and I’d never see you again. I was trying to protect you, Mom.”
Valerie pulled Thomas into a ferocious hug, weeping softly into his hair. “I’m so sorry, baby. I am so, so sorry I was too blind to see what he was doing.”
She looked up at Laura. “How bad is the financial situation?”
Laura turned her laptop screen around. “It’s extensive, Valerie. Daniel opened three shell companies in the Cayman Islands over the last fourteen months under the name Apex Horizons. He’s been trickling funds out of your trust—roughly twelve million dollars so far. But the main transfer... the remaining twenty-five million... is scheduled for midnight tomorrow.”
Valerie’s eyes narrowed into slits of ice. “He was planning to leave tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Laura said. “He has a private charter flight booked out of Boeing Field to Cabo, and from there to a non-extradition territory. If he gets on that plane tomorrow night with that money, you’ll never recover it.”
From the sofa, Nick spoke up, his voice raspy from cold and exhaustion.
“He has another phone,” Nick said.
Valerie and Laura turned to look at him.
“What did you say, Nick?” Laura asked.
“When he was hitting me in the alley,” Nick explained, pulling his knees up to his chest, “his jacket swung open. He has a second phone—a red one with a dark case. He dropped a little paper notebook while he was swinging at Thomas. I grabbed it off the ground before I ran.”
Nick reached into his shoe and pulled out a folded, sweat-stained piece of paper.
“I kept it in my sock so it wouldn't get wet,” Nick said, handing it to Valerie.
Valerie unfolded the paper. Written in Daniel’s precise, arrogant handwriting were three offshore account numbers, a master encryption key, and the address of a private marina berth in Anacortes.
Laura gasped, leaning over Valerie’s shoulder. “Valerie... this isn't just financial data. This is the master ledger for his illegal accounts. With this, we can freeze everything instantly.”
Valerie looked at Nick, tears rising in her eyes again. “You saved us twice, Nick.”
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Nick looked down at his dirty hands. “My mom died two years ago. Nobody protected me when I was little. I just... I couldn't let him hurt Thomas.”
Valerie walked over, sat beside Nick, and took his small, bruised hand in hers. “You don't have to protect anyone alone anymore, Nick. Tomorrow, we finish this.”
