Chapter 5 - THE LEDGER NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO FIND
The next morning, Gavin closed Honey Crust for the first time in seven years.
He told the employees there was a family emergency.
It wasn't entirely a lie.
The truth was that the bakery had become connected to something much larger than missing flour and sugar.
Gavin sat in his office with Rosalia, Lucy, and Daniel.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Finally, Lucy broke the silence.
“Start from the beginning.”
Gavin looked at Rosalia.
She sighed.
“Five years ago, Elena worked at an accounting firm.”
“What firm?”
“Harper & Cole.”
Daniel suddenly looked up.
“I know that name.”
Gavin turned.
Daniel swallowed.
“They handled several businesses in Toledo.”
“Including Honey Crust?”
Daniel nodded.
Gavin felt uneasy.
“Why would an accounting firm be connected to my bakery?”
Rosalia looked at him.
“Because your father trusted them.”
Gavin froze.
His father had died six years earlier.
He had left Gavin the bakery and a mountain of debt.
Gavin had always believed the bakery's financial problems came from poor management during his father's final years.
But now he wasn't sure.
Rosalia continued.
“Your father discovered something.”
“What?”
“Money was being moved from small businesses into other accounts.”
Gavin stared at her.
“How?”
“Fake invoices.”
Daniel looked horrified.
“That would explain the inventory discrepancies.”
Gavin looked at him.
“How?”
“If someone created fake supplier orders, they could make missing products look legitimate.”
Lucy asked, “And the money?”
“Would disappear into another account.”
Gavin stood.
“Why didn't my father tell me?”
“Because he was afraid.”
“Afraid of whom?”
Rosalia shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Daniel suddenly spoke.
“I think I do.”
Everyone turned.
“My brother worked for Harper & Cole.”
Gavin stared at him.
“What?”
“He was an assistant accountant.”
“What happened to him?”
Daniel looked down.
“He discovered irregular transfers.”
“And?”
“He was fired.”
“When?”
“Five years ago.”
Gavin slowly sat down.
“Is your brother the man they kidnapped?”
Daniel nodded.
“Then this is all connected.”
Rosalia reached into her bag.
“I have something.”
She pulled out a small key.
Gavin stared at it.
“What is that?”
“Your father gave it to me.”
Gavin's face changed.
“My father?”
“He told me never to give it to anyone unless something happened.”
“When?”
“Three months before he died.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he made me promise.”
Gavin took the key.
“What does it open?”
Rosalia shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Gavin examined it.
A small number was engraved on the side.
Daniel suddenly stood.
“There are storage lockers at the old train station.”
Gavin looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“My brother rented one years ago.”
The four of them drove there.
Locker 417 was near the back.
Gavin inserted the key.
It opened.
Inside was a metal box.
Nothing else.
Gavin lifted it out.
The box was heavy.
He placed it on the floor.
Inside were documents, bank statements, photographs, and a thick black ledger.
Lucy opened the ledger.
Names filled the pages.
Businesses.
Dates.
Amounts.
Bank accounts.
Gavin turned page after page.
Then he saw Honey Crust.
His father's name appeared beside a series of payments.
Gavin's hands began shaking.
“He wasn't stealing.”
Lucy looked at the numbers.
“No.”
“He was documenting it.”
Rosalia nodded.
“That's why they were afraid of him.”
Gavin turned another page.
There was a name circled in red.
Marcus Vale.
Gavin stared at it.
“Marcus?”
Rosalia looked stunned.
“He worked for Harper & Cole.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“He wasn't just an accountant.”
“What was he?”
Daniel pointed to another page.
“Collections.”
Gavin felt cold.
Marcus had been collecting money from businesses involved in the scheme.
And Elena had discovered it.
The ledger explained everything.
Marcus hadn't been searching for Elena because he wanted his wife back.
He wanted the evidence.
He wanted the ledger.
Then Gavin saw something that made his blood run cold.
A handwritten note from his father.
IF THEY COME FOR THIS BOOK, DON'T TRUST ANYONE INSIDE THE BAKERY.
Gavin looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked at him.
Then both men slowly turned toward Rosalia.
She immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“But you're thinking it.”
Gavin stepped back.
“I don't know who to trust.”
Rosalia looked heartbroken.
“After three years?”
“I don't know what is happening.”
She stood.
“I carried your bakery's secrets for years.”
“And I appreciate that.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“You don't understand.”
She pulled out another photograph.
It showed Gavin's father standing beside a young Elena.
Gavin stared.
“Why is Elena with my father?”
Rosalia answered.
“Because he helped her.”
“When?”
“Five years ago.”
“Before Mia?”
“Yes.”
Gavin's breathing changed.
“What did he help her with?”
Rosalia looked at him.
“Elena was pregnant.”
Gavin stared at the photograph.
“Five years ago?”
Rosalia nodded.
“She was terrified Marcus would take the baby.”
Gavin looked at the date.
Then he noticed something.
The date was six months before Mia was born.
He looked at Rosalia.
“Why does this matter?”
Rosalia whispered.
“Because Mia's birth certificate isn't real.”
Nobody moved.
Lucy slowly sat down.
“What does that mean?”
Rosalia's eyes filled with tears.
“It means Marcus isn't Mia's biological father.”
Gavin stared at her.
“Then who is?”
Rosalia looked at him.
“I don't know.”
Before anyone could respond, the lights in the storage facility went out.
Daniel whispered, “We're not alone.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Approaching.
Gavin grabbed the metal box.
Then a man's voice came from outside.
“Give me the ledger.”
Marcus.
Rosalia pulled Gavin backward.
Daniel whispered, “There are two exits.”
Gavin looked around.
The footsteps came closer.
Then the door handle moved.
Marcus spoke again.
“You have ten seconds.”
Gavin looked at Lucy.
Then at Rosalia.
Then at the ledger.
He finally understood.
May you like
The suitcase had never been the real secret.
The real secret was the person who had spent five years protecting a child from a man who would kill to discover who her father really was.
