Chapter 4 - The Sick Woman.
Sophia read the warning twice beneath the gray airport canopy.
Don't let him leave America.
The message did not say why.
It did not say who had sent it.
A black town car pulled to the curb in front of her.
Rachel was still on the phone.
"I have placed emergency holds on the Bennett family investment accounts."
Sophia opened the rear door and climbed inside.
"What about the Mercer-Bennett development fund?"
Rachel hesitated.
That hesitation frightened Sophia more than the answer.
"Daniel has operating authority there."
"You told me he couldn't move money without me."
"He could not when we created it."
Sophia felt the cold again.
"What changed?"
"I'm checking."
Sophia gave the driver Rachel's Manhattan office address.
The car pulled away from JFK.
Her phone rang before they reached the expressway.
Daniel.
Sophia stared at his name.
Rachel spoke quietly through the other call.
"Answer him."
Sophia merged the calls mentally and accepted Daniel's.
"Hey."
His voice was too warm.
"Where are you?"
Sophia looked through the rear window at the shrinking airport.
"Bathroom line."
"We're almost through security."
"Good."
There was a pause.
"You sound better."
Sophia pressed her fingertips against her forehead.
"I threw up."
Daniel made a sympathetic noise.
She had heard that same sound when he lied to vendors.
"Take your time."
Sophia almost laughed at the cruelty of it.
"I will."
Daniel lowered his voice.
"Do you still have your phone?"
The question landed oddly.
"Obviously."
"I mean your work phone."
Sophia's pulse jumped.
"It's in my bag."
Another pause.
"Why?"
Daniel recovered quickly.
"You said you wanted to disconnect."
Sophia stared at the screen showing Rachel's silent line.
"I changed my mind."
"Sophia."
Daniel's voice sharpened.
"This is our honeymoon."
"And Kelly's business trip."
He exhaled hard.
"We already talked about that."
Sophia let him hear a weak breath.
"I need to go."
"Wait."
She ended the call.
Rachel spoke immediately.
"He was checking whether you had your authentication device."
Sophia looked at her handbag.
Her work phone contained the security application used for high-value transfers.
"Can he move money without it?"
"Not unless someone changed your authorization settings."
Sophia closed her eyes.
"Find out."
Rachel's keyboard clicked rapidly.
A full minute passed.
Then Rachel whispered something Sophia had never heard from her before.
"Oh, no."
Sophia sat forward.
"What?"
"A power of attorney was filed two weeks ago."
Sophia stopped breathing.
"I never signed one."
"I know."
Rachel sounded furious now.
"It gives Daniel authority over three holding companies and the development fund."
Sophia gripped the phone.
"Can you revoke it?"
"I can challenge it immediately."
"Challenge?"
"If the signature was notarized and accepted, unwinding it will take evidence."
Sophia remembered Daniel insisting that a mobile notary come to their apartment during wedding week.
He said the papers were insurance updates.
She had signed several pages while a florist argued with someone in the hallway.
Had he slipped another page beneath them?
Sophia opened her email and searched Daniel's name.
Nothing looked unusual.
Then she remembered the shared scanner in his home office.
It automatically sent PDFs to a private cloud folder.
Sophia opened the folder from her phone.
The password had been changed.
"Rachel."
"I'm here."
"Daniel locked me out of the home scanner account."
Rachel went silent again.
Sophia's other phone rang.
It was Daniel a second time.
She ignored it.
A text arrived instead.
Where are you really?
Sophia stared at the words.
May you like
The driver merged onto the expressway.
Her fake illness had bought her less time than she thought.
