THE SECOND ACCOUNT
1124 Words
Maseko didn't take Naledi home after they left the warehouse.
Instead, he drove directly to his office.
“We need somewhere secure.”
“Is your office secure?”
“More secure than your house.”
Naledi looked out the window.
“You're saying that like someone hasn't already searched my father's home.”
“They did.”
“And you think they'll come after us?”
“I think they're already watching us.”
That answer stayed with her.
His office was almost empty when they arrived. Maseko locked the door behind them and placed the black box on his desk.
Naledi sat opposite him.
“What happens now?”
“We go through everything.”
They worked for hours.
The notebook revealed dozens of transfers between companies Naledi had never heard of. Most were registered in South Africa. Several were connected to Mauritius, Dubai and Singapore.
Maseko stopped at one name.
“Dlamini Strategic Holdings.”
Naledi looked up.
“Amara.”
“Exactly.”
“Why would my aunt have a company connected to the trust?”
“We need to find out.”
He searched the registration records.
The company had been active for almost nine years before becoming dormant.
“Where was it registered?”
“Johannesburg.”
“Address?”
He read it aloud.
Naledi recognised the street.
“That's near my father's old office.”
Maseko nodded.
“There was a bank account attached to it.”
“How much?”
“Almost twenty million rand moved through the account.”
Naledi stared at him.
“Twenty million?”
“Over several years.”
“Where did it go?”
“Most of it was transferred overseas.”
“To Singapore.”
He turned the laptop toward her.
The final transfer had been made shortly before Richard's death.
Naledi felt sick.
“My aunt disappeared after that.”
“Maybe she didn't disappear.”
“What do you mean?”
“She may have been forced out.”
Before Naledi could answer, Maseko's phone rang.
It was a former employee of Richard's company.
They met him at a small café later that afternoon.
The man looked nervous.
“You knew Amara?”
“Yes.”
“Did she work with Richard?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did she know Portia?”
“Yes.”
The man looked down.
“She was afraid of her.”
Naledi leaned forward.
“Why?”
“Amara said Portia had people everywhere.”
“Did she ever say where she was going?”
“She mentioned London.”
“When?”
“After Richard died.”
Naledi exchanged a look with Maseko.
“What happened before she left?”
The man hesitated.
“Your mother had been asking questions.”
“What kind?”
“About money.”
“Which money?”
“The trust.”
Naledi's chest tightened.
“Did Amara have proof?”
“She believed she did.”
“Where was it?”
“I don't know.”
The man looked toward the window.
“She said something strange.”
“What?”
“She said your family would bury the truth before it ever reached daylight.”
Naledi didn't speak.
On the drive back, she remained silent.
Maseko glanced at her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Want to talk?”
“I don't know what to say.”
He reached across the console and squeezed her hand.
“You don't have to.”
The small gesture comforted her more than she wanted to admit.
Then her phone rang.
The hospital.
Her father had left.
Naledi's heart dropped.
“What?”
The nurse explained that her father had signed himself out.
“Did he say where he was going?”
“No.”
Naledi ended the call.
“He left.”
Maseko's face hardened.
“Let's go.”
Her father's house had been searched.
Drawers were open.
Files were scattered across the floor.
Naledi ran upstairs.
His study had been completely turned over.
Someone had been looking for something.
Maseko found a note.
Don't look for me.
Naledi stared at it.
“He wouldn't write this.”
“Why?”
“He never leaves notes.”
Maseko examined the paper.
“This was printed.”
“Then someone wants us to think he left voluntarily.”
They found security footage showing a car leaving the property.
The driver couldn't be identified.
But the vehicle belonged to someone connected to Portia.
Naledi's fear became anger.
“They took him.”
“We don't know that yet.”
“Yes, we do.”
Maseko didn't argue.
A call came from the police.
A farmhouse outside Pretoria had been linked to her father's bank card.
They drove there immediately.
The property was deserted.
A chair had been overturned.
A broken glass lay on the floor.
Naledi found her father's watch near the doorway.
She picked it up.
There was blood on the strap.
Maseko immediately called the police.
Naledi stood frozen.
“Is he dead?”
“We don't know.”
“You think he is.”
“I think we need to wait for the forensic report.”
She looked at him.
“I can't lose him like this.”
Maseko stepped closer.
“You haven't lost him.”
“How can you know?”
“I don't.”
She looked away.
He gently touched her shoulder.
“But we're going to find him.”
They searched the farmhouse again.
In one room, Maseko discovered an old photograph pinned behind a cabinet.
Naledi took it.
It showed her father, Richard, Portia and Amara.
There was another person in the background.
Mandla Cele.
Her father's oldest business associate.
Naledi recognised him immediately.
“Mandla.”
Maseko studied the photograph.
“He's been connected to all of this from the beginning.”
“Maybe he knows where my father is.”
“Then we're going to ask him.”
Naledi looked at the photograph again.
Her mother had once stood beside these people believing they were family friends.
Now almost every face represented a secret.
Her phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
YOU FINALLY SEE HIM.
Naledi showed Maseko.
He stared at the screen.
“Don't reply.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever sent this wants us to move.”
“Maybe I want to move.”
He looked at her.
“Then we move together.”
Naledi nodded.
She slipped her father's watch into her pocket.
For the first time, she wasn't searching for proof that she was innocent.
She was searching for the people who had been lying to her family for years.
And somewhere in Johannesburg, Mandla Cele was holding an answer that could change everything.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD