HUSH. Episode 26
1407 Words
The room was quiet.
Not luxurious.
Not threatening.
Just four gray walls, a wooden table, and two chairs beneath a single overhead light.
Bianca sat on one side of the table, her hands clasped tightly together.
A glass of water rested untouched before her.
The door opened.
Ethan walked in with his usual composed expression, carrying a slim folder.
He took the seat opposite her.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Finally, Ethan broke the silence.
“I hope you’ve been treated well.”
Bianca looked at him warily.
“I wasn’t expecting… this.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“This?”
“I thought I’d be tortured.”
Ethan leaned back slightly.
“If torture produced reliable information, every intelligence agency in the world would still rely on it.”
His voice remained calm.
“I prefer conversations.”
Bianca studied him, unable to read his face.
“You work for Damian.”
It wasn’t a question.
Ethan gave a faint nod.
“I do.”
“So…”
She swallowed.
“Does he know I’m here?”
“He does.”
Bianca lowered her eyes.
“What did he say?”
“He instructed us to treat you with respect.”
Her eyes widened slightly.
“No threats.”
“No unnecessary force.”
“If you choose to speak…”
“…you’ll be heard.”
Bianca let out a slow, shaky breath.
“I didn’t expect that.”
Ethan opened the folder.
“I have only one request.”
“The truth.”
He slid a photograph across the table.
It was Natalie.
“You knew her.”
Bianca stared at the picture for several seconds.
“…Yes.”
“What was your relationship?”
“We weren’t friends.”
“We attended the same parties.”
“We met through some of the same wealthy circles.”
Ethan nodded.
“The businessmen.”
“The politicians.”
“The people who financed her lifestyle.”
Bianca’s fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
“Yes.”
“Were they also financing yours?”
She hesitated.
“…Sometimes.”
Ethan didn’t react.
“I wasn’t exclusive to any of them.”
“I introduced people.”
“Arranged meetings.”
“Made sure everyone got what they wanted.”
“So you were a fixer.”
Bianca gave a bitter smile.
“That’s a nicer word for it.”
Ethan remained silent, allowing the quiet to settle.
After a few moments, Bianca spoke again.
“Natalie became… ambitious.”
“In what way?”
“She stopped being satisfied with expensive gifts.”
“She wanted influence.”
“Real influence.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean?”
“She began collecting information.”
The room grew noticeably quieter.
Ethan didn’t interrupt.
Bianca continued.
“At first, it was harmless.”
“She remembered conversations.”
“Who was seeing whom.”
“Who paid for what.”
“But later…”
“She started keeping records.”
Ethan’s expression sharpened almost imperceptibly.
“Records?”
Bianca nodded slowly.
“I don’t know everything.”
“But she once told me…”
“‘Information is worth more than diamonds.’”
“I thought she was joking.”
“Now…”
“I’m not so sure.”
Ethan rested his forearms on the table.
“Did Ramos know?”
“I don’t know.”
“But if he found out…”
She stopped speaking.
The fear in her eyes said the rest.
Ethan let the silence linger before asking his next question.
“Why did you try to leave the city?”
Bianca laughed weakly.
“Because I’ve watched people disappear for knowing far less.”
She looked directly at Ethan.
“I wasn’t running from the police.”
“I was running from the people whose secrets Natalie may have uncovered.”
Ethan held her gaze.
For the first time since the interrogation began, he believed he was looking at a frightened witness rather than a suspect.
He slowly closed the folder.
“This conversation stays between us.”
Bianca nodded.
“Will Damian… speak to me?”
Ethan stood, adjusting his suit jacket.
“When the time is right.”
He walked to the door before pausing.
“Until then…”
“You’re safer here than anywhere else.”
The door clicked shut behind him.
Outside the room, Ethan’s calm expression faded into one of deep thought.
Natalie hadn’t just lived among powerful people.
If Bianca was telling the truth…
She had begun collecting their secrets.
And if those secrets still existed somewhere, they could become the key to bringing down far more than one man.
The headquarters of the Financial Crimes Division remained brightly lit despite the late hour.
Most employees had gone home.
Not the team investigating Natalie.
Maps, bank statements, photographs, and company registration documents covered an entire wall of the investigation room.
Senior Investigator Cole stood before the evidence board, marker in hand.
“We’ve traced another four shell companies.”
Investigator Harris frowned as he studied the documents.
“Do they connect to the previous ones?”
Cole nodded.
“Indirectly.”
“They’re all registered under different names.”
“Different directors.”
“Different addresses.”
“But the money eventually flows through the same network before reaching Natalie’s account.”
The younger investigators exchanged glances.
“Someone spent years building this.”
Harris flipped through another file.
“We contacted the banks.”
“The directors listed on these companies are either deceased…”
“…or claim they had no idea their identities were being used.”
Cole sighed.
“Professional identity fraud.”
“Not something an ordinary criminal puts together.”
Another investigator placed a new document on the table.
“We also found something interesting.”
Everyone looked up.
“Three of the shell companies transferred money to Natalie within forty-eight hours of major political fundraising events.”
The room fell silent.
“And another two made payments immediately after several high-profile business mergers.”
Cole frowned.
“Coincidence?”
“No.”
Harris answered almost immediately.
“The timing is too consistent.”
The younger investigator hesitated.
“Could she have been receiving payment for attending private events?”
Cole shook his head.
“Maybe.”
“But we don’t know that.”
“Stick to what the evidence tells us.”
He pointed to the timeline pinned on the wall.
“What we do know is this.”
“Money arrived.”
“Then Natalie attended exclusive gatherings.”
“Then more money arrived.”
He turned toward the team.
“The pattern is real.”
“The reason behind it isn’t.”
One of the investigators walked in carrying a sealed envelope.
“We received another response from the corporate registry.”
Cole accepted it and quickly scanned the contents.
His expression slowly hardened.
“What is it?” Harris asked.
Cole laid the papers on the table.
“Every beneficial owner listed for these companies…”
“…is hidden behind international corporate trusts.”
“So we’re back where we started,” someone muttered.
“No.”
Cole looked at the highlighted page.
“We’re closer.”
He tapped one company name.
“This trust administration firm appears repeatedly.”
“It helped establish nearly every shell company connected to Natalie.”
Harris leaned over the documents.
“If we identify who instructed that firm…”
“…we identify the person behind the money.”
Cole nodded.
“Exactly.”
Another investigator looked thoughtful.
“Should we request a court order?”
“We’ll need one.”
Cole gathered the files into a neat stack.
“These financial records suggest deliberate concealment.”
“That alone justifies digging deeper.”
He looked around the room.
“I don’t care how wealthy or influential the people behind these companies are.”
“If they’re connected to this case…”
“…we follow the evidence.”
The team nodded in agreement.
As everyone returned to their desks, Harris remained standing before the investigation board.
His eyes drifted from Natalie’s smiling photograph to the web of shell companies surrounding it.
The money trail was no longer leading toward a single wealthy admirer.
It was leading into a carefully constructed financial network.
And someone had gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that network remained invisible.
- Writer
