Chapter 6 - ANNA’S LAST NINE DAYS
Anna never liked my work.
She respected why I did it.
Not what it did to me.
She once said:
“You come home physically, but half your brain stays wherever the danger was.”
She was right.
When Lily was born, Anna asked me to leave Gray.
I told her:
“After Lantern.”
There is always an after.
One more source.
One more ledger.
One more warrant.
One more promise.
Then Anna died.
Now I had proof she met Malcolm Voss nine days before the crash.
Why?
Rebecca located Voss’s old calendar archive.
Appointment:
A.W.
Forty minutes.
Location:
Hawthorne Hotel, Washington.
Purpose:
Personal consultation.
No notes.
Voss refused interview through attorney.
That was his right.
His office issued statement:
Dr. Voss has cooperated fully with federal authorities regarding campus events.
Maybe.
Not with me.
Anna’s old email backups were mostly gone.
But I kept physical boxes.
Normal things.
Tax returns.
Medical bills.
Lily’s birth records.
I called my business manager and asked him to bring a locked storage case from my home.
Inside was Anna’s old planner.
Nine days before crash:
M.V. 2:30.
So she chose meeting.
Not surveillance.
Next note:
Ask about Lantern beneficiary issue.
Beneficiary issue?
Then:
Do not tell D until confirmed.
Me.
She was investigating something without telling me.
That hurt.
Then I remembered why.
I was commanding Lantern.
If she suspected something inside my operation, telling me could compromise both.
Or she thought I would overreact.
History supported.
Another note:
Hawthorne scholarship vehicle?
The scholarship existed before Lily.
Anna knew about it?
Maybe Aster Foundation planned grants.
Then:
If anything happens, Rebecca has packet B.
I looked at Rebecca.
Her face changed.
“What?”
“You had Anna’s packet.”
“No.”
“Her planner says you did.”
Rebecca stared.
“I swear to you, I never received anything from Anna.”
“Could someone use your name?”
“Yes.”
“Who knew she trusted you?”
“You did.”
“Voss?”
“Maybe.”
Then Node 7 warning.
Do not trust first responder.
Someone wanted Rebecca under suspicion or truly was warning me.
We needed records.
Aster Civic Foundation’s old board minutes revealed Anna had been hired as outside compliance consultant.
That explained AW CONSULTING payment.
Six months after death could be final invoice settlement.
AW TRUST?
Created after accident.
Beneficiary:
Lily Walker.
My daughter.
I stopped breathing.
Aster Foundation had created a trust for Lily after Anna died.
Amount:
Two hundred thousand initially.
Current value:
Nearly one point four million.
I knew nothing.
Who authorized?
Malcolm Voss.
Why?
Memo:
Resolution of consulting liability and dependent support.
Could be compensation owed to Anna.
Then why hide?
The trust never distributed because triggering condition:
Beneficiary enrollment at Hawthorne University.
Lily enrolled.
What happened then?
Funds became available.
To whom?
Trustee:
Hawthorne Advancement Services.
That meant the same institution manipulating Lily also controlled money supposedly meant for her.
Rebecca froze distributions immediately pending review.
Was the scholarship simply how they activated the trust?
Maybe.
Then Anna’s final Aster report surfaced.
Draft.
She had discovered donor funds routed through research grants into private political consulting firms.
Lantern territory.
She recognized overlap with my case.
She met Voss because he was Gray oversight.
She wanted to report conflict without telling me first.
Reason in her notes:
Daniel too close.
Meaning emotionally or operationally?
Probably both.
She planned to hand evidence to oversight.
Nine days later she died.
Did Voss kill her?
No evidence.
Truck accident remained.
But Voss possessed her report.
Did he turn it over?
Gray archive showed no Anna report.
He said through attorney:
“I do not recall receiving final material.”
Convenient.
Then we found courier receipt.
Anna sent a packet one day before her death.
Recipient:
Rebecca Sloan.
Rebecca stared.
“I never got it.”
Delivery signature:
R. Sloan.
Not hers?
We compared old handwriting.
Different.
Courier delivered to Gray headquarters reception.
Someone signed her name.
Again.
A packet moved.
Not necessarily destroyed.
Who worked reception security?
Private contractor:
Sentinel Meridian Services.
Major investor:
Whitmore family.
Tyler’s family.
The same dynasty.
The old network had physical access to Gray headquarters.
Rebecca whispered:
“Lantern was compromised deeper than we knew.”
Then my encrypted phone buzzed.
Unknown internal message.
NODE 7 REACTIVATION CONFIRMED.
PHASE TWO VALIDATED.
No sender.
Maya went pale.
“That is the phrase.”
“What phrase?”
“Phase two.”
Rebecca ordered the phone isolated.
Too late.
The device had transmitted activation.
Somebody was waiting.
Then a second message.
CHECK WALKER BUSINESS SERVER.
My current small security company.
I called my office.
No answer.
Then building alarm.
Remote camera feed opened.
My office had been entered.
Nothing smashed.
Nothing obviously stolen.
Only one thing placed on my desk.
A white envelope.
My employee zoomed camera.
Written across front:
May you like
ANNA WALKER.
Continue to the next part: Someone uses Daniel’s phone activation to enter his modern business and leave a package bearing his dead wife’s name.
