CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Daniel drove straight to the Williams mansion, with Aisha beside him.
Richard was waiting in his study, pacing restlessly.
"Who has Robert taken?" Daniel demanded.
"Mr. Peter Lawson," Richard replied. "He was our former accountant. He handled the company's financial records during the period when Robert began falsifying transactions."
Aisha exchanged a glance with Daniel.
"Does he know where the original documents are?" she asked.
Richard nodded.
"Peter helped Samuel make copies of the records. He knows where the originals were kept."
"Have you contacted the police?" Daniel asked.
"My security team has informed them that Peter is missing. We don't know whether Robert is responsible, but I received a message from an unknown number demanding the records in exchange for Peter's safe return."
Richard showed them the message.
Aisha felt a wave of anger.
"Why would he think we have the original documents?"
"Because he knows you've been searching," Richard replied.
Daniel paced across the room.
"Then we need to give the police everything we have."
Richard nodded reluctantly.
For years, he had tried to keep the scandal away from his family. Now he understood that his silence had only made things worse.
Aisha placed Samuel's records on the desk.
"These are the notes my father kept. They might help establish what happened."
Richard examined the pages carefully.
His expression changed when he saw a particular name.
"Peter kept a private ledger," he said. "He told me once that he had made a second copy and hidden it somewhere safe."
"Where?" Daniel asked.
"I don't know. He never told me."
Aisha leaned forward.
"Then Robert may be looking for the same thing we are."
Richard nodded.
"We need to find Peter before Robert realises that the ledger could expose him completely."
Later that evening, Daniel drove Aisha home. Neither spoke much during the journey.
At her gate, she turned towards him.
"We've barely begun understanding this secret, and already someone is missing."
"I know."
"Promise me we won't let fear make our decisions."
Daniel took her hand.
"We'll work with the police. We won't do anything reckless."
She nodded, reassured by his answer.
Before leaving, Daniel kissed her forehead gently.
"Call me if anything happens."
"I will."
After he drove away, Aisha entered the house and found her mother waiting in the sitting room.
Grace looked worried.
"Did you find out anything?"
Aisha explained what Richard had told them.
At the mention of Peter Lawson, Grace suddenly became very still.
"Mum?"
Grace looked at her daughter.
"I remember him."
"You knew Peter?"
"He came to see Samuel several times before your father died. I thought they were discussing business, but one evening, Peter gave Samuel a small package."
Aisha's heart began to race.
"What was inside it?"
"I don't know. Samuel told me it was something he had to keep safe."
Aisha stared at her mother.
Could that package have contained the original documents?
If it had, the truth might be much closer than they realised.