Chapter 8 - The Person Inside Daniel’s Circle
The next morning, Margaret took me to her office.
I didn’t sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Daniel.
His smile.
His voice.
The last time he hugged me before leaving for work.
And then I saw the crash.
The phone call.
The secrets.
Someone had been moving around us while we were building a life.
Someone had been waiting.
Margaret placed a stack of files on her desk.
“We need to find who had access.”
I nodded.
“Start with everyone.”
She looked at me.
“Emily.”
“No.”
I looked directly at her.
“No more protecting people.”
My voice was calm.
“Daniel protected me. Now I protect him.”
Margaret opened the first file.
“Hale-Mercer Logistics employees.”
Names appeared.
Executives.
Managers.
Partners.
Then one name stopped me.
“Victor Lang.”
Margaret nodded.
“He’s been pressuring Daniel for years.”
“Why?”
“He wanted control.”
“Could he have killed Daniel?”
Margaret hesitated.
“He had the motive.”
“Who else?”
She turned the page.
Then stopped.
“What?”
She didn’t answer.
“Margaret.”
Slowly, she pushed the paper toward me.
My heart sank.
Because it was a security report.
And on the list of people who accessed Daniel’s private office in the weeks before his death…
Was my father.
Richard Hale.
But beneath his name…
Was another.
Kelsey Hale.
I stared.
“They were both inside his office?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The day before the accident.”
My hands started shaking.
“They were planning this together.”
“Maybe.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“They were.”
Then Thomas entered the room.
He looked exhausted.
“I found something.”
Margaret turned.
“What?”
He placed a folder on the desk.
“Daniel’s last email.”
I looked at him.
“Who was it sent to?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Me.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I didn’t know what it meant.”
Margaret opened the email.
The message was short.
Only one sentence.
IF I DISAPPEAR, LOOK AT THE PERSON WHO BENEFITS THE MOST.
I stared.
“That’s it?”
Thomas nodded.
“There was an attachment.”
He opened it.
A bank record appeared.
My father’s name.
A large payment.
From an unknown account.
Date:
Two days before Daniel’s death.
My breathing stopped.
“How much?”
Margaret looked at the number.
“Five hundred thousand dollars.”
My father had been paid.
To do what?
Then another file opened.
A photo.
My father.
Kelsey.
And Victor Lang.
Together.
At a restaurant.
Three days before Daniel died.
Nobody spoke.
Because the truth was finally standing in front of us.
My father wasn’t acting alone.
He was part of a plan.
A plan that ended with Daniel dead.
My phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
One sentence.
STOP DIGGING OR YOUR BABY WILL GROW UP WITHOUT YOU.
My entire body went cold.
Margaret grabbed the phone.
Her face turned furious.
“This is a threat.”
Thomas looked toward the door.
“They know we found out.”
I looked at the message again.
For weeks, I had been broken.
Grieving.
Afraid.
But something changed.
Because they had made one mistake.
They threatened my child.
And nobody in this world would ever forgive that.
I stood.
“Find them.”
Margaret looked surprised.
“Emily?”
I wiped my tears.
“I spent three weeks mourning.”
I looked at Daniel’s picture on the desk.
“Now I fight.”
Then my phone rang again.
This time…
The caller ID appeared.
May you like
Richard Hale.
My father.
