Chapter 13 - HARRISON
We called Harrison.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
The police reached his house before we did.
The front door was unlocked.
No signs of forced entry.
Harrison was found unconscious in his study.
Alive.
Barely.
Paramedics rushed him to the hospital.
The doctors said he had been sedated.
Not enough to kill him.
Enough to keep him unconscious for hours.
Someone had searched his office.
Files were missing.
His personal safe was open.
Daniel had vanished.
By evening, federal agents were searching airports.
Dana and I sat in the hospital waiting room.
I felt numb.
“This is because of me.”
Dana looked at me sharply.
“No.”
“I pushed.”
“Daniel did this.”
“If I had walked away—”
“He would still be stealing.”
“He might not have hurt Harrison.”
“He might have done worse.”
I stared at the floor.
My phone buzzed.
A video call.
Unknown number.
Dana said, “Don’t answer.”
I showed her.
Daniel’s name appeared on the screen.
She stood.
“Get the agent.”
I answered.
Daniel’s face appeared.
He was in a car.
Darkness behind him.
“Rebecca.”
“You drugged your father.”
He smiled sadly.
“Straight to the point.”
“Where are you?”
“Not important.”
“You hurt him.”
“He’ll live.”
“That’s your defense?”
“He left me no choice.”
I almost laughed.
“People like you always say that.”
His smile disappeared.
“You have no idea what this company cost my family.”
“What it cost your family?”
“My father chose Cole-Whitmore over everything.”
“So you stole from it.”
“I took what should have been mine.”
“You sound exactly like Marcus.”
That hit him.
His eyes hardened.
“You think Marcus was the villain.”
“He was one of them.”
“No. Marcus was weak. Vanessa was greedy. I was practical.”
“You’re a criminal.”
“I’m a realist.”
Dana returned with two agents.
One started tracing the call.
Daniel continued.
“Helen never understood.”
“She understood you perfectly.”
His face changed.
“So you found the recording.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then he smiled again.
“Did you find all of it?”
My stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?”
The agent signaled for me to keep talking.
Daniel leaned closer to the camera.
“There’s another box.”
“Where?”
He laughed.
“You really think I’m going to tell you?”
“Then why mention it?”
“Because your aunt didn’t trust Harrison either.”
I froze.
Dana looked at me.
“What are you talking about?”
Daniel’s voice softened.
“Ask yourself why Harrison knew exactly when to bring you in.”
“Helen told him.”
“Did she?”
He glanced out the car window.
“You’ve been so busy looking for villains, Rebecca. You never noticed the old man controlling the board.”
I felt sick.
“Stop.”
“Ask Harrison what happened to the first company.”
“What first company?”
Daniel smiled.
Then the call cut off.
The agents looked frustrated.
One said, “We got a partial location.”
“Where?”
“North side. Industrial district.”
Dana looked at me.
Then a nurse appeared.
“Ms. Carter?”
I stood.
“Harrison is awake.”
I entered his room alone.
He looked weak.
Bruised.
Angry.
I sat beside him.
“Daniel called.”
His eyes closed.
“What did he say?”
“That Helen didn’t trust you.”
Harrison opened his eyes.
“Anything else?”
“He mentioned a first company.”
Harrison stopped breathing for a second.
There.
I saw it.
Fear.
“Harrison.”
He looked away.
“What first company?”
He was silent too long.
I stood.
“Harrison.”
Finally, he whispered.
“Before Cole-Whitmore, there was Carter-Cole Industries.”
My aunt’s name.
My family’s name.
I stared at him.
“What happened to it?”
May you like
Harrison closed his eyes.
“I took it from her.”
