Chapter 5 - MY FATHER’S ACCIDENT
Grant smiled at my mother.
“Tell her.”
Mom shook her head.
“Not like this.”
My voice cracked.
“Tell me what?”
Grant leaned against the dining room table.
“The accident.”
Mom whispered, “Please.”
“You told her he fell from scaffolding.”
“He did.”
Grant laughed.
“No, Diane.”
My heart began pounding.
Officer Ramirez stepped closer.
“Mr. Mercer, if you have information regarding a death—”
“This is family history,” Grant said.
“Then stop talking,” Mom snapped.
Everyone stared at her.
I had never heard her use that voice with him.
Grant’s smile vanished.
Mom stepped forward.
“You don’t get to use Michael against her.”
“Then you tell her.”
“Tell me what?”
Mom looked at me.
I could see years of fear in her face.
“Your dad’s death wasn’t exactly how I explained it.”
I stopped breathing.
“What does that mean?”
“There was an investigation.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“A different investigation.”
Grant folded his arms.
“Michael had discovered money was disappearing from one of Hawthorne’s subcontracting projects.”
William’s head snapped toward him.
“What project?”
Grant looked at him.
“The East Riverton development.”
William stepped closer.
“That was twelve years ago.”
Mom nodded.
“Michael worked quality control.”
I knew that.
Dad had spent nights checking structural plans.
I remembered him coming home smelling like sawdust and coffee.
I remembered him saying that buildings were promises.
If people trusted you enough to walk inside, you owed them honesty.
Mom continued.
“He found altered invoices.”
William’s face became serious.
“Who altered them?”
Mom looked at Grant.
The room went silent.
Grant laughed once.
“Oh, come on.”
William stared at him.
“You worked East Riverton.”
Grant’s jaw flexed.
“So did fifty other people.”
Mom whispered, “Michael believed Grant was involved.”
My stomach turned.
“You knew Grant before Dad died?”
She nodded.
“Through work.”
“How well?”
“Emma…”
“How well?”
Grant answered for her.
“Well enough that your father hated me.”
I felt sick.
Ramirez stepped between us.
“That’s enough for tonight.”
“No!”
Everyone looked at me.
I pointed at Grant.
“He said he knows what happened to my father.”
Ramirez looked at him.
“Do you?”
Grant’s eyes narrowed.
“I know Michael Carter was paranoid.”
William spoke.
“Michael Carter reported billing irregularities to Hawthorne.”
Everyone looked at him.
“You remember him?” I asked.
William nodded slowly.
“I remember the name.”
Grant shifted.
William continued.
“He contacted our internal audit department.”
My mother covered her mouth.
“But the complaint disappeared before an investigation was opened.”
Caroline Reed stared at William.
“You never told me that.”
“I didn’t know until years later.”
Grant tried to walk away.
Officer Hayes blocked him.
“Stay here.”
Grant looked at me.
“You want the truth?”
Mom shouted, “Grant!”
He pointed toward the hallway.
“Ask your mother why she married the man her husband accused of stealing.”
I turned toward her.
May you like
She had no answer.
And somehow, that silence was worse than anything Grant could have said.
