Chapter 8 - WHAT THEIR FATHER KNEW
Daniel drove to the lake house before sunrise.
Claire rode beside him.
Elena followed in another car.
The house had belonged to Daniel’s father for thirty-two years.
After he died, nobody touched his study.
Daniel unlocked the door.
The smell hit him immediately.
Old wood.
Dust.
Coffee.
His father.
For one painful second, Daniel was twelve again.
Standing in the doorway after breaking a neighbor’s window.
Waiting for judgment.
Claire touched his arm.
“You okay?”
“No.”
They entered the study.
Elena looked around.
“Where would he keep private records?”
“Everywhere.”
Daniel opened drawers.
Nothing.
Bookshelves.
Nothing.
Desk.
Nothing.
Claire stood in the center of the room.
“Your father hated computers.”
“He barely trusted a calculator.”
“So if he knew something…”
“He wrote it down.”
Daniel looked toward the old filing cabinet.
Locked.
He broke it open.
Inside were tax records.
Company contracts.
Personal letters.
Then a black notebook.
Daniel opened it.
The first pages were ordinary.
Meetings.
Numbers.
Notes.
Then Marcus’s name appeared.
MARCUS — $180,000 SHORT. AGAIN.
Next page.
M. LYING ABOUT DENVER ACCOUNT.
Next.
ALAN SAYS KEEP DANIEL OUT OF THIS.
Daniel stared.
Claire read over his shoulder.
“Alan.”
Daniel flipped faster.
Then he found an entry dated eleven months before his father’s death.
STERLING PROPOSAL IS DIRTY. MARCUS PUSHING HARD. ALAN SAYS WE CAN FIX IT QUIETLY.
Another.
MARCUS DOESN’T UNDERSTAND HOW SERIOUS THIS IS.
Then, three weeks later:
ALAN IS PROTECTING HIM TOO MUCH.
Daniel’s breathing changed.
Elena stepped closer.
“Keep going.”
The final written page was dated four days before his father suffered the stroke that killed him.
Daniel read aloud.
“I confronted Alan.”
Claire looked at him.
Daniel continued.
“He admitted Sterling has been paying people for referrals and hidden placement fees. Marcus is involved. Alan says exposing it will destroy the company.”
Daniel stopped.
There was one final sentence.
If anything happens to me, Daniel needs the red file.
Daniel looked around.
“What red file?”
Claire started searching shelves.
Elena checked the cabinet.
Daniel walked behind the desk.
His father had always kept one framed photograph there.
Daniel and Marcus as boys.
Marcus missing two front teeth.
Daniel holding a baseball trophy.
He picked up the frame.
Something rattled.
Daniel turned it over.
Taped behind the backing was a small key.
Claire whispered, “He wanted you to find it.”
They searched the room again.
Finally, Elena spotted a locked box beneath a loose floorboard.
The key fit.
Inside sat a red folder.
Daniel opened it.
Bank records.
Contracts.
Names.
Sterling executives.
Marcus.
Alan.
And a signed internal memo.
Daniel’s father had prepared to remove Marcus from Caldwell Consulting.
The date?
The day after his stroke.
Claire stared.
“Oh my God.”
Then Elena’s phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her expression hardened.
“What?”
She looked at Daniel.
“Police found Evan Brooks.”
Claire grabbed the desk.
“Alive?”
Elena hesitated.
“Yes.”
Claire exhaled.
“But he says the person who ordered him taken wasn’t Marcus.”
Daniel stared.
“Who was it?”
May you like
Elena’s face said she already knew.
“Alan Mercer.”
