Chapter 6 - THE DEAD MAN’S CONFESSION
Daniel woke in the hospital two hours later.
Nathan stood beside the bed.
Grace waited near the door.
“What did my father leave?”
Daniel looked at the police officer outside.
“Close the door.”
Nathan did.
Daniel spoke quietly.
“Six months before Charles died, he gave me a sealed package.”
Nathan stared.
“You never told me.”
“He ordered me not to.”
“He was your client?”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
“I didn’t know until yesterday.”
Daniel swallowed.
“He told me to open it only if someone challenged the firstborn clause in the Cole trust.”
Nathan’s stomach tightened.
“So he knew Lily might come back.”
“I think he hoped she would.”
Grace looked shocked.
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“He threatened her.”
“I know.”
Daniel looked at Grace.
“I heard the recording.”
“Then why would he help us?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Guilt.”
Nathan said nothing.
“Charles changed during the final year of his life.”
Daniel continued.
“He asked strange questions.”
“About?”
“Whether crimes committed through private investigators could still be prosecuted.”
Grace folded her arms.
“What crimes?”
Daniel looked at Nathan.
“I think your father tried to undo something.”
“What?”
“The original agreement.”
Daniel took a breath.
“The envelope contained a handwritten confession and a flash drive.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“What did he confess?”
Daniel looked at Grace first.
Then Nathan.
“That he helped frame Grace’s father.”
Grace went completely still.
“My father?”
Nathan turned.
“You told me he died in prison.”
Grace’s eyes filled.
“He did.”
Daniel nodded.
“Charles said Grace’s father discovered accounting fraud between Cole Holdings and Sterling Development.”
Nathan stared.
“What fraud?”
“Money laundering through construction contracts.”
Grace covered her mouth.
Daniel continued.
“Grace’s father threatened to report it.”
Nathan felt sick.
“So my father…”
“Had evidence planted.”
Grace backed into the wall.
Her voice barely came out.
“He killed my father.”
“No,” Daniel said carefully.
“He framed him.”
“He died in prison!”
Grace shouted.
“He had a heart attack after being beaten!”
Nathan moved toward her.
Grace shoved him away.
“Don’t.”
Nathan stopped.
She was crying now.
“For years I thought my father made a mistake.”
Her voice broke.
“He died ashamed.”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
Grace looked at Nathan.
“Your father didn’t just steal Lily’s father from her.”
She pointed at herself.
“He stole mine from me.”
Nathan had no defense.
No apology big enough.
Daniel continued.
“The confession also said Richard Sterling organized the cover-up.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Victoria’s father.”
“Yes.”
“And Eleanor?”
“Charles named her too.”
Grace wiped her face.
“What about Victoria?”
Daniel hesitated.
“She was twenty-two at the time.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“She knew about Lily.”
Silence.
Daniel continued.
“She signed a confidentiality agreement.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“So while I was hiding with a newborn, Victoria was signing paperwork about my child.”
Nathan looked sick.
“Yes.”
“Where’s the confession now?” Grace asked.
Daniel looked toward the hospital window.
“The people who attacked me took the original.”
Nathan paced.
“Copies?”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“I’m an attorney.”
Nathan stopped.
Daniel reached toward his bag.
“You think I kept one copy?”
He pulled out a small key.
“Safe-deposit box.”
Nathan almost laughed.
Daniel’s smile vanished.
“There’s a problem.”
“What?”
“I checked the flash drive before they attacked me.”
Nathan waited.
Daniel looked at Grace.
“The confession wasn’t the worst thing on it.”
Grace’s face tightened.
“What was?”
“Video.”
“Of what?”
“Your meeting with Eleanor five years ago.”
Grace froze.
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Charles recorded it.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Nathan’s father had recorded everyone.
Business partners.
Rivals.
Friends.
Apparently even his co-conspirators.
Daniel whispered.
“The video shows Eleanor threatening Lily.”
Nathan clenched his fists.
“That’s enough to bury her.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“The last thirty seconds are worse.”
“How?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Victoria walks into the room.”
Grace stopped breathing.
Daniel continued.
“And she asks Eleanor one question.”
Nathan’s voice went cold.
“What question?”
May you like
Daniel looked directly at him.
“She asks, ‘Why didn’t you just make the baby disappear?’”
