Chapter 9 - THE FIRST DEATH
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Nathan looked almost offended by the sentence.
“My father died of pancreatic cancer.”
Richard shook his head.
“He had pancreatic cancer.”
“That’s what I said.”
“That’s not what killed him.”
Nathan stared.
Dr. Mercer stepped forward.
“Richard.”
Richard looked at him.
“You knew?”
Mercer’s face changed.
Nathan turned.
“What does he mean?”
Mercer took off his glasses.
“Your father’s decline accelerated unexpectedly during his final month.”
Nathan’s expression hardened.
“You told me that was normal.”
“At the time, I believed it could be.”
“At the time?”
Mercer looked toward Bennett.
“After tonight, I’m less certain.”
Nathan’s voice cracked.
“Was my father poisoned?”
“I don’t know.”
Richard said, “Evan thought so.”
Nathan spun toward him.
“Why would Evan care?”
“He didn’t.”
Richard gave a humorless laugh.
“He cared because he thought the same method could be used again.”
My skin went cold.
Nathan understood.
“On me.”
Richard nodded.
Detective Bennett said, “Start at the beginning.”
Richard sat down.
For the first time, he looked old.
“About nine months ago, Evan contacted me.”
“Why?”
“He had copies of medical invoices tied to Charles Ward’s old estate files.”
Nathan frowned.
“His brother.”
“Yes.”
“What invoices?”
“Private laboratory work ordered during your father’s final weeks.”
Mercer said, “I never ordered private labs.”
Richard nodded.
“That was the problem.”
Nathan paced.
“What did they show?”
“I didn’t see everything.”
“Stop protecting yourself and answer me.”
Richard flinched.
“They showed abnormal levels of medication in your father’s system.”
“What medication?”
“Sedatives. Painkillers. Enough to affect decision-making.”
Sullivan whispered, “The trust amendment.”
Richard nodded.
Nathan stopped pacing.
“Dad was drugged when he signed it.”
“Maybe.”
“Not maybe.”
Nathan slammed a hand onto the table.
“If someone altered his medication, got him confused, and put documents in front of him—”
Bennett cut in.
“We still need evidence.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Richard continued.
“Evan believed Charles helped prepare the amendment knowing your father wasn’t competent.”
“Then why didn’t Evan go to the police?”
Richard looked at Nathan.
“Because Evan saw leverage.”
Of course he did.
Nathan’s former CFO had discovered evidence of fraud surrounding a dying billionaire’s trust.
He didn’t see justice.
He saw opportunity.
“What did he want from you?” Bennett asked.
“A board seat.”
Richard answered.
“And?”
“Eventually control.”
Nathan stared.
“And you worked with him.”
“No.”
“The car.”
“I let him use Creston.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“Why?”
“He said he needed to watch someone connected to the estate records.”
“Maria?”
“I didn’t know it was her.”
I spoke for the first time.
“You gave a man you knew was blackmailing your family access to a surveillance vehicle and never asked who he was following?”
Richard looked ashamed.
“That sounds terrible.”
“It is terrible.”
Nathan nodded.
“Maria’s right.”
Richard rubbed his face.
“I made mistakes.”
Nathan stepped toward him.
“Mistakes?”
His voice rose.
“You helped the man who is poisoning me.”
“I didn’t know that!”
“You knew he was blackmailing you.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he had access to Vanessa.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew Dad may have been drugged.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
Richard stood.
“Because if it came out, the company would collapse!”
Nathan stared at him.
There it was.
The truth powerful families use to excuse almost anything.
Not greed.
Not cowardice.
The company.
Always the company.
Richard pointed at Nathan.
“Your father built Cole Meridian over forty years. Thirty thousand employees. Pension funds. Contracts. A criminal investigation into forged trust documents could have wiped billions off the market.”
“So you buried it.”
“I contained it.”
“You protected the stock price.”
“I protected thousands of people.”
“No.”
Nathan stepped close enough that their faces were inches apart.
“You protected your chair.”
Richard’s mouth shut.
Detective Bennett’s phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Then walked toward the window.
“Yes. Send it.”
She hung up.
Nathan looked at her.
“What now?”
“We found Evan Ward.”
Vanessa had given detectives one of his addresses.
A luxury apartment downtown.
Nathan asked, “Is he there?”
Bennett hesitated.
“He’s dead.”
The room went completely still.
“What?”
“Building security found him in the parking garage.”
“How?”
“Gunshot wound.”
Nathan looked toward Richard.
Richard’s face went white.
Bennett continued.
“The scene looks like suicide.”
“Looks?”
Nathan asked.
Bennett met his eyes.
“There was a note.”
“What did it say?”
She looked toward me.
Then toward Sophia playing quietly with a nanny at the far end of the room.
Bennett lowered her voice.
“It named Maria.”
My throat closed.
“What?”
Bennett’s expression was grim.
“The note claims Evan was working with you.”
Nathan shook his head immediately.
“No.”
I could barely hear my own voice.
“I never met him.”
Bennett nodded.
“I know what you said.”
“What exactly did the note say?”
She read from her phone.
“Maria Alvarez supplied access to the estate. She administered the compound. Vanessa Hale was not involved.”
I felt sick.
Nathan said, “It’s fake.”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
Bennett held his gaze.
“We’re checking.”
Then another officer entered.
“Detective.”
He handed her a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a phone.
“Ward’s?”
“Yes.”
“Unlocked?”
“Yes.”
Bennett checked the screen.
Her face changed.
Nathan asked, “What?”
She looked at me.
“There are text messages between Ward and a contact saved as M.”
My pulse hammered.
“What do they say?”
Bennett scrolled.
Then read:
“Dose increased tonight.”
Another:
“He still thinks it’s his hearing.”
Another:
“Wedding in fourteen days. No mistakes.”
Nathan stared at me.
I saw it.
Not belief.
Not accusation.
Just shock.
That still hurt.
Bennett tapped the contact details.
Then froze.
“What?”
I asked.
May you like
She looked up.
“The number belongs to your phone.”
