Chapter 3 - THE NIGHT NOBODY DISCUSSEDDaniel had been eleven when his mother died.
For twenty-eight years, he had believed the same story.
Margaret Mercer left a charity dinner shortly before midnight, lost control of her Mercedes on a rain-soaked road, and crashed through a guardrail.
Police ruled it accidental.
Arthur never remarried.
And after the funeral, the Mercer family stopped discussing April 14.
Now Victoria had dragged the date back from the grave.
Daniel returned to Arthur’s room.
His father was awake.
“What happened on April fourteenth?”
Arthur’s face changed immediately.
“Daniel—”
“What happened the night Mom died?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Victoria sent me a message.”
Arthur stared at the ceiling.
“Of course she did.”
“What does she know?”
“Enough to hurt you.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Arthur sighed.
“Your mother wasn’t alone that night.”
Daniel felt his chest tighten.
“Who was with her?”
“Thomas Reed.”
The CFO.
Daniel stepped backward.
“What?”
“Your mother discovered someone was stealing from the company.”
“Thomas?”
“No.”
“Then why was he with her?”
“He was helping her.”
Arthur’s voice weakened.
“She left the dinner because Thomas called. He had documents proving financial theft.”
Daniel struggled to process it.
“Who was stealing?”
Arthur looked directly at him.
“My brother.”
Uncle Stephen.
Daniel remembered him vaguely: loud laugh, expensive watches, always disappearing for months at a time.
Stephen Mercer died of a heart attack seven years after Margaret’s accident.
“Stephen was embezzling?”
“For years.”
“Did Mom know?”
“She discovered it.”
“And then she died?”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“I never proved Stephen caused the crash.”
“But you suspected him.”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s anger rose.
“And you never told me?”
“You were eleven.”
“I’m thirty-nine now.”
“I was trying to protect the company.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The company.”
Arthur flinched.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Every secret in this family gets buried because somebody is protecting the company.”
Arthur’s eyes filled with regret.
“You’re right.”
The admission took some anger out of him.
“What happened to the evidence Mom found?”
“Gone.”
“Thomas?”
“He kept copies.”
Daniel immediately called him again.
Still off.
Arthur whispered, “Find Thomas.”
Before Daniel could answer, Officer Ruiz entered.
“We found your wife’s vehicle.”
“Where?”
“Logan Airport.”
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
“She left the country?”
“No. The vehicle was abandoned.”
“Cameras?”
“We’re checking them.”
Ruiz hesitated.
“Mr. Mercer, there’s more.”
She showed him a photograph of a document.
It was a bank authorization carrying Arthur’s signature.
Transfer amount: $27,000,000.
Recipient: North Harbor Consulting LLC.
“Dad,” Daniel said, “is that your signature?”
Arthur studied it.
“No.”
“You’re certain?”
“I’ve signed my name every day for sixty years.”
Ruiz nodded.
“We’ll have it examined.”
Daniel looked at the date.
Three days earlier.
Arthur had been inside the wall.
Someone had forged his signature while he was imprisoned.
Daniel called the company’s board chair.
No answer.
Then another board member.
No answer.
A third finally picked up.
“Daniel?”
“Have you seen what’s happening?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t anyone call me?”
Another pause.
Daniel’s patience snapped.
“What has Victoria told the board?”
“That Arthur suffered a mental breakdown.”
“He was kidnapped.”
“We heard.”
“Then why are you whispering?”
“Because, Daniel, Victoria sent the board a medical report yesterday.”
“What report?”
“It says Arthur has advanced vascular dementia.”
Daniel looked at his father.
Arthur lifted an eyebrow.
Daniel said, “That’s false.”
“Maybe. But the report was signed by a neurologist.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Samuel Pike.”
Daniel wrote down the name.
“And there’s another issue.”
“What?”
“An emergency board meeting is scheduled for tomorrow morning.”
“To do what?”
“Remove Arthur as chairman.”
Daniel felt the floor shift beneath him.
“And replace him with whom?”
The board member exhaled.
“You.”
Daniel went silent.
“That makes no sense.”
“It gets worse.”
“How?”
“Victoria submitted documents claiming you authorized the transfer of temporary voting rights to her.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“I never signed anything like that.”
“You did sign estate-planning documents last month.”
Daniel remembered.
Victoria had put a stack of papers in front of him after dinner.
Insurance updates.
Education trusts for Leo.
Routine family documents.
At least, that was what she had called them.
His pulse quickened.
“Send me everything.”
“I’ll try.”
“No. Send it now.”
The man did.
Daniel opened the attachment.
Page after page.
His signature appeared twelve times.
On page twenty-three, buried beneath dense legal language, was the provision.
If Arthur became medically incapacitated and Daniel assumed chairmanship, Victoria would receive temporary control of Daniel’s voting proxy.
Daniel stared at his own signature.
He had signed it.
Without reading.
Victoria hadn’t simply betrayed him.
She had used his laziness against him.
Officer Ruiz studied his face.
“What?”
Daniel handed her the phone.
“She planned the whole thing.”
Ruiz read silently.
Then Daniel noticed a name at the bottom.
Prepared by:
KELLER, BRIGGS & MASON LLP
Martin Keller.
Arthur whispered, “I told you.”
Daniel called Keller.
Straight to voicemail.
He called the law firm.
Disconnected.
Ruiz’s phone rang.
She answered, listened, then looked at Daniel.
“We found Thomas Reed.”
“Where?”
“A motel in Providence.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
Daniel released a breath.
“Can I talk to him?”
Ruiz didn’t answer immediately.
That frightened him.
“What?”
“He told officers he won’t speak over the phone.”
“Why?”
“He says Victoria has people listening.”
Daniel stared at her.
“And he specifically asked for you.”
“When?”
“Immediately.”
Daniel grabbed his coat.
But before he could leave, Arthur spoke.
“Daniel.”
He turned.
His father’s face had gone pale.
“There’s something about Thomas you need to know before you trust him.”
Daniel waited.
Arthur swallowed.
“Thomas loved your mother.”
Daniel stood frozen.
May you like
Arthur continued.
“And for years, I believed she might have loved him too.”
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