Chapter 4
Daniel did not think.
He grabbed Sophie and pulled her away from the window.
“Stay down.”
The officer in the bedroom immediately called for backup.
Daniel ran into the hallway.
“Marcus!”
Security rushed toward the garden.
Police officers followed.
Daniel watched through an upstairs window as the man disappeared behind the hedges.
A gate alarm sounded.
Then shouting.
Less than two minutes later, Marcus radioed.
“We have him.”
Daniel carried Sophie downstairs.
The man was brought through the front entrance in handcuffs.
He was older than Daniel remembered.
Gray at the temples.
Thin face.
Same narrow eyes.
His name came back instantly.
Gavin Cross.
Daniel had confronted him once after Rachel said someone was following her.
Gavin claimed he was working an insurance case.
Daniel believed him.
Rachel had not.
“You,” Daniel said.
Gavin looked at him.
“I came to help.”
Detective Reyes stepped between them.
“You can help from an interview room.”
Gavin shook his head.
“You don’t understand. If Eleanor gets one phone call, evidence disappears.”
Eleanor shouted from the living room.
“He is a criminal!”
Gavin laughed.
“That’s rich.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You followed my wife.”
“Yes.”
“Who hired you?”
Gavin looked at Eleanor.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Why?”
Gavin’s answer came quietly.
“To find out what Rachel knew.”
The room became silent.
Daniel handed Sophie to the female officer.
“Take her upstairs.”
Sophie clung to him.
“No.”
“Sweetheart—”
“No, Daddy.”
Daniel knelt.
“I will come back.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
She finally allowed the officer to carry her away.
Then Daniel faced Gavin.
“Start talking.”
Reyes interrupted.
“Not here.”
Gavin nodded.
“Then take me somewhere safe.”
“You’re already with police.”
Gavin looked toward Eleanor.
“That woman has paid cops before.”
Reyes’s expression hardened.
“Watch yourself.”
“I have receipts.”
Eleanor scoffed.
“Of course you do.”
Gavin smiled.
“I also have Rachel’s recordings.”
Daniel felt the floor tilt.
“What recordings?”
“She knew I was following her.”
Daniel stared.
“She confronted me.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before the crash.”
“What did she say?”
“She offered me more money than Eleanor.”
Eleanor shouted, “He is lying!”
Gavin continued.
“She wanted everything I had collected.”
“Did you give it to her?”
“No.”
Daniel stepped toward him.
“Why not?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of my mother?”
“Of your family.”
Daniel hated the answer because it sounded believable.
Gavin looked at him.
“Rachel was smarter than all of us.”
Daniel said nothing.
“She made copies.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then what good are you?”
Gavin’s expression changed.
“Because I know what was in them.”
Detective Reyes ordered everyone separated again.
Gavin was taken to another room.
Eleanor demanded a lawyer.
Vanessa demanded protective custody.
Claire simply sat at the dining table with her face in her hands.
Daniel returned upstairs.
Sophie was awake.
He lay beside her until her breathing slowed.
Then she whispered, “Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Was Mommy bad?”
Daniel’s chest hurt.
“No.”
“Grandma said she was.”
“Grandma was wrong.”
“Did Mommy leave me?”
Daniel swallowed.
“No, sweetheart.”
Sophie touched his face.
“Then why is she gone?”
Daniel had answered that question many times.
An accident.
A rainy night.
A truck losing control.
A hospital call at 2:17 a.m.
But tonight, the word accident felt poisonous.
“She died,” he whispered. “But she loved you more than anything.”
Sophie closed her eyes.
“Like you?”
Daniel kissed her forehead.
“Like me.”
He stayed until she slept.
Downstairs, Detective Reyes allowed him to hear part of Gavin’s statement.
Gavin had worked for Eleanor for almost three years.
He had investigated employees.
Business rivals.
Former partners.
Then Rachel.
“Why Rachel?” Daniel asked.
Gavin looked tired.
“She started asking questions about foundation accounts.”
“What accounts?”
“Shell charities.”
Daniel frowned.
Gavin explained.
Money left the Mercer Foundation as donations.
Some of those charities existed only on paper.
The money was transferred again.
Eventually, millions ended up controlled by companies connected to Eleanor.
Daniel felt sick.
“My mother stole from our foundation?”
“Not just your mother.”
“Who else?”
Gavin looked toward the ceiling camera.
“I want immunity.”
Detective Reyes said, “You’re in no position to negotiate with us.”
“I have information about Rachel Mercer’s death.”
Daniel’s fists tightened.
“Say it.”
Gavin looked directly at him.
“Her brakes failed.”
“I know.”
“They didn’t fail naturally.”
Daniel’s chair scraped backward.
Reyes immediately stepped between them.
Gavin raised both hands.
“I didn’t touch her car.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel slammed his palm against the table.
“You said you had information!”
“I do.”
Gavin leaned forward.
“The night before Rachel died, she called me.”
Daniel froze.
“She said someone had been inside her car.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She tried.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“She said you were in Boston.”
Daniel remembered.
A business trip.
He had ignored two calls from Rachel because he was in a meeting.
The memory cut through him.
Gavin continued.
“She left you a message.”
“I never got one.”
“Then someone deleted it.”
Daniel stood.
He could not breathe.
Detective Reyes gave him a moment.
When he finally sat again, Gavin continued.
“Rachel told me she was going to the police the next morning.”
“She died that night.”
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at the wall.
“Did my mother know?”
Gavin hesitated.
“That is the question I could never answer.”
“Could she have?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because Rachel told someone else.”
“Who?”
Gavin looked toward the doorway.
“Vanessa.”
Daniel stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“Vanessa knew Rachel?”
“They worked together once.”
Daniel suddenly remembered.
Vanessa had been a junior event coordinator at one of the foundation’s fundraising firms.
He met her long after Rachel died.
At least that was what Vanessa told him.
Gavin continued.
“Rachel trusted her.”
Daniel felt betrayed all over again.
“So Vanessa knew my wife before she met me.”
“Yes.”
“And never told me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Detective Reyes left to question Vanessa again.
Daniel followed.
Vanessa’s face changed when she saw him.
He knew immediately.
It was true.
“You knew Rachel.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Daniel—”
“You knew my wife.”
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“She was my supervisor for six months.”
Daniel laughed in disbelief.
“You told me we met by chance.”
“We did.”
“No. Nothing about you was chance.”
“That part was!”
“Then why hide Rachel?”
Vanessa began crying.
“Because I knew you would never trust me.”
“You were right.”
“I loved you.”
“You abused my daughter.”
Vanessa looked away.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Did Rachel tell you someone was trying to hurt her?”
Vanessa whispered, “Yes.”
The word destroyed whatever remained inside him.
“What did you do?”
“I told Eleanor.”
Daniel stopped.
Vanessa sobbed.
“I thought she would help.”
“You told the person Rachel was investigating.”
“I didn’t know that!”
“Rachel trusted you.”
“I was twenty-five!”
“That is not an answer!”
Vanessa covered her face.
“She called me from a parking lot. She was terrified. She said someone had touched her car.”
Daniel’s voice broke.
“And you called my mother?”
“Yes.”
“What did Eleanor say?”
Vanessa looked toward the closed door.
“She told me not to worry.”
Daniel felt cold.
“Anything else?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“What?”
“She said she would handle Rachel.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
May you like
Then Vanessa added the sentence that changed the investigation forever.
“The next morning, Eleanor paid me fifty thousand dollars.”
