Chapter 9 - THE SECRET DANIEL KEPT FOR SEVEN YEARS|
Daniel refused to speak until Marcus had checked every room and confirmed that nobody else was inside the house.
Even then, he kept the curtains closed.
Sera sat across from her father at the kitchen table, holding his hand as though he might disappear if she loosened her grip.
“Start at the beginning,” she said.
Daniel took a long breath.
“Seven years ago, I discovered that several companies were being purchased with money stolen from charitable foundations and pension funds. The acquisitions looked legitimate on paper, but the money was being moved through accounts controlled by people connected to your father's employer.”
He glanced at Adrian.
“Your father was one of them.”
Adrian's face remained still.
“My father died six years ago.”
“That's what you were told.”
Daniel explained that he had copied the original financial ledger and planned to deliver it to federal investigators. Before he could do so, he was attacked outside his apartment.
He survived, but his business partner was killed.
“The police report blamed a robbery,” Daniel said. “The robbery was staged.”
Sera squeezed his hand.
“Who took you?”
“I never saw his face. I was held in several locations. Eventually, someone helped me escape, but I was warned that contacting you would put you in danger.”
“Who helped you?”
Daniel hesitated.
“A woman named Evelyn Vale.”
Adrian stiffened.
“My mother?”
Daniel nodded.
“She discovered what your father had done. She helped me escape and gave me enough money to disappear. But before she could expose the entire operation, she died.”
Adrian stood abruptly.
“My mother died in a car accident.”
“That's the official story.”
“You're saying she was murdered?”
“I'm saying the brakes on her car were tampered with.”
Adrian gripped the back of a chair.
For years, he'd believed his mother's death was a tragedy he could never change. Now every memory had become a question.
Sera rose and moved toward him.
He shook his head.
“Not now.”
She stopped.
Daniel reached into his coat and removed a small brass key.
“Your mother gave me this. She said it opened a safe deposit box containing the original ledger and a letter she wrote to you.”
Adrian stared at the key.
“Where is the box?”
“Chicago. The First National Trust.”
“Why didn't you retrieve it?”
“Because Vincent Vale controls the bank's security division.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Daniel looked at Sera.
“I need you to understand something. I didn't stay away because I stopped loving you. I stayed away because I believed your life was the only thing I could still save.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
“You should have trusted me.”
“I know.”
She hugged him again, but the reunion was overshadowed by the knowledge that the past had followed them.
Outside, a vehicle slowed near the property.
Marcus looked through the window.
His hand moved toward his concealed weapon.
Adrian followed his gaze.
A black SUV had stopped beside the road.
The driver's window lowered.
A man inside raised a phone and took a photograph of the house.
Then the vehicle accelerated away.
Daniel went pale.
“They've found me.”
Adrian reached for his phone.
“Marcus, lock down the property.”
Daniel grabbed his arm.
“No. You don't understand. Vincent doesn't want the ledger anymore.”
May you like
He looked at Sera.
“He wants the person your mother hid it with.”
