Chapter 8 - The Night Before the Crash
Paula Merrick agreed to speak to police with an attorney present.
Her statement changed the investigation.
Not enough to prove murder.
Enough to make Clara Mercer’s death suspicious.
Paula admitted accepting money from Gavin Holt in exchange for information from Daniel’s company.
At first, she provided harmless material—vendor lists, project schedules, travel calendars.
Then Gavin paid more.
He wanted access credentials.
Paula gave him Daniel’s temporary login token during a software migration.
She claimed she believed Gavin was collecting corporate intelligence for a business dispute.
Ruiz did not believe every part of her explanation.
Neither did Daniel.
But Paula provided bank records.
Payments from Northstar Custodial Services.
The same company Marissa later recommended for Lily’s and Owen’s trusts.
The financial fraud had begun before Clara died.
That mattered.
The original crash file mattered more.
Clara’s SUV had gone off Route 17A during heavy rain at 11:42 p.m. on November 2, 2019.
She had been returning from Lake Arden.
Daniel had always believed she went there for a charity retreat.
Now he knew she went to meet Marissa.
The vehicle struck a tree.
Clara died at the scene.
The initial investigation found no alcohol, no drugs, no evidence another car had made contact.
Weather and speed were blamed.
But the archived insurance report contained something the police summary barely mentioned.
Irregular brake pressure.
At the time, investigators attributed it to crash damage.
Now Ruiz asked an independent automotive forensic expert to review the photographs.
Daniel waited.
Waiting was torture.
He poured his energy into the children instead.
He reduced his office schedule.
He cooked breakfast badly.
He learned Owen hated scrambled eggs unless ketchup formed a smiley face.
He attended Lily’s parent-teacher conference himself.
Small things.
Things Clara used to do.
One evening Lily found him standing over a burned tray of chicken.
“Mom would be laughing.”
Daniel looked at the smoke.
“She’d be ordering pizza.”
Lily almost smiled.
Almost.
Then the doorbell rang.
Daniel froze.
Marissa was prohibited from contacting the children.
He checked the camera.
Gavin Holt stood on the porch.
Daniel called Ruiz before opening the door.
She told him not to let Gavin inside.
Daniel stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind him.
“What do you want?”
Gavin’s expensive coat was wet from rain.
“To prevent something from becoming uglier than it already is.”
“You’re late.”
“Marissa is frightened.”
“She should be.”
“That kind of statement doesn’t help you.”
Daniel stared.
“Did you come here as her attorney?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
Gavin lowered his voice.
“You have children. I have grandchildren. There are moments when adults need to stop feeding a fire.”
“What are you asking me to do?”
“Stop pushing Clara’s crash investigation.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“Why?”
“Because grief makes people irrational.”
“Did you know my wife?”
Gavin said nothing.
“Did you meet her at Lake Arden?”
Still nothing.
Daniel stepped closer.
“What did Marissa want from Clara?”
Gavin’s expression hardened.
“You are assuming Marissa was the dangerous person in that relationship.”
“Clara is dead.”
“And you think the dead become saints?”
Daniel’s hands curled, but he remembered Lily’s face after he struck Marissa.
He stepped backward.
Gavin noticed.
“Good,” he said quietly. “You’re learning restraint.”
Daniel’s voice turned cold.
“Leave my property.”
Gavin reached into his coat.
Daniel tensed.
But Gavin removed an envelope.
He placed it on the porch railing.
“What is that?”
“Something Clara wrote.”
Daniel did not touch it.
“Where did you get it?”
“She sent it to me.”
“When?”
“Before she died.”
“Why do you have it now?”
“Because I kept it.”
Daniel looked at the envelope.
“You expect me to believe you suddenly grew a conscience?”
“No.”
“Then what do you want?”
Gavin’s face changed.
“For Marissa to survive what she started.”
Daniel heard the wording.
“What she started?”
Gavin realized the mistake.
He stepped away.
“Read the letter.”
Then he walked toward his car.
Daniel called after him.
“Gavin.”
He stopped.
“If you know what happened to Clara, your chance to be the person who tells the truth is disappearing.”
Gavin looked over his shoulder.
For a second, he seemed exhausted rather than polished.
Then he said, “You still think the worst thing Marissa did was kill your wife.”
Daniel’s blood went cold.
Gavin opened his car door.
“I didn’t say she did.”
Then he drove away.
Daniel never touched the envelope.
Ruiz collected it.
Inside was a photocopy of a letter.
Not an original.
Clara had apparently written to Gavin accusing him of helping Marissa move stolen money.
At the bottom was one line underlined twice.
If you help her come near my husband or my children, I will expose both of you.
Ruiz looked at Daniel.
“He didn’t bring this to help you.”
“Then why?”
“To show us Clara threatened them.”
Daniel understood.
“A possible motive for them to claim she was dangerous.”
“Or unstable. Or vindictive.”
His phone rang.
Ruiz answered.
She listened without speaking for nearly a minute.
When she hung up, her expression had changed.
“What?”
“The vehicle expert finished his review.”
Daniel waited.
May you like
Ruiz said, “He believes the brake failure began before the crash.”
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