Chapter 19 - Daniel’s Last Bargain
Daniel agreed to meet in Claire’s office.
He arrived carrying the same leather briefcase from the bank surveillance footage.
Rachel stared at it.
Daniel noticed.
“You think everything is evidence now.”
“Most things around you are.”
Claire closed the conference-room door.
“Mr. Mercer, Vanessa Kane states you have Samuel Ellison’s ledger.”
Daniel laughed.
“Vanessa says many things.”
Rachel placed a still image from First National on the table.
“You emptied the safe-deposit box.”
“I accessed it.”
“With a forged authorization.”
“I believed the signature was yours.”
Rachel stared at him.
Daniel looked away.
Claire said, “Do you have the ledger?”
“No.”
“Did you ever?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Yes.”
Rachel’s throat tightened.
“Where is it?”
“I gave it to Adrian.”
“When?”
“June eighteenth.”
“The day you emptied the box.”
“Yes.”
“So Ellis stole the green folder for nothing.”
“No. The green folder contained supporting documents.”
Rachel leaned forward.
“What documents?”
“Copies of checks. Letters. A private settlement with Thomas Reed’s widow.”
Margaret had never mentioned that.
Rachel’s mind raced.
“What settlement?”
“Samuel paid her.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he admit fault?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Ask Margaret.”
Rachel almost screamed.
Instead she sat back.
“No more circles.”
Daniel looked exhausted.
“I’m telling you what I know.”
Claire asked, “What did Adrian do with the ledger?”
“Put it somewhere secure.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Rachel watched him.
“Vanessa says you still have it.”
“She’s wrong.”
“Why would she lie?”
“Because she needs a deal.”
“So do you.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Rachel continued.
“Adrian owns your debt. He knows about the trust-account transfer. Your marriage is ending. Your custody strategy failed.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Truth is expensive.”
“I’ve noticed.”
Daniel opened his briefcase.
He removed a flash drive.
Claire immediately said, “What is that?”
“Copies of emails.”
“Between?”
“Me and Adrian.”
Rachel stared.
“Why are you giving them to us?”
“I want something.”
“Of course.”
Daniel folded his hands.
“I’ll cooperate regarding the forged consent, the access authorization, and Blue Cedar.”
“In exchange for?”
“I want Rachel not to oppose equal parenting time.”
Rachel stood.
“No.”
“Rachel—”
“No.”
“I’m Lily’s father.”
“Yes.”
“I love her.”
“I believe you.”
Daniel looked stunned.
Rachel continued.
“But you used custody as leverage.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You deleted evidence of her assault.”
“I tried to protect Margaret.”
“You authorized the man who stole records.”
“I didn’t know he would—”
“You stole my father’s archive.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“I was saving myself.”
“Exactly.”
Rachel sat.
“That’s why I won’t trade Lily for evidence.”
Daniel looked toward Claire.
Claire shrugged.
“She’s right.”
Daniel’s eyes filled with anger.
“You’re willing to let me go to prison.”
Rachel’s voice softened.
“I’m not sending you anywhere.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No.”
She held his gaze.
“Your choices are.”
Daniel looked down.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then he pushed the flash drive across the table.
“No deal.”
Claire did not touch it.
“Why give it to us?”
Daniel’s voice broke.
“Because Adrian threatened Lily.”
Rachel stopped breathing.
“What?”
“He said accidents happen when families create chaos.”
Rachel’s face emptied.
“Exact words.”
“‘Rachel thinks she can burn all of us. Remind her she has a child.’”
Claire immediately reached for her phone.
Daniel continued.
“I told him never to mention Lily.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Do you have proof?”
Daniel took out his phone.
“A recording.”
Rachel stared.
“You recorded him?”
“I started recording conversations after he threatened to report me.”
Daniel played it.
Adrian’s voice filled the room.
You have forty-eight hours. She signs the settlement, she sells Lot Eighteen, this ends.
Daniel:
And if she doesn’t?
Adrian:
Then everyone learns how fragile her life is.
Daniel:
Don’t threaten Rachel.
Adrian laughed.
I’m not threatening Rachel.
Pause.
I’m reminding you she has a daughter.
Rachel’s hands went numb.
Claire stopped the recording.
“We’re taking this to Detective Fields now.”
Daniel nodded.
Rachel looked at him.
“Where is the ledger?”
“I told you—”
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“Where?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Adrian has it.”
“Where?”
Daniel hesitated.
“The wine cellar beneath the Bellwether club.”
Claire stood.
“How do you know?”
“I put it there.”
Rachel felt sick.
“Why did Vanessa say you still had it?”
“Because Adrian made me retrieve it yesterday.”
“Where is it now?”
Daniel looked at his briefcase.
Rachel stared.
He opened it.
Beneath a legal pad lay a thick green ledger.
Margaret’s husband’s handwriting covered the exposed page.
Daniel whispered, “I couldn’t give it back.”
Rachel could barely breathe.
“Why?”
“Because I finally read it.”
He lifted the ledger.
“What does it say?”
Daniel’s face had gone gray.
“Thomas Reed wasn’t paid to stay quiet.”
Rachel waited.
“Then why did Dad pay his widow?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Because Thomas was working for Samuel.”
Rachel stared.
“Doing what?”
“Collecting evidence against Robert Kane.”
The room went completely still.
Daniel turned three pages.
“And the night Thomas died, he was carrying the original proof.”
“What proof?”
Daniel looked directly at Rachel.
“That Robert Kane had been bribing officials for years.”
Rachel’s pulse pounded.
“Was it recovered?”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“But Samuel wrote where Thomas hid a duplicate.”
Claire leaned forward.
“Where?”
Daniel tapped the page.
“Inside Bellwether.”
Rachel whispered, “Where?”
Daniel turned the book so they could read Samuel’s note.
BENEATH EAST PLAYGROUND — OLD DRAINAGE VAULT — REED COPY.
Rachel stared.
The swing.
The playground.
The development Adrian was desperate to demolish.
May you like
It had never only been about access to a road.
Something had been buried beneath Lily’s feet the entire time.
