Chapter 13 - The Suspect
Daniel’s voicemail sounded terrible.
“You buried me once, Harold. If you’re helping them, I swear I’ll come for you myself.”
He had sent it after the board suspension.
Now Harold was in intensive care.
Daniel sat across from two detectives.
“Did you go to his house?”
“No.”
“Your phone places you within four miles.”
“I was at the hotel.”
“Witnesses?”
“Rebecca Sloan. Restaurant staff. Cameras.”
The detectives were professional.
Not accusatory.
That almost made it worse.
Daniel had created enough reckless statements that every coincidence looked suspicious.
Rebecca produced the hotel footage.
Daniel was cleared of being physically present at the assault.
But the news leaked anyway.
MERCER QUESTIONED AFTER BOARD CHAIR ATTACK.
By morning, Mercer Maritime’s stock-equivalent private debt instruments were being sold by nervous institutional lenders.
A major credit facility was frozen.
Northgate lowered its acquisition offer.
Exactly as Warren Vale had predicted.
Daniel understood.
Chaos was the business model.
Harold regained consciousness late that evening.
He asked for police first.
Then Daniel.
The detectives permitted a brief visit.
Harold’s face was bruised.
Daniel stood beside the bed.
“Who did this?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said you knew who helped Julian.”
Harold nodded weakly.
“Board secretary.”
Daniel frowned.
“Melissa Grant?”
“She copied executive credentials.”
“For Julian?”
“For Vanessa.”
Vanessa.
Again.
Daniel’s hope that she had been Claire’s secret ally began collapsing.
Harold whispered, “But Melissa wasn’t the traitor.”
“Who was?”
Harold looked toward the door.
“Me.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“I took money.”
“How much?”
“Two million.”
Daniel felt sick.
“From Vale?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“My son’s company failed. I covered his debts.”
Another weakness bought.
Another family used as leverage.
“What did Vale want?”
“Votes. Information. Delays.”
“Did you know they were framing me?”
“No.”
“Did you know about Noah’s trust?”
Harold closed his eyes.
“Not until last week.”
“Why did you call me?”
“Because Julian ordered me to support Vanessa as permanent CEO.”
Daniel went still.
“And?”
“I refused.”
“Why?”
Harold opened his eyes.
“Because he said once she had control, Northgate would bankrupt the company if she resisted.”
Daniel absorbed it.
Vanessa might have believed she was playing Julian.
Julian believed he was playing Vanessa.
Vale was playing everyone.
Harold continued.
“There’s a board packet. October 2019.”
“What’s in it?”
“Claire submitted a confidential ethics complaint.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“Against whom?”
“Julian.”
“Where is it?”
“Deleted from official records.”
“Who has a copy?”
Harold whispered, “Melissa.”
Police arrested Melissa Grant the next morning on obstruction and unauthorized-access allegations.
Her lawyer negotiated quickly.
She produced Claire’s complaint.
Claire had documented Julian’s undisclosed prior relationship with Vale.
She had demanded his dismissal.
Robert Mercer’s former directors had buried the complaint to avoid exposing the guarantee.
One signature approving the suppression stunned Daniel.
Elise Mercer.
His sister.
Daniel confronted her at Rebecca’s office.
“You knew about Julian in 2019.”
Elise shook her head desperately.
“I signed a consent packet. I didn’t read the attachments.”
Daniel stared.
“You didn’t read it.”
“I was twenty-eight. Dad had just died. I signed whatever Harold put in front of me.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“We’re all the same.”
“What?”
“Me with Vanessa’s hospital packet. You with Harold’s board packet. We handed people power because reading was inconvenient.”
Elise began to cry.
Daniel did not.
He was too tired.
Then Rebecca entered.
“The family court hearing was moved up.”
“Why?”
“Vanessa submitted new evidence.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What now?”
“A recording of you threatening Harold.”
“The voicemail?”
“No.”
Rebecca handed him headphones.
Daniel listened.
His own voice said:
“If Noah is taken from me, someone is going to pay.”
He remembered saying it.
To Grace.
In his kitchen.
Private.
Daniel removed the headphones.
“Who recorded that?”
May you like
Rebecca’s face was grim.
“The file came from Noah’s blue airplane.”
