Chapter 4 - The Vote
The conference room at Mercer Equine Holdings had once belonged to Daniel’s father.
Daniel had grown up believing power looked like that room.
Mahogany walls.
Leather chairs.
Framed photographs of champion horses.
His father at the head of the table.
Now Richard Vale sat there.
Daniel stopped in the doorway.
“That’s my chair.”
Richard gave a tired smile.
“Today it’s the chairman’s chair.”
“You’re CFO.”
“I’m acting chairman for this meeting.”
Daniel looked around.
Five directors were present.
Two avoided his eyes.
One was joining by video.
The company’s outside counsel sat beside Richard.
So did Victoria.
Daniel stared.
“What is she doing here?”
Victoria wore conservative navy rather than the riding clothes from the previous day.
The bruise on her cheek had been photographed, but makeup did little to hide it.
“I’m here because your conduct affects me.”
Daniel turned to company counsel.
“My six-year-old daughter was assaulted on company property.”
Richard lifted a hand.
“Daniel—”
“Margaret Parker recorded it.”
Victoria spoke calmly.
“And Daniel hit me after the child was safe.”
“You locked Emma in a horse stall.”
“I made a terrible parenting mistake.”
Daniel almost lunged across the table.
Eleanor, seated beside him as personal counsel, touched his wrist.
One warning.
Control yourself.
Richard slid a document forward.
“The board has an obligation to protect the company while authorities investigate both allegations.”
“Both?”
“Child abuse and domestic assault.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“You’re putting them on equal footing.”
“No. I’m saying both expose the company.”
Daniel studied his former friend.
“You were at my farm yesterday.”
Richard blinked once.
Victoria looked at him.
Interesting.
Daniel noticed.
She had not expected him to reveal it.
“I wasn’t,” Richard replied.
“Black SUV. Company watch.”
“Half the senior officers have those watches.”
“Five people.”
Richard shrugged.
“Then perhaps you should accuse all five.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What was in Claire’s envelope?”
This time Richard’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Daniel saw it.
Several directors exchanged looks.
Richard laughed.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Then why did you text me not to contact Claire’s lawyer?”
Eleanor placed a printed screenshot in front of the directors.
The atmosphere shifted.
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“I was concerned Daniel would drag an estate lawyer into a domestic crisis.”
“You knew there was an estate issue,” Eleanor said.
Richard turned to her.
“I know Claire’s death makes Daniel irrational.”
Daniel stood.
Eleanor whispered, “Sit.”
He did.
The vote proceeded.
Under the company bylaws, Daniel could be temporarily suspended as CEO by a majority of disinterested directors.
Three voted yes.
Two no.
Richard abstained while pretending neutrality.
Daniel lost his executive authority.
Not his shares.
Not his board seat.
But operational control.
Effective immediately.
Richard collected the signed resolutions.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you aren’t.”
Victoria followed Daniel into the corridor.
He turned on her.
“You planned this.”
She crossed her arms.
“You struck me.”
“I’ll answer for that.”
“Good.”
“But you’re going to answer for Emma.”
Her face hardened.
“What exactly did Emma tell them?”
Daniel said nothing.
Victoria smiled faintly.
There.
A mistake.
Her question proved she did not know how much Emma had disclosed.
Daniel walked away.
Behind him Victoria said, “You should ask Eleanor what Claire really intended to do with Bellwether.”
Daniel stopped.
Eleanor stopped too.
Victoria continued.
“You think Claire was protecting Emma from Richard?”
She smiled.
“Maybe Claire was protecting Emma from you.”
Later, Eleanor denied knowing what Victoria meant.
Daniel believed she was withholding something.
At the Parker guesthouse, he found Emma drawing horses.
One horse was blue.
One red.
One black.
Daniel sat beside her.
“Can I ask about Mom’s hiding place?”
Emma’s pencil stopped.
“Victoria gets angry when I talk about Mom.”
“She can’t hurt you right now.”
Emma looked up.
“You said that before.”
The words devastated him.
“When?”
“When you married her.”
Daniel could not answer.
Emma returned to the drawing.
He noticed something beside the black horse.
A square.
“What’s that?”
“A box.”
“What box?”
“The singing box.”
Daniel frowned.
Emma stood and went to her small suitcase.
She removed an old wooden music box Claire had given her.
Daniel recognized it instantly.
Claire used to wind it while putting Emma to sleep.
Emma opened the lid.
A mechanical version of “Moon River” played.
Daniel swallowed.
Then Emma pushed one finger beneath the velvet lining.
It lifted.
Underneath was a folded slip of paper.
Daniel stared.
He had seen the music box hundreds of times.
Never the hidden compartment.
Inside lay a tiny brass key.
Not the tack-room key.
Smaller.
Alongside it was a handwritten note.
Daniel unfolded it.
Claire’s writing.
D—
If you’re reading this, somebody found the first envelope before you did.
Do not trust the company records.
Start with Locker 214.
And please believe Emma before you believe anyone protecting your money.
Daniel read the final sentence twice.
Then he saw the date.
May you like
Claire had written the note eleven days before she died.
Four years before Victoria ever claimed she had first met him.
