Chapter 4 - What Daniel Left Behind
Rachel stood in my building lobby wearing sunglasses at nine-thirty at night.
When she removed them, I saw the bruise.
“Who did that?” I asked.
She looked toward the glass doors.
“My father.”
For the first time since I'd known Rachel, she wasn't performing.
No smile.
No dramatic voice.
No Instagram energy.
She looked terrified.
Jenna stayed nearby while Rachel and I sat in a private residents' lounge.
“Where's Daniel?”
“Still in Miami.”
“The ship returned?”
“Early. There was a medical issue.”
“Sarah?”
Rachel shook her head.
“No. Dad.”
Richard had suffered chest pain after an argument Thursday night. The ship diverted sufficiently for him to receive medical evaluation, and the family had disembarked through an altered itinerary.
Daniel believed Rachel had gone with Richard.
Instead, she had taken the first flight she could get to Milwaukee.
“Where's Sarah?”
“I don't know.”
“Her account disappeared.”
“She left the ship before we did.”
“Why?”
Rachel stared at her hands.
“Because she found out what Dad wanted her to sign.”
I waited.
Rachel began crying.
Not elegantly.
Not quietly.
“He wanted her to say Northstar was her idea.”
“Why?”
“To make it look like you and Sarah were stealing from his companies.”
The room seemed to tilt.
There it was.
The purpose.
I had been the exit strategy.
Richard's companies had serious debt exposure. He had moved funds out before creditors could reach them.
Northstar placed my identity at the center.
If the transfers were discovered, documents would suggest I had conspired with Sarah.
Daniel's role would remain hidden.
“Daniel knew?”
Rachel covered her face.
“Yes.”
That hurt more than the affair.
More than the cruise.
My husband had watched his father construct a financial crime around my identity.
Then he'd come home and eaten dinner with me.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because Dad hit me.”
“That isn't enough.”
Rachel flinched.
I didn't apologize.
She swallowed.
“Because Daniel scared me.”
“How?”
“After you froze the account, he said everything was ruined. Dad told him they needed another solution.”
“What solution?”
Rachel looked directly at me.
“He said they needed to make you look unstable.”
I remembered Daniel's text.
Sarah is unstable.
A pattern.
“What did they plan?”
“I don't know everything.”
“Then tell me what you do know.”
Daniel had photographed prescription bottles from my bathroom after my second miscarriage.
Antidepressants.
Sleeping medication.
Old prescriptions I hadn't taken in years.
He had kept the photographs.
Richard wanted to argue that I had made unauthorized financial transfers during a psychological crisis.
“That wouldn't survive five minutes of investigation.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Rachel whispered, “Because it wasn't supposed to go to trial.”
My skin went cold.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
“Rachel.”
“I swear.”
I believed she was frightened.
I didn't yet believe she was innocent.
“Why did you go on the cruise?”
“Dad paid me.”
“With my card.”
“I didn't know that.”
“Why Sarah?”
“Dad wanted her signature before we came home.”
“Why Daniel?”
Rachel laughed bitterly.
“Because Daniel always does what Dad tells him.”
That was the most accurate description of my husband I'd ever heard.
Then Rachel handed me a key.
Small.
Silver.
“What is this?”
“Daniel's storage unit.”
I stared at her.
“He keeps documents there.”
“How do you know?”
“I followed him once.”
“Why?”
“Because I stopped trusting him months ago.”
The irony was almost unbearable.
The next morning, Claire arranged for the storage unit to be accessed legally with investigators present.
Unit 214.
Inside were six cardboard boxes.
A golf bag.
An old office chair.
And a locked fireproof case.
Investigators cataloged everything.
The case contained copies of financial records.
My driver's license.
My Social Security card.
Old medical records.
And photographs.
Dozens of photographs.
Me leaving work.
Me grocery shopping.
Me entering my gym.
Thomas Keene's surveillance.
At the bottom was a sealed envelope.
EMILY.
My name was written in Daniel's handwriting.
Inside was a letter.
Not to me.
About me.
It was addressed to Richard.
Dad,
If Northstar becomes a problem, we stick to the same explanation. Emily handled the transfers. Her history gives us enough reason to question her judgment. Sarah confirms the consulting arrangement. Rachel confirms Emily knew about the vacation payment.
I stopped reading.
Claire finished it.
Her face hardened.
“There is more.”
I forced myself to look.
If Emily refuses to cooperate, we move to the second option.
No explanation.
Just those words.
Second option.
Investigators searched the box again.
At the bottom was a small black device.
A vehicle GPS tracker.
Beside it was a printed photograph of my car.
My license plate had been circled in red.
That afternoon police contacted Daniel.
He immediately hired an attorney.
Richard did the same.
Rachel agreed to cooperate.
Sarah was still missing.
At 6:40 p.m., I received a voicemail from an unknown number.
It was Sarah.
Her voice was shaking.
“Emily, I'm safe. Don't call this number back. Daniel knows I'm talking to you.”
A pause.
Then:
“I found out what the second option was.”
I gripped the phone.
Sarah whispered four more words.
“It involved your car.”
The voicemail ended.
Before I could play it again, someone knocked on my apartment door.
Three slow knocks.
May you like
I looked through the peephole.
Daniel was standing outside.
