Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Knew Claire's Secret
Daniel read the trust document until the words blurred.
His daughter would inherit Carter Meridian automatically upon birth.
Not Daniel.
His child.
That explained Claire's insurance policy.
If Claire died before the baby was born, control could potentially be challenged.
If Daniel was implicated in financial crimes, he could be removed.
Someone had spent years preparing to control the only person who would legally inherit everything.
Michael stared through the windshield.
"I should've told you."
Daniel turned.
"Start talking."
Michael admitted Richard Carter had asked him to watch Daniel years ago.
Not as security.
As protection.
Richard had discovered Thomas Vale diverting assets from Meridian shortly before his death.
"Why didn't my father expose him?"
"He didn't have enough proof."
"So he died."
Michael looked at him.
"Your father's death was ruled a heart attack."
"You don't believe that anymore."
"No."
Daniel leaned back.
Every certainty in his life was collapsing.
"Claire figured this out?"
"Most of it."
"How?"
Michael hesitated.
"She had help."
"From whom?"
Michael drove to a modest apartment near Lincoln Square.
An older woman opened the door.
Evelyn Mercer.
Daniel had never met her.
Claire had.
Evelyn had been Richard Carter's accountant.
She disappeared from corporate records shortly before his death.
"I wondered when you'd finally come," she said.
Daniel entered.
Evelyn placed a box on the table.
Inside were original ledgers.
Richard's handwriting.
Trust documents.
Letters.
And photographs.
One showed Thomas Vale standing beside Daniel's father.
Another showed Claire entering Evelyn's building six months earlier.
Daniel looked up.
"You knew my wife."
"Claire found me."
"How?"
"She's much smarter than you give her credit for."
The words hurt because they were true.
Evelyn explained that Claire had noticed irregular transfers while organizing family finances before the baby's birth.
She followed them to Meridian.
Then she found Evelyn.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"She wanted to."
"Then why didn't she?"
Evelyn stared at him.
"Because you kept lying."
Daniel looked away.
Claire couldn't separate his affair from the conspiracy because he had made himself impossible to trust.
Evelyn pushed a letter toward him.
Claire had written it.
Daniel,
If I leave before I can explain this, understand that I'm not trying to punish you.
I'm trying to protect our daughter until I know who is safe.
Daniel stopped reading.
His throat tightened.
Michael remained silent.
Evelyn said Claire had discovered something else two weeks before leaving.
Someone had accessed her medical records.
Someone knew her appointments.
Her due date.
Her doctor.
Everything.
"Thomas?" Daniel asked.
"We assumed so."
"Assumed?"
Evelyn nodded toward Michael.
"The access came through Daniel's security system."
Daniel turned.
Michael went pale.
"I didn't do it."
"But your credentials did," Evelyn said.
Michael took out his phone.
He searched archived access logs.
One device had repeatedly used his credentials.
Daniel recognized the identifier.
His own office tablet.
Except Daniel rarely used it.
His executive assistant did.
Natalie Brooks.
Daniel felt nauseated.
Natalie had worked beside him for eight years.
She knew his calendar.
Passwords.
Properties.
Doctors.
She had also been the woman he'd been sleeping with.
Suddenly the affair looked different.
Not less unforgivable.
More dangerous.
Daniel remembered Natalie asking casual questions about Claire's pregnancy.
When was the baby due?
Which hospital?
Was Claire still working?
Daniel had answered without thinking.
"Call her," Michael said.
Daniel did.
Disconnected.
They drove to Natalie's apartment.
Empty.
Closets cleared.
Laptop gone.
Daniel found one photograph in a kitchen drawer.
Natalie and Thomas Vale.
Taken twelve years earlier.
She was younger.
Thomas had his arm around her shoulders.
On the back:
To my daughter. Never forget what they took from us.
Daniel stared.
Natalie Brooks was Thomas Vale's daughter.
And Daniel had invited her into his home, his company, and eventually his bed.
His betrayal of Claire had become the doorway Thomas needed.
Michael's phone rang.
Rebecca.
He answered on speaker.
She was crying.
"I'm okay."
"Where are you?" Daniel demanded.
"I don't know. Thomas left me in a parking garage."
"Claire?"
"I heard him talking about her."
"What did he say?"
Rebecca swallowed.
"He said Natalie had made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"Claire wasn't supposed to disappear."
Daniel's pulse accelerated.
"What was supposed to happen?"
Rebecca whispered:
"She was supposed to come back to you."
Daniel didn't understand.
Then Evelyn did.
"The affair."
Everyone looked at her.
"Thomas didn't want Claire gone permanently. He wanted her frightened, isolated, suspicious."
Michael's expression changed.
"So she'd discover Meridian and believe Daniel was involved."
Evelyn nodded.
Daniel felt sick.
Natalie hadn't simply become his mistress.
She had positioned herself near him.
Encouraged his worst instincts.
Created opportunities.
And Daniel had willingly walked through every one.
His phone vibrated.
A message from Natalie.
I HAVE CLAIRE.
Daniel stood.
A second message appeared.
SHE KNOWS ABOUT ME.
Then a third.
ASK YOUR WIFE WHO SHE WAS REALLY PROTECTING.
A video attachment loaded.
Claire appeared onscreen.
She wasn't restrained.
She was standing behind Natalie.
And Claire was holding the missing Meridian ledger.
Then Claire looked directly into the camera.
"Daniel," she said, "don't trust the person standing beside you."
May you like
The video ended.
Daniel slowly turned toward Michael.
