Chapter 2 - The Man Sarah Feared
Richard let Marcus's call ring until it stopped.
Detective Holloway noticed.
"Your attorney?"
Richard nodded.
"You planning to answer?"
"No."
Holloway studied him.
Richard enlarged the photograph Sarah had sent.
She held Ethan against her chest. Ethan was asleep beneath a pale blue blanket.
Richard's relief was so sudden his knees nearly weakened.
His son was alive.
Safe.
Sarah looked tired.
But she didn't look frightened.
At least not in the obvious way.
Then Richard examined the background.
The window.
Old-fashioned wooden frame. Green shutters. A brass latch.
He knew it.
Margaret's lake cottage outside Burlington.
Sarah had spent summers there as a child.
"She's in Vermont."
Holloway leaned closer.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
Richard grabbed his keys.
Holloway stepped in front of him.
"You're not going anywhere."
"Move."
"No."
"That's my family."
"And the message specifically told you not to trust your attorney. It didn't tell you to drive across the country."
Richard stopped.
Holloway pointed to the first security image.
"Who is this?"
Richard stared at the silver watch.
"Admiral Thomas Dalton."
"Relationship?"
"My father."
Holloway's eyebrows rose.
Richard's father had retired from the Navy after thirty-eight years. Decorated. Respected. Connected.
He had also introduced Richard to Marcus Chen.
"Why would your father disable your cameras?"
"I don't know."
"Does he have access?"
"He helped install the security system after Ethan was born."
"Then he knew the code."
Richard called Thomas.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Holloway said, "When did you last speak to him?"
"Friday."
"About?"
Richard thought.
His father had asked how Sarah was doing.
Richard had said she was tired.
Thomas had asked whether Richard was helping.
Richard had changed the subject.
Then Thomas had said something strange.
"Don't make your mother and me ashamed of the man we raised."
At the time, Richard had assumed Thomas was criticizing his work schedule.
Now he wasn't sure.
"He knew," Richard whispered.
"Knew what?"
"The affair."
"How?"
"I don't know."
Holloway looked again at the message.
DON'T TRUST MARCUS.
"Maybe Sarah does."
Richard tried Sarah.
Voicemail.
He typed:
I know you're in Vermont. I won't come if you don't want me to. Please tell me Ethan is okay.
He stared at the screen.
No response.
Then he added:
I'm sorry.
It looked pathetic.
Too small.
He sent it anyway.
An hour later, Marcus arrived at the mansion without being invited.
Richard met him in the foyer.
"Why are you here?"
"You stopped answering."
"I was busy."
"With police?"
Richard didn't answer.
Marcus's gaze shifted toward Holloway.
"Detective."
"Mr. Chen."
Marcus looked back at Richard.
"We need to talk privately."
"No."
"Richard."
"No more private conversations."
Something flashed across Marcus's face.
Gone almost immediately.
"Fine. Sarah filed preliminary divorce documents."
"I know."
Marcus froze.
"How?"
"Holloway."
Marcus turned toward the detective.
"Those documents are privileged."
"They weren't obtained from your office."
Marcus went still.
Richard noticed.
"Why would they be in your office?"
Marcus recovered quickly.
"I handle your family's legal affairs. Sarah contacted one of our associates."
Richard stared.
"Sarah hired your firm to divorce me?"
"She requested a consultation."
"You never told me."
"Attorney-client confidentiality."
"You were my attorney."
"And our firm should have declined representation due to the conflict."
"Should have?"
Marcus said nothing.
Holloway stepped closer.
"Mr. Chen, perhaps you'd like to explain."
Marcus exhaled.
"Sarah contacted junior partner Elena Park. Elena flagged the conflict. The consultation ended."
"When?"
"Three weeks ago."
Richard's anger returned.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I couldn't."
"But you knew."
"Yes."
"You sat in my office last week and drank bourbon with me."
"Yes."
"You knew my wife was preparing to leave."
"Richard, legal ethics aren't optional because we're friends."
"Are we?"
Marcus's expression hardened.
"Be careful."
Richard almost laughed.
There it was.
Not fear.
Not sympathy.
A warning.
Holloway noticed too.
"Why shouldn't he trust you?" the detective asked.
Marcus looked at him.
"Excuse me?"
Richard showed him Sarah's message.
Marcus read it.
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
"You know why she wrote that."
"No."
"Marcus."
"I don't."
Richard stepped closer.
"Then why do you look scared?"
Marcus lowered his voice.
"Because Sarah misunderstood something."
"What?"
"Your father's estate planning."
"My father isn't dead."
"Estate planning happens before death."
"What does Sarah have to do with it?"
Marcus glanced toward Holloway.
"Nothing."
"Wrong answer."
Richard's phone buzzed.
Sarah.
Not a call.
A message.
ASK MARCUS ABOUT THE TRUST.
Richard turned the screen toward him.
Marcus closed his eyes.
"What trust?"
"Richard—"
"What trust?"
Marcus slowly placed his briefcase on the marble table.
"Your father established an irrevocable family trust when Ethan was born."
Richard waited.
"Who controls it?"
"Currently? Your father."
"And after him?"
Marcus didn't answer.
Richard already knew.
"Me."
"No."
The word landed strangely.
"Sarah?"
"No."
"Then who?"
"Ethan."
Richard frowned.
"He's three months old."
"The assets are held for him."
"What assets?"
Marcus hesitated.
"Most of the Dalton family holdings."
Richard stared.
His father had built a fortune after retirement through defense technology investments, real estate, and private aviation.
"How much?"
"Approximately eighty-two million dollars."
Holloway whistled softly.
Richard barely heard him.
"Why didn't I know?"
"Your father didn't want you to."
"Why?"
Marcus looked toward the blood on Richard's knuckles.
That glance answered more than words could.
"He didn't trust me."
"He had concerns."
"About Vanessa?"
"About you."
Richard felt something inside him crack.
His father had quietly bypassed him.
His own son had become heir to a fortune Richard had assumed would eventually belong to him.
"And Sarah?"
"Named guardian of Ethan's trust interests if anything happens to your father."
Richard's face went blank.
"She knew."
"Recently."
"Who told her?"
Marcus hesitated.
"Your father."
Richard remembered the security camera.
Thomas entering at 4:12 a.m.
"Why was my father here this morning?"
Marcus's silence deepened.
Holloway asked, "Did you know he was here?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Richard stepped forward.
"Sarah told me not to trust you."
"I understand."
"No, you don't."
"I do."
Marcus reached into his briefcase.
Richard tensed.
Marcus removed a sealed envelope.
"Your father gave me this yesterday."
Richard recognized Thomas's handwriting.
FOR RICHARD—ONLY IF SARAH LEAVES.
His heart stopped.
"He knew she was leaving."
Marcus nodded.
"Open it."
Richard tore the envelope.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Son,
If you're reading this, Sarah finally did what I was too cowardly to tell her to do.
She left.
You will be angry.
Good.
Maybe anger is the only emotion strong enough to break through the arrogance you've been wearing like armor.
You think your biggest secret is Vanessa Cole.
It isn't.
Sarah knows about Vanessa.
So do I.
But there is another reason she took Ethan.
A reason involving Marcus.
A reason involving me.
And a reason involving something you did seven years ago that you may not even remember.
Richard stopped reading.
Seven years.
His wedding year.
He looked at Marcus.
"What did I do?"
Marcus's face had lost color.
Richard continued.
Before you accuse anyone, go to the storage facility on Harbor Street.
Unit 317.
The key is inside the watch I gave you when you made commander.
Do not let Marcus enter that unit before you.
Richard instinctively touched his wrist.
His father's watch.
Marcus backed away.
"Richard, listen to me."
Holloway moved between them.
Richard stared at Marcus.
"What is in Unit 317?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I know what used to be there."
"What?"
Marcus swallowed.
"Evidence."
"Of what?"
Marcus didn't answer.
Richard pulled the watch from his wrist.
Behind the clasp was a tiny recessed compartment he had never noticed.
Inside was a flat brass key.
Holloway said, "Nobody goes there alone."
Richard agreed.
For once.
They drove to Harbor Street.
Marcus was not allowed to follow.
Unit 317 sat at the end of a concrete corridor.
Richard inserted the key.
His hand trembled.
He opened the door.
Inside were twelve archive boxes.
A laptop.
A locked metal case.
And photographs.
Hundreds of them.
Sarah.
Richard.
Vanessa.
Ethan.
His father.
Marcus.
Someone had been documenting their lives.
Richard picked up the nearest photograph.
It showed him leaving the Four Seasons.
Timestamped six months earlier.
The beginning of the affair.
Another showed Vanessa meeting Marcus outside a restaurant.
Richard's breathing stopped.
"Marcus knew Vanessa."
Holloway picked up another photograph.
"This one's older."
Seven years older.
Richard looked.
Marcus stood beside Vanessa.
Vanessa looked younger.
Between them stood Thomas Dalton.
On the back, someone had written:
THE NIGHT BEFORE RICHARD'S WEDDING.
Richard stared at it.
His phone rang.
Sarah.
He answered immediately.
"Sarah?"
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Richard, don't open the metal case."
He turned toward it.
"Why?"
"Because someone followed you."
A metallic sound came from the hallway.
Holloway drew his weapon.
Richard looked toward the storage-unit door.
May you like
A shadow stopped on the other side.
Then the handle slowly began to turn.
