Chapter 6 - The Officer's Father
Officer Ryan Cole requested to be removed from the investigation immediately.
Marcus agreed.
By sunrise, internal affairs had been notified.
Ryan's father was Thomas Cole.
Rachel Monroe's ex-husband.
Claire's grandfather.
The founder of the network Claire had mentioned.
And according to public records, Thomas Cole had supposedly died nine years earlier.
"Supposedly?" I asked.
Marcus sat across from me in the hotel's private conference room.
"His death certificate came from another state. We're verifying it."
"So he might be alive."
"We don't know."
"Ryan knew none of this?"
"He says his father abandoned the family when Ryan was a child. Different mother. He had no contact with Rachel."
The family connections were becoming impossible to track.
Emily sat beside me, one hand on her stomach.
"Can we hear the recording?"
Marcus had brought a digital copy of the microcassette discovered beneath the shed.
"We processed it."
He pressed play.
My mother's voice came first.
You said nobody would get hurt.
Then Richard.
David was going to expose everything.
David.
My father.
Mother again:
You told me you would scare him.
Richard replied:
I did what was necessary.
A chair scraped.
Then Mother said:
And Rachel?
Safe, Richard answered. For now.
You promised me she would disappear.
She has.
That's not what I meant.
Richard laughed.
Then my mother's voice dropped.
If anything happens to Daniel, this recording goes to the police.
Richard answered with something that froze me.
Daniel is the reason you're still useful.
The recording ended.
Emily stared at the table.
I couldn't process it.
My mother knew.
Not only after my father's death.
Immediately.
She knew Richard had done something.
And she protected him.
"Why?" I whispered.
Marcus closed the laptop.
"We'll ask her."
My mother's attorney had spent the night negotiating.
By afternoon, she agreed to speak.
Not because she wanted to help.
Because the charges were growing.
I met her in an interview room with Marcus present.
The woman who entered looked twenty years older than the one who had stood beside the shed.
No pearls.
No cream jacket.
No certainty.
She looked at me.
"How is Emily?"
I said nothing.
"Daniel."
"You locked her in a shed."
"I lost control."
"For three days."
"I thought—"
"No."
My voice stayed quiet.
"You don't get to tell me what you thought until you tell me about Dad."
She looked at Marcus.
"You found the tape."
"Yes."
Her eyes closed.
"Richard told me it was destroyed."
"Why did you keep it?"
"Because I was afraid of him."
"Yet you kept working with him."
"I didn't have a choice."
"You always had a choice."
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
She looked at me.
"Your father discovered the accounts."
"I know."
"He confronted me."
"About stealing money?"
"I wasn't stealing it."
"Then what?"
"I was moving it."
"For Richard."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Her hands trembled.
"When you were nineteen, Richard showed me photographs."
"What photographs?"
"You."
I frowned.
"Doing what?"
"Nothing."
"Then why did they matter?"
"Because he had been following you."
A chill passed through me.
"He told me if I stopped cooperating, something would happen to you."
"Why would he care about me?"
"Leverage."
"Against Dad?"
"Against both of us."
"Why didn't you go to police?"
"I tried."
Marcus leaned forward.
"When?"
"Eleven years ago."
"Who did you speak with?"
"Detective Samuel Grant."
Marcus's expression changed.
I saw it.
"Who is Grant?"
He didn't answer immediately.
My mother noticed.
"He became police chief."
My mouth went dry.
Our current police chief was Samuel Grant.
Marcus said, "Continue."
"I gave him copies of the financial records."
"What happened?"
"Richard knew within two hours."
Silence.
"I understood then."
"The police were compromised," Marcus said.
"At least Grant was."
My mother looked at me.
"Your father wanted to take everything federal."
"Why didn't he?"
"Because Rachel disappeared."
"Except she didn't."
Mother's eyes widened.
"You know?"
"Claire called me."
She leaned back.
"Claire."
"You know who she is."
"Yes."
"You knew my assistant was Rachel's daughter?"
"Not until last month."
"Is that why you met Richard?"
"Yes."
She began crying.
"I panicked."
"You locked Emily in a shed because you panicked?"
"Emily found the letter. If Richard discovered she knew—"
"So you protected her by starving her?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"I thought if I could convince her to stay quiet—"
"You could have told us the truth."
"I've been living with this for eleven years."
"That's your decision."
Her face collapsed.
"I know."
I didn't feel victorious.
I felt tired.
"Tell me how Dad died."
She looked at the table.
"He met Richard at an old quarry road."
"Why?"
"Richard said he wanted to negotiate."
"Rachel?"
"Your father had already hidden her."
"Where?"
"I never knew."
"What happened at the quarry?"
"Richard put something in David's drink."
"You were there?"
"No."
"Then how do you know?"
"Richard told me afterward."
"Why?"
"To remind me what he could do."
My hands clenched under the table.
"Was Dad conscious when the car went over?"
Mother cried harder.
"I don't know."
"You knew for eleven years."
"I was afraid."
"So was Emily."
That stopped her.
"You heard her begging inside that shed, didn't you?"
Mother couldn't look at me.
"Yes."
"And you walked away."
No answer.
I stood.
"I'm done."
"Daniel."
I turned.
She looked terrified.
"Richard knows about the baby."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"He asked whether Emily was having a boy or girl."
"When?"
"Last week."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Marcus stood.
"Exactly what did he say?"
Mother swallowed.
"He said, 'David's bloodline keeps creating problems.'"
I was already pulling out my phone.
I called Emily's security officer.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Marcus called dispatch.
I called Emily.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then she answered.
"Daniel?"
"Where are you?"
"Hotel."
"Who's with you?"
"Officer Bennett."
"Put him on."
"He just went downstairs."
My chest tightened.
"Why?"
"Someone from the front desk called."
Marcus grabbed his radio.
"Emily, lock the door now."
"It is locked."
"Move away from it."
"Daniel—"
"Do it."
I heard her walking.
Then she whispered:
"Someone's knocking."
"Don't answer."
The knocking stopped.
Silence.
Then a man's voice came through the door.
"Mrs. Mercer? Police."
Emily looked through the peephole.
I heard her inhale sharply.
"What?"
"That's not Officer Bennett."
"Move away."
The handle turned.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
A small envelope slid beneath the door.
Emily didn't touch it.
Marcus shouted orders into his radio.
Police were three minutes away.
Then the stranger outside spoke again.
"Emily."
She froze.
He used her first name.
"I have something that belonged to Daniel's father."
Silence.
Then he added:
"And Rachel Monroe is standing downstairs."
Emily looked at the phone.
"Daniel..."
From the hallway came another voice.
A woman's voice.
Weak.
Older.
But unmistakably desperate.
"Please open the door."
May you like
Claire's mother had finally appeared.
And someone had brought her directly to my wife.
