Chapter 4 - The Chairman
Emergency lights flickered on.
Sheriff Daniels reached for Evelyn.
"Stay behind me."
Officers rushed through the corridor.
The blackout lasted eleven seconds.
When power returned, Brandon was still locked inside his cell.
Vanessa was still in the interview room.
But Walter's briefcase was open.
Evelyn stared at it.
"I didn't touch that."
Walter checked inside.
One folder was missing.
Her father's private correspondence.
Someone had entered a secured police facility during the blackout and taken it.
Daniels immediately locked down the building.
No one was found.
That scared Evelyn more than Brandon ever had.
Brandon was reckless when cornered.
This person was careful.
The next morning Richard Mercer called.
"Evelyn."
She hadn't spoken to him since before her supposed death.
His voice trembled convincingly.
"I don't even know what to say. We buried you."
"You buried an empty coffin."
"I thought you were gone."
"So did Brandon."
Richard exhaled.
"I heard he's been arrested."
"He has."
"Thank God."
Evelyn said nothing.
Richard continued.
"Your father would have killed him with his bare hands."
The words landed strangely.
Evelyn stared at Walter across the room.
"My father trusted you."
Richard went silent.
"He did."
"Did you trust him?"
"Of course."
"Did Brandon ever call you Chairman?"
A pause.
Tiny.
But there.
"Evelyn, everyone at Halstead calls me that."
"Not everyone."
"What are you implying?"
"I'm asking a question."
"I think you've been through something horrific and you're looking for enemies everywhere."
That sounded reasonable.
Too reasonable.
"I'll see you at the board meeting," Evelyn said.
"You're attending?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"You're nine months pregnant and nearly died."
"Exactly."
Richard's voice softened.
"You should be resting."
Evelyn smiled.
"People keep telling me that."
She hung up.
Walter leaned forward.
"He knows you're looking at him."
"Good."
"No. Not good."
"Why?"
"Because Richard Mercer has more power than Brandon ever did."
Walter explained what Evelyn already partly knew.
Richard controlled relationships with defense contractors, banks, regulators and nearly half the Halstead board.
He had been her father's closest friend for thirty-five years.
After her father's death, Richard had guided Evelyn through the transition.
He had supported her marriage.
He had toasted Brandon at their wedding.
He had held Evelyn's hand at the funeral.
If he had been involved, the betrayal went deeper than she wanted to imagine.
At the board meeting, Richard greeted her with tears.
He embraced her carefully.
"My God, Evelyn."
She let him.
Around them, executives watched.
Some looked relieved.
Others terrified.
Evelyn sat at the head of the table.
"My husband attempted to murder me."
Nobody spoke.
"He also attempted to exploit my presumed death to alter control of this company."
Richard nodded gravely.
"We will cooperate fully."
"I'm glad."
Evelyn slid several documents onto the table.
"Because somebody inside Halstead helped him."
Several people shifted.
Richard remained still.
Evelyn continued.
"Forged signatures. Unauthorized trust documents. Payments to shell companies."
One director said, "Are you accusing the board?"
"I'm telling the board that until I know who helped him, nobody is above suspicion."
Richard folded his hands.
"Including me?"
Evelyn met his gaze.
"Including you."
Silence.
Richard smiled sadly.
"Your father taught you well."
"Did he?"
"He always said trust was expensive."
"And betrayal?"
Richard's smile faded.
"He said betrayal was priceless."
Evelyn remembered those words.
Her father had said them once.
Only once.
The night before he died.
Her pulse quickened.
"Where did he say that to you?"
Richard looked at her.
"What?"
"That phrase."
He blinked.
"Many times."
"No."
Evelyn leaned forward.
"He said it once. At dinner. The night before he died."
The room changed.
Richard's face remained composed.
But his fingers tightened together.
Evelyn saw it.
So did Walter.
Richard said, "Perhaps I'm remembering incorrectly."
"Perhaps."
The meeting ended early.
Two hours later, a forensic accountant found a payment trail.
Cole Consulting had received money from Montane Strategic Holdings.
Montane had received money from another shell entity.
Silver Ridge Partners.
Silver Ridge had one authorized signatory.
Richard Mercer.
Daniels obtained a warrant.
Richard disappeared before it could be served.
His house was empty.
His office had been cleared.
His phone was off.
But on his desk investigators found a photograph.
Evelyn as a child.
Standing between her father and Richard at a company picnic.
On the back, her father had written:
Richard is family.
Evelyn stared at the words.
Sometimes the cruellest lies were the ones written before anyone knew they were lies.
That evening, labor started again.
This time it didn't stop.
Dr. Chen ordered Evelyn to the hospital.
"You are not negotiating."
Evelyn gripped the bed rail through a contraction.
"I wasn't planning to."
Walter smiled.
"First sensible thing you've said all week."
The next six hours blurred.
Pain.
Monitors.
Nurses.
Breathing.
Fear.
And beneath it all, a powerful determination.
Brandon had tried to erase two lives on that mountain.
He had failed.
At 3:42 a.m., Evelyn gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
Seven pounds, one ounce.
When the nurse placed the baby on her chest, Evelyn broke.
She cried harder than she had since the fall.
"Hi."
The baby made a tiny sound.
Evelyn kissed her forehead.
"I'm your mom."
Walter stood near the door wiping his eyes.
"What are you naming her?"
Evelyn looked down.
"Grace."
Because that was what the child felt like.
Grace after betrayal.
Grace after snow.
Grace after death had almost won.
For nearly an hour, nothing outside that room mattered.
Then Sheriff Daniels arrived.
Evelyn saw his expression.
"What happened?"
"We found Richard's car."
"Where?"
"Airport parking lot."
"He fled?"
"We don't think so."
"Why?"
"Security footage shows him entering another vehicle."
"Whose?"
Daniels hesitated.
"Brandon's attorney."
Evelyn frowned.
"Why would Brandon's attorney help Richard?"
"We're trying to determine that."
Her phone buzzed on the bedside table.
A message.
From Richard.
Congratulations on Grace.
Evelyn went cold.
Another message followed.
Your father wanted you protected from the truth.
Then a photograph arrived.
A hospital security image.
Taken less than five minutes earlier.
Evelyn holding Grace.
May you like
Someone was inside the hospital.
Watching them.
