Chapter 5 - The Visitor
Evelyn handed Grace to the nurse.
"Take her."
The nurse stared at the photo.
"Where?"
"Anywhere secure."
Sheriff Daniels immediately locked down the maternity floor.
No visitors entered.
No visitors left.
Security reviewed cameras.
At 3:37 a.m., five minutes before Grace's birth, a man in medical scrubs had entered through a service elevator.
His face was partially hidden.
At 4:18, he stood outside Evelyn's room.
At 4:20, the image on Evelyn's phone had been taken.
At 4:21, he vanished down a stairwell.
No camera captured him leaving the building.
Richard's height.
Richard's build.
Probably Richard.
But not certain.
Evelyn refused to leave the hospital until Grace had round-the-clock protection.
Daniels agreed.
Walter arranged private security in addition to police.
Brandon, meanwhile, sat in county jail.
When he learned Evelyn had given birth, he requested to see her.
She refused.
He requested to see the baby.
She refused again.
Then he sent a message through his lawyer.
Richard will kill you both.
That got her attention.
Evelyn agreed to a monitored video call.
Brandon appeared on-screen wearing an orange jail uniform.
He looked smaller.
Less polished.
But his eyes were the same.
"You had a girl."
Evelyn's jaw tightened.
"Her name is Grace."
He closed his eyes briefly.
For the first time, genuine emotion touched his face.
"Is she healthy?"
"Yes."
He exhaled.
"Thank God."
Evelyn stared at him.
"You don't get to say that."
"I know."
"You tried to kill her."
His face twisted.
"I know."
"Why did you ask to talk?"
"Richard."
"What about him?"
"He was never supposed to come after you directly."
Evelyn leaned closer.
"So he was involved."
Brandon looked at the camera.
"From the beginning."
"With the insurance?"
"Before that."
"My father."
Brandon's eyes dropped.
Evelyn's hands went cold.
"Tell me."
"He discovered Richard was selling restricted aerospace data through overseas intermediaries."
Evelyn stopped breathing.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
"Why would my father not go to authorities?"
"He was gathering proof."
"And Richard killed him?"
Brandon hesitated.
"Richard changed his medication."
The words struck like another shove.
Evelyn couldn't speak.
"How do you know?"
"Because he told me."
"When?"
"Three years after your father died."
"Why?"
"Because he needed me."
"For what?"
Brandon laughed bitterly.
"For you."
Evelyn stared.
Richard had recruited Brandon.
Not Vanessa.
Not recently.
Years ago.
Brandon continued.
"Your father structured everything so tightly that Richard couldn't take control. Then you inherited. He needed someone close to you."
"You married me because he told you to?"
"No."
"Don't lie."
"I met you because of him."
That hurt more.
"But I didn't expect—"
"Stop."
"Evelyn—"
"Did you ever love me?"
His eyes filled.
She hated that.
Because part of her recognized it as real.
"Yes."
She laughed once.
"Then your love looks exactly like attempted murder."
Brandon flinched.
"Richard said if I didn't do it, he would."
"And you believed him?"
"I knew what he'd done to your father."
"So you saved me by pushing me off a mountain?"
Brandon looked away.
"No."
"Good. At least we agree."
She forced herself to continue.
"Why now?"
"The baby."
"Grace?"
"Your trust changes when you have a living heir. Once she was born, Richard's path to control became almost impossible."
"So we both had to die before she was born."
Brandon nodded.
Evelyn felt sick.
"And fifty million?"
"My reward."
She stared at him.
He didn't look away.
There was no excuse.
No romantic explanation.
No desperate justification.
He had chosen money.
He had chosen power.
He had chosen murder.
"Where is Richard?"
"I don't know."
"Where would he go?"
Brandon hesitated.
Then said, "Your father's hunting cabin."
Walter looked sharply at Evelyn from across the room.
Evelyn frowned.
"My father didn't have a hunting cabin."
Brandon gave a humorless smile.
"Yes, he did."
The property was located under an old trust in northern Montana.
No road access in winter.
No obvious connection to Halstead.
Daniels sent a tactical team.
They found the cabin empty.
But underneath the floorboards was a steel box.
Inside were hard drives.
Paper ledgers.
Audio recordings.
And one letter addressed to Evelyn.
Walter brought it to the hospital.
Her father's handwriting covered the envelope.
Evelyn opened it with shaking fingers.
Evie,
If you're reading this, Richard betrayed me.
The rest of the letter detailed the investigation.
Her father had uncovered a shadow network inside Halstead.
Richard had diverted proprietary technology, laundered payments and compromised contracts.
Brandon's name appeared near the end.
Not as an accomplice.
As a young financial consultant Richard had begun cultivating.
The final paragraph broke Evelyn's heart.
I don't know whether Brandon understands what Richard intends. I hope I'm wrong about him. You love him, and I want desperately for your love to have chosen a better man than my instincts fear.
Evelyn folded the letter.
Her father had known.
Or almost known.
And he had died before he could warn her.
The hard drives contained enough evidence to destroy Richard.
There was only one problem.
The most important drive was encrypted.
And the password clue was written on a separate card.
GRACE KNOWS.
Evelyn stared.
Grace hadn't existed when her father wrote the message.
At least, not as a person.
Walter suddenly whispered, "Your mother."
Evelyn looked up.
"What?"
"Your mother's middle name was Grace."
Evelyn froze.
Her mother had died when Evelyn was twelve.
Walter continued.
"Your father used her name for important personal codes."
The password was a date.
Her parents' wedding anniversary.
The drive opened.
Inside were recordings.
One captured Richard arguing with Evelyn's father.
Another documented illegal payments.
A third was recorded the night before her father's death.
Richard's voice was unmistakable.
"You should have left this alone, David."
Evelyn's father answered.
"And let you destroy everything we built?"
"You built a company."
"We built it."
"No. You owned it. I stood beside you."
"Is that what this is about?"
"It became about that a long time ago."
Then a sound.
A glass placed on a table.
Richard said:
"Drink your whiskey."
The recording ended.
Daniels immediately expanded the charges.
Federal investigators joined the case.
An international flight watch was issued.
Richard Mercer became one of the most wanted corporate fugitives in the region.
Evelyn believed the evidence would end it.
Then Walter noticed one final file on the drive.
TRANSFER_FINAL.
It had been created only six weeks earlier.
Her father had been dead for four years.
Someone else had accessed the hidden drive.
The file contained a list of names.
Board members.
Bankers.
Lawyers.
Politicians.
At the bottom was one name Evelyn recognized immediately.
Sheriff Nathan Daniels.
She looked up slowly.
May you like
Daniels was standing inside the room.
And he had just locked the door.
