Chapter 4 - The Morning Daniel Buried
Daniel ended the call without answering.
Marcus stared at him.
"He knows."
"Apparently."
Noah looked between them.
"Is Richard bad?"
Daniel hated the simplicity of the question.
Adults rarely fit into clean categories.
Richard had attended Daniel's graduation.
He had stood beside Daniel at his father's funeral.
He had helped him rebuild Mercer Holdings after the 2008 financial crisis.
He had taught Daniel to drive when his father was too busy.
He had also apparently known something about Daniel's daughter.
"I don't know what Richard is," Daniel said.
"But we're going to find out."
They drove back toward the city.
For the first time in years, Daniel allowed himself to remember the morning after his daughter's birth.
Emily had gone into labor early.
Thirty-five weeks.
Daniel had been terrified.
Thomas Mercer had been furious.
Not because of the medical risk.
Because no one outside the family knew his twenty-year-old son had gotten a nineteen-year-old waitress pregnant.
Thomas had dreams of Daniel joining Mercer Holdings.
A scandal, he said, could complicate investor relationships.
Daniel had screamed at him.
Emily told him to leave the room.
Hours later, a baby girl was born.
Small.
Red-faced.
Furious.
Alive.
Daniel held her for less than thirty seconds.
He remembered counting her fingers.
He remembered Emily laughing because Daniel was crying harder than the baby.
They had chosen a name months earlier.
Olivia.
Then a nurse took the infant for observation.
Daniel went downstairs to call Emily's mother.
He never reached her.
Thomas intercepted him in the hallway.
His father said there had been a complication.
Daniel ran upstairs.
The bassinet was gone.
Emily was sedated.
A physician told him the baby's lungs had failed.
No one allowed Daniel to see the body.
Thomas said it would only make the grief worse.
Daniel believed him.
That was the part Daniel could not forgive.
Not his father.
Himself.
He had believed him.
Later that afternoon, Thomas sent Daniel home.
The following morning, Emily was gone from the hospital.
Thomas claimed her mother had taken her.
Two days later, Daniel was placed on a flight to London.
At the time, Daniel thought his father was saving him from himself.
Now he saw something else.
Thomas had been removing him from the scene.
The SUV stopped outside Daniel's home.
A modern stone estate surrounded by old oak trees.
Noah looked through the window.
"You live here by yourself?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Marcus glanced at Daniel.
Daniel ignored him.
Inside, housekeeper Margaret Ellis immediately took charge.
She was sixty-eight and had worked for the Mercer family longer than Daniel had been alive.
The moment she saw Noah, her eyes softened.
The moment she saw the photograph, her face went white.
Daniel noticed.
"You know this picture."
Margaret sat slowly.
"Where did you get it?"
"Emily kept it."
Margaret touched the edge.
"I took this."
Daniel stared.
"What?"
"Your father wouldn't allow hospital staff to take photographs."
Her voice shook.
"You bought a disposable camera downstairs and asked me."
Daniel remembered.
A blurred figure.
Someone behind the camera.
He had forgotten it was Margaret.
"You knew the baby lived?"
Margaret looked horrified.
"No."
"Think carefully."
"I knew something was wrong."
"What?"
"Your father sent me home."
"When?"
"About two hours after the baby was born."
Margaret looked at Noah.
"Would you like something to eat?"
Noah understood adults better than most children.
"You want me to leave."
Margaret gave him a sad smile.
"I want to tell Daniel something that may be painful."
Noah shrugged.
"Everything about this is painful."
Then he walked toward the kitchen with Marcus.
Margaret waited until they were gone.
"Your father came into the hallway with Richard and a lawyer."
"Which lawyer?"
"Harold Voss."
Daniel knew the name.
Voss had handled Mercer family trusts for decades.
He died five years earlier.
"They argued."
"About what?"
"I only heard pieces."
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Your father said, 'The girl signs tonight.'"
Daniel felt sick.
"What else?"
"Richard said the hospital administrator wanted more money."
Daniel stood.
"How much?"
"I don't know."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because the next morning your father said the baby died."
Margaret's eyes filled.
"And you were destroyed."
"I could have handled the truth."
"I didn't know the truth."
"No."
Daniel stepped away.
"But you knew something."
Margaret flinched.
He regretted the tone instantly.
Twenty years of anger had found the wrong target.
"I'm sorry."
Margaret shook her head.
"You have every right to be angry."
"No."
Daniel looked toward the kitchen where Noah sat at the island eating a sandwich.
"I've spent half my life blaming Emily for leaving."
Margaret followed his gaze.
"Maybe she spent half hers blaming you."
Daniel sat down again.
"Do you know Claire Alden?"
Margaret froze.
That reaction was enough.
Daniel leaned forward.
"Who is she?"
"I don't know."
"Margaret."
"I swear."
She pressed her fingers together.
"But I heard the name Alden once."
"When?"
"Your father was on the phone."
"When?"
"About a month after you left for London."
Daniel's pulse quickened.
"What did he say?"
"He said, 'The Aldens have agreed to the conditions.'"
Daniel stared at her.
Before he could respond, Marcus entered.
"We have a problem."
Daniel stood.
"What?"
Marcus turned his tablet around.
Richard had called an emergency board meeting.
For tomorrow morning.
Agenda item:
Daniel Mercer's temporary suspension as CEO pending review of unspecified personal conduct.
Daniel almost laughed.
Richard had moved quickly.
Too quickly.
"What personal conduct?"
Marcus shook his head.
"Not listed."
Daniel's phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
One photograph.
Noah leaving school the previous afternoon.
Taken from across the street.
Underneath it were six words.
STOP LOOKING FOR WHAT WAS BURIED.
Daniel stared at the image.
Then Noah entered the room.
"Did you find my mom?"
Daniel locked the phone.
"Not yet."
Noah studied his face.
"But you found something bad."
Daniel did not answer.
The boy sighed.
"Grown-ups think kids don't notice anything."
Then he looked Daniel directly in the eyes.
"We notice when you're scared."
Daniel had spent decades ensuring that no one ever saw fear on his face.
May you like
An eight-year-old boy had found it in less than a day.
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