Chapter 6 - Claire
Daniel missed the board vote.
Richard suspended him anyway.
Eleven directors voted.
Seven supported temporary removal.
Four opposed.
By noon, Daniel Mercer was no longer acting CEO of the company that carried his name.
He barely cared.
Marcus cared enough for both of them.
"Richard controls corporate security now."
They were driving back from Bellhaven.
"Then revoke their access to my house."
"Already doing it."
"Accounts?"
"Your personal assets are separate."
"Foundation?"
"Complicated."
Daniel looked at Noah sleeping in the back seat.
"Nothing is complicated anymore."
Marcus glanced at him.
"That's an interesting statement from a man whose missing former girlfriend may have discovered his nineteen-year-old daughter while his uncle tries to remove him from a multibillion-dollar company."
Daniel almost smiled.
"Fair."
They began searching for Claire Alden.
The name produced twelve possibilities.
Age narrowed it to three.
Location narrowed it to one.
Claire Alden.
Nineteen.
Student at Westbridge College.
Second-year art history major.
Daniel stared at the small photograph on the university website.
Ruth was right.
The eyes were unmistakable.
Gray-green.
Mercer eyes.
Thomas had them.
Daniel had them.
The young woman in the photograph had them too.
But her smile belonged to Emily.
Daniel sat back.
For twenty years he had imagined what his daughter might have looked like.
At five.
At ten.
At sixteen.
Every birthday he had never celebrated.
Every Christmas morning that passed.
Every Father's Day advertisement he avoided.
Now she had a face.
Claire.
Noah woke.
He leaned forward.
"Is that her?"
Daniel closed the laptop slightly.
"Maybe."
"The baby?"
"Maybe."
Noah studied the photograph.
"She looks like Mom."
Daniel smiled sadly.
"Yes."
"Are we going to see her?"
Daniel remembered Ruth's warning.
Emily had found Claire but had apparently hesitated.
Why?
Then Marcus's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression darkened.
"We found Emily's car."
Noah sat upright.
"Where?"
Marcus hesitated.
"At a train station."
"Was she there?"
"No."
Daniel asked the harder question.
"Any sign someone hurt her?"
"No."
The car was locked.
No damage.
Emily's purse remained under the passenger seat.
Her driver's license was inside.
Her phone was gone.
Security footage showed her parking at 6:12 p.m. three days earlier.
Then walking toward the platform.
Alone.
Thirty-eight minutes later, a gray sedan entered the lot.
The same model Daniel had seen watching Noah.
Daniel's stomach tightened.
"License?"
"Obscured."
"Driver?"
"Camera angle is bad."
"What happens next?"
"The sedan leaves."
"And Emily?"
"Never appears on camera again."
Noah stared at the floor.
"She's gone."
Daniel turned around.
"No."
"You don't know that."
"No."
Daniel held the boy's gaze.
"But neither do you."
That evening, Daniel went to Westbridge College without telling Noah.
He sat in his SUV across from the arts building.
The damaged window had been temporarily covered with clear protective film.
Marcus wanted the vehicle replaced.
Daniel refused.
At 4:17 p.m., Claire Alden stepped outside.
Daniel knew immediately.
Not because of her eyes.
Because of the way she tucked her hair behind her ear.
Emily did the same thing when nervous.
Claire wore jeans, a burgundy sweater, and paint-stained sneakers.
She carried a sketchbook against her chest.
Daniel's throat tightened.
His daughter.
Maybe.
A black compact car pulled up.
A woman in her late forties stepped out.
Claire smiled and hugged her.
Daniel recognized her from online searches.
Susan Alden.
Claire's adoptive mother.
Daniel stayed inside his SUV.
He could buy companies before lunch.
He could terminate executives without blinking.
He could not open a car door.
Claire laughed at something Susan said.
Daniel watched.
She looked happy.
That mattered.
Whatever had been done twenty years ago, the Aldens had apparently loved her.
Daniel's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
He opened the message.
A photograph appeared.
It had been taken seconds earlier.
Daniel sitting inside his SUV.
Underneath:
LEAVE THE GIRL ALONE.
Daniel looked across the street.
Someone was watching again.
He got out.
Marcus emerged from another vehicle farther down.
But the watcher was already gone.
Claire noticed Daniel.
Their eyes met.
Daniel stopped.
Something flickered across her face.
Recognition.
Impossible.
Then Claire said something to Susan.
Both women turned toward him.
Susan's expression changed instantly.
Fear.
She grabbed Claire's arm.
They hurried into the car.
Daniel crossed the street.
"Susan."
She froze.
He should not have known her name.
That was his mistake.
Susan pushed Claire inside.
"Stay away from us."
Daniel stopped several feet away.
"I only want to talk."
"We have nothing to say."
Claire leaned forward.
"Mom, who is he?"
Susan locked the doors.
Daniel saw panic.
Not confusion.
She knew exactly who he was.
The car pulled away.
Marcus joined him.
"That went well."
Daniel ignored him.
His phone rang again.
This time, the number belonged to the front desk at his estate.
Daniel answered.
Margaret was crying.
"Daniel."
He straightened.
"What happened?"
"It's Noah."
Daniel's blood froze.
"What about him?"
May you like
"He disappeared."
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