Chapter 6 - The Signature
By three in the morning, nobody was calling the incident an attempted poisoning anymore.
It was an attempted takeover.
Daniel sat in his office while Thomas Vale reviewed the trust documents.
Owen stood near the window.
Claire.
Michael.
Nora.
All present.
All distrustful of one another.
Daniel placed both hands on the desk.
“If I became medically incapacitated tonight, who gains authority?”
Thomas adjusted his glasses.
“There are several possibilities.”
“Give me the relevant one.”
“If two licensed physicians determined you lacked capacity, temporary control of your personal trust could shift.”
“To whom?”
“Your designated financial proxy.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Who is that?”
Thomas hesitated.
“You signed an amendment eight months ago.”
“I signed no amendment.”
Thomas went still.
Daniel repeated slowly.
“I signed no amendment.”
Michael walked toward the attorney.
“Who is listed?”
Thomas opened a folder.
“Richard Whitmore.”
Claire’s husband.
Claire stood so abruptly her chair fell backward.
“What?”
Thomas looked at her.
“Richard is Daniel’s proxy.”
“No, he isn’t.”
“The document is here.”
Claire snatched it.
She scanned the signature.
Then looked at Daniel.
“It looks exactly like yours.”
“That doesn’t mean it is.”
Michael swore.
Daniel turned to Thomas.
“You processed this?”
“My office did.”
“Personally?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Thomas hesitated.
“My associate.”
“Name.”
“Evan Rowe.”
Daniel looked toward Owen.
“Where is he?”
Thomas’s expression tightened.
“He resigned two months ago.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“How convenient.”
Claire grabbed her phone.
“I’m calling Richard.”
“No.”
Daniel stopped her.
“Why?”
“Because I want to know where he is before he knows we’re looking.”
Security checked immediately.
Richard had left his assigned room.
A rear camera captured him walking toward the garage during the greenhouse fire.
Then he disappeared.
Claire looked as though she had been punched.
“He wouldn’t.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Were you sure about the proxy document?”
She said nothing.
Owen ordered police to locate Richard.
Meanwhile Daniel examined the forged amendment.
It gave Richard temporary financial authority if Daniel was medically declared incompetent.
But there was another clause.
A private company resolution.
If Daniel became incapacitated during an active acquisition, his proxy could approve pending transactions.
Mercer Holdings was currently negotiating the largest acquisition in company history.
A medical technology firm called Parallax Health.
Worth $4.8 billion.
Daniel looked at Michael.
“Who benefits if the acquisition closes?”
“Everyone holding Parallax debt.”
“Who holds it?”
“We don’t know.”
“We find out.”
Thomas suddenly sat down.
He looked ill.
Daniel noticed.
“What?”
Thomas rubbed his forehead.
“There’s something I never told Rebecca.”
Daniel waited.
“She came to my office about the same amendment.”
The room froze.
“When?”
“Eight days before she died.”
Daniel stood.
“She knew?”
“She had discovered a draft.”
“Whose desk?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Mine.”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“You told me you didn’t know what she found.”
“I lied.”
Michael stepped forward.
“Why?”
Thomas looked at Daniel.
“Because somebody threatened my son.”
Daniel said nothing.
Thomas continued.
“They had photographs.”
“Like Michael?”
“Yes.”
“They knew where he worked.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re an attorney.”
Daniel’s anger finally broke through.
“You had evidence somebody was forging my signature, threatening my family, and manipulating company control, and you said nothing?”
Thomas shouted back.
“My son had a newborn daughter!”
Silence.
Thomas lowered his voice.
“I was afraid.”
Daniel stared at him.
“So was Rebecca.”
Thomas looked down.
Daniel walked around the desk.
“What did Rebecca discover?”
“She believed the amendment was connected to Parallax.”
“How?”
“The same shell companies funding Aster Research were purchasing Parallax debt.”
Daniel felt the pattern forming.
“Someone wanted Mercer to acquire a troubled company.”
“Yes.”
“And once Mercer owned it?”
“They could move liabilities onto you.”
Michael understood first.
“They’re not trying to steal Mercer.”
Daniel looked at him.
“They’re trying to bury something inside it.”
Owen nodded slowly.
“And Daniel becomes the person legally responsible.”
Nora whispered, “For what?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Not yet.
His phone buzzed.
A security alert.
A vehicle had been detected entering the estate.
Daniel opened the feed.
A black sedan stopped outside the main entrance.
The driver’s door opened.
Richard stepped out.
Claire whispered, “Richard.”
He wasn’t running.
He wasn’t hiding.
He walked calmly toward the house carrying a leather briefcase.
Police met him at the door.
Daniel watched from the office doorway as Richard was escorted inside.
Claire approached him.
“Where have you been?”
Richard looked at her.
“Trying to save Daniel.”
Michael laughed.
“Interesting way to do it.”
Richard placed the briefcase on the table.
“I know what was in the tea.”
Daniel stared.
“How?”
Richard opened the case.
Inside were documents.
And a second vial.
Identical to the one found near Claire’s chair.
Claire stepped back.
Richard looked directly at Daniel.
“Because someone paid me to make sure you drank it.”
No one moved.
Daniel felt the entire room sharpen.
Richard continued.
“And I agreed.”
Claire whispered, “Why?”
Richard looked at his wife.
May you like
“To find out who gave the order.”
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