Chapter 8 - A Husband at the Door
I had imagined seeing Daniel again.
In some versions, I slapped him.
In others, I screamed until my voice disappeared.
But when Catherine opened the door, the first thing I noticed was blood on his shirt.
Not much.
Just enough to make me wonder whose it was.
Daniel stood with one hand pressed against his ribs.
Vanessa was beside him.
Her elegant dress had been replaced by an oversized sweatshirt.
Her blonde hair hung loose around her face.
And for the first time since meeting her, she looked genuinely terrified.
Catherine kept the shotgun pointed toward the floor.
"Give me one good reason not to call the police."
Daniel lifted his eyes.
"Because my father already has people listening to the local dispatch."
Noah stepped forward.
"Your father doesn't have that kind of reach everywhere."
Daniel gave a bitter laugh.
"You really believe that?"
I moved beside Catherine.
"Why are you here?"
Daniel looked at me.
His expression changed.
For one brief second, he looked like the man I'd married.
"Emily."
"No."
I held up my hand.
"You don't get to say my name like that."
His eyes filled.
"I know."
"Do you?"
I gestured toward Vanessa.
"Because twenty-four hours ago, your girlfriend announced she was carrying your baby while your mother toasted her at dinner."
Vanessa flinched.
Daniel lowered his eyes.
"And your father threatened my daughter."
"I know."
"You held me still."
His face crumpled.
"I know."
I stepped closer.
"Then don't stand there looking wounded because I don't want to hug you."
He didn't answer.
Noah moved between us.
"How did you find us?"
Daniel glanced at Catherine.
"Emily called her twice from the old family phone account before she blocked the number."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
"I didn't track her current phone. I guessed."
Catherine's expression hardened.
"That's not an answer."
Daniel swallowed.
"I remembered the place. Emily told me about coming here as a kid."
Noah looked unconvinced.
"How did you get past the road?"
Vanessa stepped forward.
"I drove."
We all turned toward her.
She looked at me.
"Richard's men were following Daniel. I switched cars at a gas station outside Boulder."
I stared at her.
"Why would you help him?"
Her voice shook.
"Because he told me Richard was going to kill me."
Catherine stepped aside reluctantly.
"Inside. Both of you. And don't make me regret it."
Daniel stumbled over the threshold.
Noah caught him before he fell.
His shirt was soaked beneath the ribs.
Catherine immediately reached for her phone.
"He needs a doctor."
Daniel shook his head.
"No hospital."
"You're bleeding."
"I know."
"Then stop being an idiot."
She dialed a local physician she trusted.
I stayed near the kitchen door.
I didn't move toward Daniel.
I didn't touch him.
I watched Noah help him onto the couch.
And I hated that some part of me still remembered how to care about him.
Twenty minutes later, a retired trauma physician named Dr. Evelyn Price examined Daniel.
The injury came from a shallow knife wound along his side.
Painful.
Bloody.
But not life-threatening.
"You're lucky," she told him while applying a clean dressing.
Daniel gave a weak laugh.
"Doesn't feel like it."
"Luck isn't the same as innocence."
Catherine smiled at that.
I almost did too.
After the doctor left, Daniel asked to speak with me.
Alone.
"No," I said.
He nodded.
"Okay."
No argument.
No attempt to convince me.
That frightened me more than another lie would have.
We sat in the living room with Noah and Catherine nearby.
Vanessa remained at the kitchen table, gripping a cup of tea with both hands.
Daniel looked at me.
"I didn't kill your father."
I stared back.
"Then why did you say you were supposed to?"
He swallowed.
"Because Richard ordered me to drive him to the warehouse."
"What happened there?"
"Your father confronted him about the transfers."
I leaned forward.
"Did you see them fight?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Yes."
My throat tightened.
"What did Richard do?"
"He hit him."
Silence filled the room.
"With what?"
"A metal flashlight."
I pressed my hand against my stomach.
Daniel's eyes filled.
"He fell. He wasn't moving."
I stared at him.
"And you did nothing?"
"I thought he was dead."
I felt something cold settle inside me.
"Did you call an ambulance?"
He shook his head.
"Did you try to help him?"
"No."
I stood.
Catherine reached toward me.
I stepped away.
"Then you watched my father die."
Daniel shook his head desperately.
"No. That's not—"
"That's exactly what you just said."
He rose too quickly and winced.
"Emily, I was twenty-nine. My father had controlled everything my entire life."
I looked at him.
"You were an adult."
"I know."
"You could've called the police."
"I know."
"You could've told me."
His voice broke.
"I know."
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I sat back down.
My daughter moved beneath my ribs.
I breathed slowly.
"Finish the story."
Daniel wiped his face.
"Richard told me to bring the car around. He said we'd take your father to a private doctor."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because another vehicle arrived."
Noah leaned forward.
"What kind?"
"A black sedan."
"Who was driving?"
Daniel looked toward Vanessa.
She lowered her head.
"Arthur Wallace."
Noah's expression changed.
Daniel continued.
"Wallace got out with another man. They put your father in the back of his own car."
I gripped the chair.
"Was he still alive?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
"Yes."
My breath caught.
"He was breathing."
I felt tears spill down my face.
My father had been alive.
After Richard struck him.
After Daniel stood there.
After they decided what to do.
"What happened next?"
Daniel's voice became barely audible.
"Wallace told me to go home."
"And you did?"
"Yes."
I shook my head slowly.
"You came home and held me."
Daniel wept.
"You told me everything would be okay."
He couldn't look at me.
I leaned forward.
"Then you helped bury my father."
Noah placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder.
"Tell us where Wallace took him."
Daniel looked up.
"I don't know."
"Think."
"They drove toward the lake."
"Which road?"
"Industrial Parkway."
Noah exchanged a glance with Catherine.
She went pale.
"What?" I asked.
Catherine stared at Daniel.
"That's where Bennett Meridian kept its original testing facility."
I looked at her.
"Why does that matter?"
She swallowed.
"Because your father had a secure room in the basement."
Daniel nodded.
"Wallace knew about it."
My pulse quickened.
"What room?"
Catherine looked at Noah.
"The archive."
Noah stood.
"That's where Sarah said the backup records were stored."
Vanessa suddenly spoke.
"They aren't there anymore."
Everyone turned.
She set down her teacup.
"Wallace emptied the archive three years ago."
Noah stared at her.
"How do you know?"
Vanessa looked at me.
"Because I helped move the files."
The room went silent.
I studied her.
"Then you were part of it."
She nodded slowly.
"Yes."
My stomach twisted.
She began crying.
"I didn't know what they were going to do to your father."
I laughed bitterly.
"But you knew they were stealing from him?"
"Yes."
"And you knew Daniel was married to me?"
She looked away.
"Yes."
I stood.
"Then don't expect me to feel sorry for you."
Vanessa lowered her head.
"I'm not asking for that."
She reached inside her sweatshirt.
Then pulled out a small diamond pendant attached to a broken chain.
My anniversary necklace.
She placed it on the table.
"Daniel told me what was inside."
Noah moved closer.
"Have you opened it?"
She shook her head.
"I didn't dare."
Catherine handed me a small jewelry screwdriver.
The pendant was heavier than it looked.
I turned it over.
Beneath the diamond setting was a nearly invisible seam.
I remembered my father telling me that expensive things often hid their most important parts where nobody thought to look.
My fingers steadied.
I inserted the screwdriver.
A tiny click sounded.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a storage chip no larger than my fingernail.
Noah exhaled.
"My God."
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at the chip.
Catherine whispered my father's name.
I carefully removed it.
"What's on it?"
Noah took a breath.
"Let's find out."
He used an isolated laptop and an offline adapter to read the storage device.
A folder appeared.
Then another.
Financial records.
Video files.
Encrypted backups.
And one file labeled:
EMILY - IF I DON'T COME HOME.
My heart stopped.
I clicked it.
My father's face appeared on the screen.
He was sitting behind his desk.
His expression was exhausted.
His voice trembled.
"Emily, sweetheart, if you're watching this, something has gone terribly wrong."
I started crying.
He looked directly into the camera.
"I need you to know that none of this was your fault."
I covered my mouth.
Then he said:
"Richard Whitmore isn't the person who started this."
Noah leaned forward.
My father continued.
"And Daniel isn't the only man who betrayed us."
He looked toward someone outside the camera's view.
A door opened behind him.
A man stepped into the frame.
My father turned pale.
The video cut to black.
For a moment, none of us moved.
Then Noah paused the final frame.
He enlarged the man's face.
Catherine gasped.
I stared at the screen.
The stranger from the old photograph.
My mother's brother.
Adrian Vale.
May you like
Except he wasn't supposed to be alive.
And according to the date on the recording, he'd been inside my father's office less than twelve hours before the murder.
