Chapter 13 - The Man Richard Trusted
Nobody moved.
The video had stopped playing.
Caroline's face remained frozen on the screen.
Richard stared at Daniel.
For eleven years, Daniel Mercer had been the man standing between his family and danger.
He had driven Caroline to the hospital.
He had carried Noah out of the church after his mother's funeral.
He had searched for Mateo.
He had stood beside Richard when everyone else seemed to be lying.
Now Caroline's recorded warning hung in the air.
“Daniel Mercer is not who you think he is.”
Richard spoke first.
“Tell me she's wrong.”
Daniel looked at the screen.
His jaw tightened.
“Richard, I can explain.”
Richard stood so quickly his chair scraped against the floor.
“Then explain.”
Daniel raised both hands.
“Not with Elena in the room.”
Elena stepped forward.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
She didn't move.
“You don't get to decide what I hear after what happened to my brother.”
Richard nodded.
“She stays.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then he reached slowly into his jacket.
Richard stiffened.
“Don't.”
Daniel stopped.
“My wallet.”
Richard stared.
Daniel removed it carefully and placed it on the desk.
Inside was an old police identification card.
The photograph showed a younger man with shorter hair.
The name was not Daniel Mercer.
It was Daniel Cross.
Richard stared.
“What is this?”
Daniel answered quietly.
“My real name.”
Elena felt a chill.
Richard picked up the card.
“You lied about your identity?”
“Yes.”
“For eleven years?”
“Yes.”
Richard looked at him as though he were seeing a stranger.
“Why?”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“Because Edward Vance hired me to.”
Richard frowned.
“My father?”
Daniel nodded.
“I was investigating Victor Whitmore before I came to work for your family.”
Richard looked at the card again.
Daniel continued.
“Your father contacted me after discovering financial irregularities at Bellwether.”
“Why use another name?”
“Because I had already been threatened.”
“By Victor?”
“Yes.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“My original investigation collapsed after a witness was killed. My supervisor told me to leave the case alone.”
“So you became my security chief?”
“Your father arranged a protected employment identity through an attorney. He wanted someone inside the household whom Victor couldn't immediately connect to the investigation.”
Richard laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“And you never thought to tell me?”
“Your father made me promise.”
“My father is dead.”
Daniel said nothing.
Richard stepped closer.
“Caroline is dead.”
“I know.”
“My son nearly died.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“I know.”
“Then why did my wife warn me about you?”
Daniel looked toward the screen.
“Because she found out I'd lied.”
Richard waited.
Daniel continued.
“Three weeks before she became ill, Caroline discovered my real name.”
“What happened?”
“She confronted me.”
Richard's voice hardened.
“And?”
“I told her the truth about my investigation.”
Richard glanced at the frozen video.
“She obviously didn't believe you.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not completely.”
“Why not?”
“Because I had been reporting to your father before he died, and later to someone else.”
Richard felt his stomach tighten.
“Who?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Arthur Bell.”
The room went quiet.
Elena frowned.
“Arthur knew?”
Daniel nodded.
“He knew my identity. He also knew I was trying to protect your family.”
Richard stared.
“Then why didn't he tell me when we met?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Because he believed my cover had been compromised.”
“By whom?”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“Someone who obtained my old personnel records.”
Richard's expression changed.
“Victor.”
“Possibly.”
Richard took a step back.
“You knew Caroline had evidence.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she was in danger.”
“Yes.”
“And you let her die.”
Daniel flinched.
Richard's voice rose.
“Answer me!”
Daniel's eyes filled.
“I failed her.”
The admission hung between them.
For the first time, Daniel looked less like a trained professional and more like a man who had spent years carrying an unbearable memory.
He pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Caroline called me the afternoon before she collapsed.”
Richard went still.
“She said she had discovered where the missing money was going.”
“Did she tell you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“She wanted to show me the documents herself.”
Daniel swallowed.
“She asked me to come to the house that evening.”
Richard's hands shook.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because someone sent me photographs of my daughter.”
Elena slowly sat down.
Daniel continued.
“She was fourteen.”
“Who sent them?”
“I never found out.”
“What did they want?”
“They said if I went to the Vance house that night, she'd disappear.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Daniel's voice broke.
“I called Caroline and told her I couldn't come.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she understood.”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“The next morning, I heard she'd been taken to the hospital.”
Richard turned away.
For a long moment, he couldn't speak.
Then he looked back.
“Where is your daughter now?”
“Living under another name in Oregon.”
“Does she know?”
“Some of it.”
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“You should have told me.”
“Yes.”
“You should have told the police.”
“I tried after Caroline died.”
“What happened?”
“My evidence was incomplete. The financial investigation stalled. I couldn't prove the threats were connected to her death.”
Richard gestured toward the computer.
“Now we have proof.”
“Maybe.”
Daniel stood.
“But there's something you need to understand.”
Richard folded his arms.
“Go on.”
“Caroline didn't record only one video.”
The forensic analyst looked up.
Daniel pointed at the screen.
“Check the card's file directory.”
The analyst opened the folder.
There were several videos.
One had been recorded three days after the first.
Richard clicked it.
Caroline appeared again.
This time she looked more exhausted.
Her hands trembled slightly.
“Richard.”
Richard leaned forward.
“I need to correct something I said in my earlier recording.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Caroline continued.
“Daniel has been protecting us under another identity. I was angry when I discovered it.”
She paused.
“But I verified part of his story.”
Richard glanced at Daniel.
Caroline looked into the camera.
“I still don't know who is leaking information from our security team, and I don't know whether Daniel understands how far this goes.”
She took a breath.
“Don't trust anyone without evidence.”
Richard's eyes filled.
“But don't mistake an old lie for proof of a new crime.”
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
Daniel sat down heavily.
Richard looked at him.
“Why didn't you tell me about the second video?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I didn't know it existed.”
For a moment, Richard felt relief.
Then something else struck him.
Caroline had not fully cleared Daniel.
She had told Richard to verify everything.
He turned toward the forensic analyst.
“Check every file. Every recording. Every date.”
The analyst nodded.
Daniel looked at Richard.
“Do you still trust me?”
Richard studied him.
“I trust what we can prove.”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“Fair enough.”
Richard picked up his phone.
“Arthur needs to answer some questions.”
Before he could call, the analyst spoke.
“Mr. Vance?”
Richard turned.
“What?”
“There's another file.”
A spreadsheet appeared.
It contained internal security payments.
Employee names.
Dates.
Transfer amounts.
Several suspicious payments had been made shortly before Caroline died.
One name appeared on three transactions.
Daniel Mercer.
Richard stared.
Daniel stepped closer.
“That isn't my account.”
The analyst clicked the banking details.
“Then somebody used your name.”
Richard looked at Daniel.
“Who had access to your personnel records?”
Daniel thought for a moment.
Then his expression changed.
“Vanessa.”
Richard frowned.
“She wasn't part of the household when Caroline died.”
“Not officially.”
Daniel reached for his phone.
“She was working as a consultant on the foundation's donor security program.”
Richard stared.
“That was before we met.”
“Yes.”
Daniel opened an old employment file.
A photograph appeared.
Vanessa stood beside Caroline at a foundation event.
Richard recognized it.
But this photograph showed more of the room.
Behind Vanessa stood another woman.
Dark hair.
Gray business suit.
A silver name badge.
Daniel zoomed in.
Richard read the name.
Margaret Ellis.
He frowned.
“Who is that?”
Daniel's expression turned grim.
“She was your father's executive assistant.”
“Margaret retired years ago.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at Richard.
“She disappeared four months after Caroline's death.”
The analyst opened a financial record.
A payment had been made to a company registered in Delaware.
The authorized contact was Margaret Ellis.
The same company had later paid Alan Kessler.
Richard felt the pieces connect.
“Find her.”
Daniel was already reaching for his phone.
Then the estate's emergency alarm sounded.
A sharp electronic voice came through the ceiling speakers.
“Security breach. North service corridor.”
Richard turned toward the door.
Noah was upstairs.
Elena was already running.
They reached the hallway as two guards rushed past them.
A woman screamed near the staff entrance.
Richard rounded the corner.
One guard lay on the floor, conscious but bleeding from his forehead.
Another was struggling to close an exterior door.
A man in dark clothing disappeared across the lawn.
Daniel pulled Richard back.
“Stay inside!”
Richard ignored him.
“Where's Noah?”
A guard answered.
“Safe in the upstairs suite!”
Elena ran toward the stairs.
Richard followed.
They reached Noah's bedroom.
The door stood open.
Dr. Shaw sat beside the boy, holding him tightly.
Noah was crying.
Richard dropped to his knees.
“Buddy!”
Noah threw himself into his father's arms.
“Daddy!”
Richard held him.
“I'm here.”
Noah trembled.
“The man came back.”
Richard stiffened.
“What man?”
“The one from the party.”
“Raymond?”
Noah shook his head.
“The old man.”
Richard felt his blood turn cold.
“What old man?”
Noah looked toward the window.
Then whispered, “Grandpa Victor.”
Richard stared at Dr. Shaw.
She looked horrified.
“He was at the door for less than ten seconds.”
“What did he do?”
“He asked Noah to come with him.”
Richard held his son tighter.
“Did he touch him?”
“No. I called security immediately.”
Noah looked up.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“He told me something.”
Richard swallowed.
“What?”
Noah's voice shook.
“He said if you didn't stop looking, another tower would fall.”
Richard closed his eyes.
May you like
Then Noah added something else.
“He said next time, Miss Elena wouldn't be there.”
