The road to the quarry narrowed as the pavement gave way to gravel. Trees crowded both sides, their branches brushing the roof of the patrol vehicle. Daniel sat in the back with Claire and Evan while Hale drove. Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Evan held the memory card inside a small plastic case.
Daniel watched him.
“You understand that this goes to the police when we get there.”
“I know.”
“No more hiding things.”
“I know.”
Claire looked out the window.
Daniel noticed the exhaustion in her face.
He wanted to be angry.
Part of him still was.
But beneath the anger was something more painful.
He had spent years believing that marriage meant knowing the person beside you completely.
Now he wondered whether that had ever been possible.
The quarry appeared beyond the trees.
The old stone walls rose from the forest like broken teeth.
Hale stopped the SUV before the final bend.
“From here, we walk.”
They moved carefully through the trees.
A rusted warning sign hung from a chain.
DANGER — UNSTABLE GROUND.
The old quarry pit lay beyond it.
Water filled the deepest section, black beneath the afternoon light.
Evan stopped.
“There.”
A boat was tied to a damaged wooden platform.
Daniel recognized it.
Victor's.
Hale raised his hand.
Everyone froze.
A voice came from behind the trees.
“You shouldn't have brought the police.”
Daniel turned.
Victor stepped into view.
He looked exhausted, unshaven, and thinner than the photograph.
Claire took one step forward.
“Victor.”
He looked at her.
For a moment, brother and sister simply stared at each other.
Then Victor said, “You should have stayed away.”
Claire's voice broke.
“I thought you were dead.”
“You were supposed to.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Why?”
Victor looked at him.
“Because everyone watching you believed I was dead.”
“Who?”
Victor glanced toward the quarry.
“Miller isn't the one running this.”
Daniel felt the ground shift beneath him.
“Then who is?”
Victor didn't answer.
Hale moved closer.
“Victor Shaw, you're not under arrest. But you're going to explain everything.”
Victor gave a bitter smile.
“That's what I tried to do six months ago.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Your marina wasn't losing money.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
Victor reached into his jacket and removed a folder.
“The fake reservations were created to move money into an account controlled by a development company.”
Daniel opened the folder.
The company name appeared on the first page.
North Shore Holdings.
His stomach tightened.
“They wanted the shoreline.”
Victor nodded.
“But the money wasn't theirs either.”
Daniel looked up.
“Whose was it?”
“Investors.”
“What investors?”
Victor hesitated.
“People who were financing an illegal expansion project.”
Hale frowned.
“Illegal how?”
“They were planning to build private structures along protected shoreline.”
Daniel looked toward the lake.
The quarry suddenly made sense.
It had once been part of the same development plan.
“They needed our property,” he said.
Victor nodded.
“And when you refused to sell, they needed leverage.”
Claire whispered, “That's why they framed Daniel.”
Victor looked at her.
“Yes.”
Daniel closed the folder.
“Then why involve Evan?”
“I didn't.”
“Someone used your name.”
“I know.”
Victor's face hardened.
“I was trying to protect him.”
Evan stepped forward.
“You sent the message.”
Victor nodded.
“I did.”
“From Mom's phone?”
“No.”
Evan frowned.
“Then how?”
Victor looked at Claire.
“Your sister's old phone.”
Claire stared at him.
“My sister?”
“Your old family account.”
Claire's expression changed.
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
Victor explained.
“Someone had access to old backups. They cloned Claire's messages.”
Claire shook her head.
“That shouldn't be possible.”
“It was.”
Hale looked at Victor.
“Who had access?”
Victor's silence lasted too long.
Daniel noticed.
“Who?”
Victor finally said, “Miller.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“But you said he wasn't running this.”
“He wasn't.”
“Then who was?”
Victor looked directly at Claire.
“Your husband.”
Daniel went completely still.
Claire's face drained of color.
Evan stepped between them.
“No.”
Victor continued.
“Daniel was supposed to be the fall guy. But the person who designed the scheme needed someone inside the family.”
Daniel stared at Claire.
“I told you I didn't sell the property.”
Victor shook his head.
“You didn't.”
“Then what are you saying?”
Victor pointed toward the folder.
“Look at the authorization forms.”
Daniel opened them.
His signature appeared on several pages.
His face tightened.
“I never signed these.”
“I know.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Someone forged his signature.”
Victor nodded.
“But not from outside the family.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Victor's voice softened.
“Claire, you gave someone access.”
Her eyes filled.
“Who?”
Victor looked toward the road.
“Your father.”
Daniel stared.
Claire whispered, “My father died eight years ago.”
Victor's expression changed.
“No.”
Silence.
“What?” Claire whispered.
“Your father didn't die eight years ago.”
Claire took a step backward.
Daniel caught her arm.
Victor continued.
“He disappeared because he was involved with the original land deal.”
Claire shook her head violently.
“No. That's impossible.”
“He changed his name.”
“What name?”
Victor looked at Daniel.
“Richard Mercer.”
Daniel felt his blood run cold.
His own father.
The man he had believed had died peacefully years earlier.
Victor said, “Your father and mine were partners.”
Daniel stared at the folder.
The entire history of the marina suddenly looked different.
The old accounts.
The development offers.
The missing money.
The forged signatures.
The reason Victor had vanished.
And Claire's strange silence.
Daniel turned toward his wife.
“You knew?”
Claire was crying.
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
“Not until last month.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“And you still didn't tell me.”
“I was trying to find out if it was true.”
A branch snapped behind them.
Everyone turned.
A shot cracked through the trees.
Hale pulled Daniel down.
Evan screamed.
Victor grabbed Claire.
Another shot struck the wooden platform.
“Run!” Hale shouted.
They scattered toward the trees.
Daniel grabbed Evan's arm.
Claire ran beside them.
Behind them, Victor shouted something.
Then another gunshot rang out.
Daniel turned.
Victor had fallen.
“Victor!”
Hale raised his weapon and fired toward the trees.
The shooter disappeared.
Daniel wanted to run back.
Hale grabbed him.
“No!”
Victor was lying beside the quarry platform.
Blood darkened his shirt.
Daniel could see him breathing.
Barely.
Then Victor lifted one hand.
He pointed toward the water.
Daniel followed the gesture.
A second boat was moving away from the quarry.
Someone was escaping.
And on the back of the boat was the same silver stripe they had seen on Miller's truck.
Click Here to continue read next: PART7: The Escaping Boat Carried the Missing Evidence, but Claire Recognized the Driver and Realized the Betrayal Had Started Long Before Their Marriage
Claire Came Home Carrying Grocery Bags, but Daniel Was Already Calling the Police About Something He Could Not Explain
Part 6 of 16
