Nobody spoke.
Victor Hale stood beneath the flickering storage-room light.
Claire held Richard's letter in one hand and the company records in the other.
“You're saying Richard ordered my assignment?”
Hale nodded.
“Yes.”
“And you expect us to believe that?”
“No.”
Claire frowned.
“No?”
“I expect you to verify it.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You worked with Richard.”
“For several years.”
“You supplied the equipment.”
“Yes.”
“You helped move money.”
Hale's expression tightened.
“Yes.”
“And now you're cooperating with federal investigators.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was going to prison.”
Hale did not soften the answer.
“I cooperated because I was caught.”
Claire respected the bluntness more than she wanted to.
“Then tell us what Richard did.”
Hale took a breath.
“Richard created the company.”
“Mercer Defense Consulting.”
“Yes.”
“He used it to move money.”
“Initially.”
Claire frowned.
“Initially?”
“He started by helping Hale Industries win contracts.”
“You.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard wanted influence.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That doesn't sound like him.”
“You didn't know him as well as you think.”
Hale placed a folder on the table.
Inside were copies of emails.
Richard had written to Hale repeatedly.
The messages discussed contracts.
Equipment.
Personnel.
Claire's name appeared in several.
She read one.
Get Mercer assigned to Harrison.
She looked at Daniel.
“That is Richard's handwriting.”
Daniel nodded.
Another document contained a payment.
The recipient was listed as Mercer Defense Consulting.
The authorization carried Richard's signature.
Claire's stomach tightened.
“Why would he want me there?”
Hale looked at her.
“Because you were investigating the missing equipment.”
“I didn't know about the money.”
“You didn't need to.”
“You knew I was investigating?”
“Yes.”
“Richard knew?”
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at the documents.
“Why would Richard put his own niece in danger?”
Hale's expression changed.
“He didn't.”
Claire looked at him.
“What?”
“The order wasn't intended to hurt you.”
“Then what was it intended to do?”
“To expose someone.”
“Who?”
Hale pointed toward Daniel.
“Your father.”
Daniel stepped backward.
Claire stared.
“Why?”
“Richard believed Daniel was taking money.”
Daniel's voice rose.
“I wasn't.”
“I know that now.”
“Now?”
“I didn't know then.”
Hale explained that Richard had suspected Daniel because Daniel had access to procurement records and military contracts.
He believed Daniel was secretly cooperating with Hale.
Richard arranged Claire's assignment because he expected her to discover evidence.
But the plan went wrong.
Someone altered the training exercise.
The live-fire component was added.
Claire was injured.
Richard's records were later manipulated to make it appear that he had ordered the dangerous operation.
Claire looked at the paperwork.
“Then who changed the exercise?”
Hale shook his head.
“Reed.”
“Who authorized it?”
“Ellis.”
“And who benefited?”
Hale hesitated.
“That is what we never proved.”
Daniel pointed to the payment records.
“Mercer Defense Consulting.”
Hale nodded.
“But the company was being used by someone else.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
Claire looked at the documents.
“Then Richard wasn't the mastermind.”
“No.”
“He was investigating my father.”
“Yes.”
“And someone used his plan to frame him after he died.”
“Yes.”
Daniel sat down.
His hands covered his face.
Claire looked at him.
“Dad.”
He lowered his hands.
“I should have told you about Richard.”
“Yes.”
“I should have told you about the account.”
“Yes.”
“I should have trusted you.”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
Hale looked toward the doorway.
“We need to leave.”
Claire turned.
“Why?”
“Because the storage center isn't secure.”
A distant engine sounded.
Hale's expression changed.
“They found us.”
Daniel stood.
“Who?”
Hale did not answer.
They gathered the files.
Outside, another vehicle entered the property.
Claire recognized it.
Federal agents.
Agent Nolan stepped out.
He approached with two colleagues.
“Hale.”
Hale nodded.
Nolan looked at Claire.
“You found the Mercer records.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Claire handed him the copies.
“Richard's name appears everywhere.”
Nolan examined the papers.
“We expected that.”
Claire's eyes narrowed.
“You knew?”
“We knew Richard was involved.”
“But not whether he was guilty.”
“Correct.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“What about Reed and Ellis?”
Nolan's expression tightened.
“Reed is dead.”
“Ellis?”
“Missing.”
Claire looked at Hale.
“And Richard?”
“Dead.”
Nolan nodded.
“Which leaves us with a problem.”
“What problem?”
“The person who continued operating the company after Richard's death.”
Claire looked at the account records.
“Daniel.”
Nolan shook his head.
“Not your father.”
He pointed to a transaction.
“Someone was using his identity.”
Claire looked at the account.
“Who?”
Nolan answered:
“Your mother.”
Margaret's face appeared in Claire's mind.
Her signature.
Her secret meetings.
The warehouse.
The warning.
Claire's chest tightened.
“No.”
Nolan continued.
“We traced several authorization codes to Margaret Mercer.”
Daniel stared.
“That can't be.”
Nolan handed him a document.
The codes matched.
Daniel looked at his wife.
Margaret had remained at home.
She was not there.
Claire's phone rang.
Her mother's name appeared.
Claire answered.
“Mom?”
No response.
“Mom?”
A man's voice spoke instead.
“She's safe.”
Claire froze.
“Who are you?”
“You've been asking the wrong questions.”
Daniel moved closer.
The voice continued.
“Richard wasn't trying to expose your father.”
Claire stared at the floor.
“Then what was he doing?”
“He was protecting him.”
The call ended.
Nolan immediately traced the number.
“Give me the phone.”
Claire handed it over.
Nolan looked at the screen.
“It bounced through three systems.”
Daniel's face had gone pale.
“We have to find Margaret.”
They drove back.
The house was empty.
The front door stood open.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
Claire called out.
“Mom?”
No answer.
On the kitchen table was a folded piece of paper.
Claire opened it.
Only four words.
Ask what Richard discovered.
Daniel stared at the note.
“I know what he discovered.”
Claire looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel swallowed.
“That Hale wasn't the one moving the money.”
“Who was?”
Daniel looked toward the old family photograph on the wall.
“The Mercer family trust.”
Claire frowned.
“My grandfather's trust?”
“Yes.”
“Who controls it?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“My father.”
Claire stared.
“Your grandfather died twenty-five years ago.”
“Yes.”
“So who controls it?”
Daniel whispered:
“Someone who was never supposed to exist.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART7: The Family Trust Revealed a Hidden Beneficiary Who Had Been Protected for Decades, and Claire Finally Learned Why Her Mother Had Risked Everything
She Returned Home in Uniform Without Warning, Placed a Sealed Military Envelope on the Table, and Asked Her Father Why He Had Kept Her Discharge Secret
Part 6 of 16
