Chapter 4
“Disappeared?”
Dad switched the phone to speaker.
Paul's breathing was heavy.
“She left our house around one. She didn't take her normal car. She didn't tell me where she was going.”
Melissa leaned closer.
“Does she know Caldwell was meeting us tonight?”
“Yes.”
Dad's expression darkened.
“How?”
Paul didn't answer.
Dad slammed his palm onto the desk.
“How, Paul?”
“I told her.”
“Why?”
“Because she already knew most of it.”
I stared at the phone.
“You were feeding Richard information.”
Paul heard me.
“Emily, this isn't what it looks like.”
I laughed.
My cheek hurt when I did.
“That sentence should be illegal.”
“Please.”
Dad spoke.
“How much did Caldwell pay you?”
Paul went quiet.
Melissa pulled up the payment list.
“We already know about Harbor Strategic.”
Paul exhaled.
“Those payments weren't bribes.”
“What were they?”
“Consulting fees.”
“For helping him deceive our company?”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
Paul's voice dropped.
“Richard approached me last year. He said he was concerned Bennett Capital was going to destroy him during refinancing.”
Dad stared at the phone.
“So you advised him secretly?”
“I thought I could control the situation.”
Melissa muttered, “That's what every idiot says right before a disaster.”
Paul heard her.
“Melissa, I was trying to protect Thomas.”
“By accepting half a million dollars from the borrower?”
“I declared Harbor.”
“You did not declare Caldwell as a client.”
Paul didn't respond.
Dad looked exhausted.
“What does Rebecca have to do with this?”
A long silence.
Then Paul said, “She never forgave you.”
Dad shut his eyes.
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
Paul's voice shook.
“For twenty-three years, she believed you caused Martin's death.”
“I didn't.”
“I know that.”
“Does she?”
“She didn't want to.”
My father looked toward me.
I could see twenty-three years of history moving through his eyes.
“Why marry my closest friend?” he asked.
Paul's voice nearly cracked.
“She didn't marry me because of you.”
“Are you sure?”
That hurt him.
You could hear it.
“Yes.”
Dad said nothing.
Paul continued.
“When Rebecca learned I worked with you, she hated it. We fought about it for years. Then something changed last summer.”
“What?”
“She stopped fighting.”
Melissa frowned.
“That sounds worse.”
“It was.”
Paul sighed.
“She started asking questions. About your deals. Your family. Emily.”
I felt sick.
“And you answered?”
“At first, harmless things.”
Dad whispered, “There is no harmless information when someone hates your family.”
“I know that now.”
“What did you tell Richard?”
“Less than you think.”
“What did you tell Rebecca?”
Paul didn't answer.
Dad's voice hardened.
“Everything?”
“No.”
“Enough?”
“Yes.”
I stood.
I couldn't sit anymore.
“So Richard knew where I lived because of you?”
“No. I never gave him your address.”
“Then Rebecca did.”
“I don't know.”
“Stop saying you don't know.”
My voice rose.
“You people spent months turning my life into a file.”
Paul sounded ashamed.
“Emily, I'm sorry.”
“I don't care.”
Dad looked at me.
I stepped back.
He returned to the call.
“Where would Rebecca go?”
“I've called everyone.”
“Did she take anything?”
“Her passport is still here.”
“Computer?”
“Gone.”
Melissa looked at me.
That mattered.
“Phone?”
“Off.”
“Bank cards?”
“No activity.”
Dad said, “Call the police.”
“I already did. They said she's an adult and there isn't evidence she's in danger.”
Ethan appeared in the doorway again.
“Actually, there is.”
Everyone turned.
He held his phone.
“What?”
“I know where she is.”
Paul heard him.
“Who is that?”
“Ethan Caldwell.”
Paul swore.
Ethan walked inside.
“My uncle made me unlock his phone when he came to the house.”
Carol followed behind him.
“You didn't tell me that.”
“I forgot.”
“You forgot?”
“He was hitting me, Mom.”
Her anger vanished instantly.
“I'm sorry.”
Ethan showed us his screen.
“I saw messages while he was yelling.”
He had taken a picture.
A blurry one.
But readable.
A conversation between Steven Caldwell and someone saved as R.
Steven: Richard lost control.
R: Did Bennett sign?
Steven: Not yet.
R: Then everything depends on tonight.
Steven: Where are you?
R: West warehouse.
Paul's voice came through the speaker.
“What warehouse?”
Ethan zoomed in.
“There was another message.”
R: Bring the original Vale file.
Dad became still.
“Original Vale file?”
Paul whispered, “Oh God.”
“What?”
“There was a file Martin kept before he died.”
Dad stared at the phone.
“What file?”
“I don't know. Rebecca mentioned it when we first got married. She said her father had proof someone betrayed him.”
“Me?”
“She thought so.”
Dad shook his head.
“He was stealing from our company.”
Paul responded immediately.
“Rebecca says you framed him.”
Dad's expression changed.
“What?”
“She believes the missing file proves it.”
My father took several slow breaths.
Then he said, “Paul, Martin wasn't just stealing money from me.”
Everyone waited.
“He was stealing from investors.”
Melissa stared at him.
“How much?”
“Nearly four million dollars.”
“Why wasn't he prosecuted?”
Dad looked toward the floor.
“Because he agreed to repay it.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Dad's eyes met mine.
“He died first.”
I understood.
The accident had left questions.
And Dad had kept quiet.
Maybe to protect investors.
Maybe to protect Martin's daughter.
Maybe both.
“You never told Rebecca?”
“I tried.”
“She was fourteen.”
“After she became an adult?”
“She refused every attempt.”
Paul's voice sharpened.
“Then why didn't you go public?”
Dad snapped.
“Because her mother begged me not to destroy what was left of Martin's name.”
The room went silent.
Paul whispered, “Rebecca doesn't know that.”
“No.”
I looked at Dad.
“Can you prove it?”
“Yes.”
Everyone turned.
“There are records?”
“Copies.”
“Where?”
Dad looked at Melissa.
“Old archive.”
She nodded slowly.
“The offsite facility?”
“Yes.”
I stepped closer.
“If Rebecca thinks that Vale file proves you destroyed her father, Richard could be using that.”
Dad nodded.
“To turn her against me.”
Melissa looked at Paul.
“Did Richard know Rebecca's history before he hired you?”
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then he didn't hire Paul accidentally.”
Melissa nodded.
“He targeted him.”
Paul sounded sick.
“I thought Richard approached me because of Lakeview.”
“No,” I said.
“He approached you because you were married to Rebecca.”
Nobody argued.
Dad ended the call after ordering Paul to stay home and speak with investigators.
Then he turned to his security chief.
“Find the west warehouse.”
Marcus was already working.
“What company?”
Ethan said, “Caldwell owns several warehouses.”
Carol stepped forward.
“I know which one.”
She took the phone.
“West Fulton.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You're sure?”
“Richard stores old project files there. He calls it the west warehouse.”
My father headed for the door.
Melissa blocked him.
“No.”
“Move.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Rebecca could be there.”
“So could Steven.”
“And documents proving fraud.”
“And possibly people willing to hurt a seventeen-year-old over a flash drive.”
Dad glared at her.
“We call police.”
Melissa raised her phone.
“I already am.”
I grabbed my coat.
Dad saw me.
“You are not going.”
“Dad.”
“No.”
“Rebecca's file has my name all over it.”
“That is exactly why you're not going.”
Carol spoke.
“Emily should stay.”
I turned.
She looked at me apologetically.
“Richard targeted you. We don't know why.”
Ethan looked down.
I saw something in his face.
“What?”
He didn't answer.
“Ethan.”
His mother turned.
“Tell us.”
He swallowed.
“There was something else on Uncle Steven's phone.”
“What?”
“A picture.”
He unlocked his phone and opened the blurry photo again.
Then swiped.
The next image was even worse.
A printed photograph on Steven's kitchen counter.
I recognized myself.
I was maybe five years old.
Standing beside my father at a picnic.
But we weren't alone.
A woman stood behind us.
I stared.
“That’s Mom.”
Dad stepped closer.
My mother, Laura Bennett.
She died when I was sixteen.
Beside her was another woman.
Younger.
Dark hair.
Rebecca.
Dad grabbed the phone.
“Where did Steven get this?”
Ethan shook his head.
I looked at my father.
“Why is Rebecca in a picture with Mom?”
Dad didn't answer.
“Dad.”
His face had gone pale.
“Thomas?” Melissa said.
I stepped toward him.
“You know.”
He sat slowly.
Carol whispered, “What is it?”
My father stared at the photograph.
“Rebecca and your mother knew each other.”
I felt like I had been punched again.
“How?”
“They were friends.”
“What?”
“For several years.”
“You told me Rebecca hated you.”
“She did.”
“Then why was she friends with Mom?”
Dad closed his eyes.
“Because Laura believed she could help her.”
“Help her do what?”
“Let go.”
I shook my head.
“No. Mom never mentioned her.”
“I asked her not to.”
“Why?”
“Because every time Rebecca got close to our family, I worried she wasn't doing it for the right reasons.”
I stared at him.
“You thought she was using Mom to get to you.”
“Yes.”
“And Mom?”
“She disagreed.”
Of course she did.
My mother saw good in everyone.
Sometimes too much.
“What happened?”
“They stopped speaking.”
“Why?”
Dad looked at the photograph.
“Laura found something.”
My heart beat faster.
“What?”
“She never told me everything.”
“Dad.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
He stood.
“A month before Laura ended the friendship, she told me Rebecca had been searching through old records connected to Martin.”
“The Vale file.”
“Maybe.”
“And then?”
“Then your mother told Rebecca never to contact her again.”
I stared at him.
“That doesn't sound like Mom.”
“No.”
“It doesn’t.”
“That’s why I knew something serious happened.”
Melissa looked at the photograph.
“When was this?”
“Seventeen years ago.”
I calculated.
I had been five.
Daniel wasn't even born yet.
Carol whispered, “Richard met Rebecca around that time.”
Dad snapped toward her.
“What?”
She nodded.
“I remember her now.”
“You said Richard has been working with her recently.”
“I thought so.”
“No. I mean years ago.”
Carol's eyes widened as memory returned.
“Before Ethan was born, Richard did legal consulting for Vale Holdings.”
My father went completely still.
“Vale Holdings ceased operations after Martin died.”
“Someone reopened one of the entities.”
“When?”
“About seventeen years ago.”
My skin prickled.
Around the same time Rebecca was close to my mother.
Dad whispered, “Who?”
Carol looked at him.
“Richard.”
The room fell silent.
This connection hadn't started last year.
It hadn't even started with the twenty-eight-million-dollar loan.
It had been building for almost two decades.
Marcus stepped inside.
“We found the warehouse.”
Dad immediately moved.
“Police?”
“Units are heading there.”
“I’m going.”
Melissa didn't argue this time.
Neither did I.
I picked up my coat.
Dad turned.
“No.”
I stared at him.
“Mom is part of this.”
His expression softened.
“Which is exactly why I don't want you near it.”
I shook my head.
“You've been protecting me from secrets my entire life.”
“Emily.”
“And now those secrets are walking around with my photographs.”
He looked wounded.
Good.
Because I was hurt too.
“I’m coming.”
Before he could answer, his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman's voice came through.
Calm.
Cold.
Familiar only because I had been staring at her photograph.
“Thomas.”
Dad stopped breathing.
“Rebecca?”
She laughed softly.
“You still recognize my voice.”
“Where are you?”
“You know where.”
“Rebecca, listen to me.”
“No. You listen.”
Her voice hardened.
“Twenty-three years ago, you stole my father from me.”
Dad looked at me.
“That isn't true.”
“And seventeen years ago, your wife stole the proof.”
My heart stopped.
Dad gripped the phone.
“What proof?”
Rebecca ignored him.
“If you want the Vale file, come to the warehouse.”
“Rebecca—”
“Bring Emily.”
Dad's face changed.
“No.”
Rebecca laughed.
“I knew you'd say that.”
“Leave my daughter out of this.”
“Your daughter has never been out of this.”
I stepped toward the phone.
Dad moved it away.
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca's voice became quiet.
“Ask Thomas who paid for Emily's first year of life.”
Then she hung up.
I stared at my father.
His face told me everything.
May you like
There was another secret.
And this time, it was about me.
