Chapter 12 - The Leak
Mara did not trust anonymous warnings.
She trusted patterns.
Gavin knew about the locker. Someone knew the lake house search was happening. Someone knew Jenna’s route to police headquarters.
Each plan had been discussed through official channels.
Mara created a test.
She told four different people four different false locations for Jenna’s transfer the next morning.
To one detective, she said county courthouse.
To another, a federal building.
To the desk lieutenant, a private clinic.
To Daniel’s family attorney, Victor Lang, she said Jenna would be moved to a safe apartment on Marlow Street.
At 9:15 p.m., an unmarked vehicle began circling Marlow Street.
Mara had her answer.
Victor Lang was brought in before midnight.
The sixty-three-year-old attorney looked twenty years older by the time Daniel entered the interview room.
“You helped them,” Daniel said.
Victor stared at the table. “I gave Gavin information.”
“Why?”
“My son owed money. Rehab, gambling, bad decisions. Gavin paid it. Then he kept records of every dollar and every lie I told to cover it.”
Daniel’s disgust was immediate. “So you sold us.”
Victor’s eyes filled. “At first I thought it was financial. Fake vendors. Moving cash. I told myself I was protecting my son while I figured out how to stop it.”
“And the trust?” Mara asked.
Victor flinched.
Gavin had pressured him to prepare a revised estate document giving Nora and Gavin broad control of Lily’s inheritance if Daniel died before she turned eighteen. Daniel had rejected the language.
So Victor created a second version.
Forged signatures.
Backdated witness pages.
A document designed to be “found” after Daniel’s death.
“You committed a felony,” Mara said.
“I know.”
Daniel leaned forward. “Did you know they killed my mother?”
Victor’s face broke.
“I suspected after she died.”
“You suspected?”
“I heard Gavin say Evelyn had become a problem. Two days later she was dead.”
Daniel stood so suddenly the chair scraped backward.
Mara blocked the door. “Sit down.”
Victor covered his face.
“There’s more.”
Daniel turned.
Victor reached into his briefcase and removed a photocopy of a trust schedule.
“This is why Gavin was rushing.”
The schedule showed the voting control of Mercer Industrial after Daniel’s death.
Fifty-one percent would sit in Lily’s trust.
Nora and Gavin, acting together, could authorize a sale of the controlling shares.
A handwritten note appeared in Gavin’s margin.
Buyer ready. Close within 30 days.
Mara pointed to another line.
“Who is the buyer?”
May you like
Victor swallowed.
“I don’t know the name. But Gavin said the deal was already signed.”
