Chapter 13 - The Price of a Family
The deal was worth more than money.
It was the reason Gavin had stayed close to Daniel for half his life.
Mercer Industrial was not glamorous. It made industrial components, warehouse systems, and specialized equipment. But the company owned valuable patents, land, and contracts. A buyer could break it apart and make a fortune.
Gavin could not force a sale while Daniel controlled the voting shares.
But if Daniel died, the forged trust gave Gavin and Nora the power.
Claire had discovered the fraud years too early.
Evelyn had discovered it again.
Now Lily had interrupted the final step.
Daniel stared at the trust document in Mara’s office.
“My daughter was six seconds away from watching me die.”
Mara said nothing.
Victor did.
“I am sorry.”
Daniel looked at him. “You don’t get to use that word yet.”
Victor nodded, tears in his eyes.
In exchange for cooperation, he turned over emails, drafts, and billing records. One email from Gavin asked a chilling question two weeks before Claire’s crash:
How long are vehicle inspection records retained after a fatal accident?
Another, sent after Evelyn’s funeral, asked Victor to confirm that Nora’s position as trustee became effective immediately upon Daniel’s death.
Still, Mara needed more on Claire.
The mechanic’s old files were incomplete. The original car had been destroyed years earlier. The recovered voicemail proved Claire was afraid, not why she crashed.
When Daniel returned to the hotel, Lily was coloring at a table.
She had drawn three women beneath a blue sky: herself, Claire, and Evelyn.
“Grandma said Mommy hid things in pretty places,” Lily said without looking up.
Daniel stopped.
“What does that mean?”
“She said Mommy was like a squirrel.”
He almost smiled. Claire had hidden birthday gifts months in advance and then forgotten where she put them.
“Did Grandma ever tell you about something Mommy hid?”
Lily thought.
“The blue music box.”
Daniel’s pulse jumped.
Claire had owned a small blue music box shaped like a carousel. After her death, it disappeared. Daniel assumed it had been packed away.
“Where is it?”
Lily frowned, trying to remember.
“Grandma put it where Nora hated going.”
Daniel knew exactly one place in the house Nora refused to enter.
The attic.
She claimed the dust triggered migraines.
An hour later, under police supervision, Daniel climbed through boxes beneath the sloped roof of the Mercer house.
He found the music box inside an old Christmas trunk.
May you like
The carousel no longer turned.
When he pried open the felt lining beneath it, a tiny memory card slid into his palm.
