Chapter 16 - Brothers
Noah disappeared before anyone could stop him.
His phone went dark twenty minutes later.
Paul tracked his car to Carter Construction headquarters.
Emily arrived with two federal investigators and found Noah in Daniel’s office.
Daniel stood behind the desk.
The brothers were not shouting.
That made the room feel more dangerous.
Noah held a framed photograph of their father.
“You knew,” he said.
Daniel’s face was exhausted now, the arrogance stripped down to something raw.
“I knew Dad did things.”
“You put my name on Emily’s trust.”
“I needed a contingency.”
“You needed a fall guy.”
Daniel glanced at Emily. “You brought cops?”
“They’re investigators.”
“Same difference.”
Noah stepped closer. “Did Dad forge Jonathan’s death record?”
Daniel looked at him.
That look answered before his mouth did.
“Yes.”
Noah’s eyes filled.
“Why?”
“Because Jonathan asked him to.”
Emily’s heart kicked.
“That’s not what my father said.”
Daniel laughed bitterly. “Of course it isn’t.”
He opened a safe and tossed a packet onto the desk.
Inside was a signed statement from Jonathan dated twelve years earlier requesting that Robert maintain the death cover story even if the federal task force collapsed.
Emily read the signature.
This one looked real.
Daniel leaned on the desk.
“Your father stayed dead because he was afraid Reed would kill you. My father carried the lie. Then your grandfather paid him to keep carrying it.”
Noah whispered, “And Northstar?”
“Dad built it as an evidence vault. After he died, I realized it could be more useful than that.”
Emily stared at Daniel. “So you stole from your own company.”
“I moved assets I built.”
“You built them with other people’s money.”
“That’s called business.”
“No. That’s called fraud when you hide it.”
Daniel smiled tiredly. “There she is. Emily Vance Hayes.”
“No. Emily Carter.”
His smile faltered.
“For a little longer,” she added.
One investigator stepped forward.
“Mr. Carter, we need the passwords to the Northstar accounts.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
“Give me one thing and I’ll give you everything.”
“What?”
“Tell them Noah had nothing to do with it.”
Noah froze.
Emily studied Daniel’s face.
For the first time, he looked less like a monster than a brother terrified of losing the last person who shared his childhood.
Then the investigator’s phone rang.
He listened.
His expression changed.
“Northstar just initiated a second transfer.”
Daniel’s face went blank.
Emily whispered, “You didn’t do that.”
“No,” he said.
May you like
And suddenly they all understood.
Someone else still had the keys.
