Chapter 12 - What Happened to Dad
I did not sleep that night.
I sat beside Claire while rain tapped the windows and replayed the last week of my father’s life.
He had been sick.
Very sick.
But I remembered him sitting up in bed, asking about the company, teasing Daniel about his terrible haircut.
Then, two days later, he was barely conscious.
We were told the cancer had progressed suddenly.
We believed it because we were afraid not to.
Ruiz warned me not to jump to conclusions.
“A signed medication authorization is not proof of a crime.”
“But it’s enough to ask questions.”
“Yes.”
The medical foundation records showed payments to a private physician who had treated my father in his final week.
Dr. Allen Cross.
He had retired to Arizona.
Police contacted him.
Within six hours, he hired a lawyer.
That told me plenty.
Meanwhile, my mother filed for an emergency court order claiming I was mentally unfit to manage company assets because I was “under extreme emotional pressure.”
Daniel laughed when he read the filing.
“She pushed your pregnant wife off a balcony and says you’re emotional?”
“Don’t underestimate her.”
“I don’t anymore.”
The hearing was scheduled for Monday.
Sunday night, our security system detected movement at the edge of the guesthouse property.
Two guards went outside.
One found a black SUV abandoned near the service road.
Inside was Victor Hale.
Alive.
Barely conscious, but alive.
He had bruises on his face and a deep cut above one eyebrow. His wrists were marked from restraints.
At the hospital, under police guard, he asked for me.
I went.
He looked twenty years older.
“Marcus?” I asked.
Victor nodded.
“He wanted the flash drive.”
“Did you tell him we had it?”
“No.”
“Why bring you here?”
“He didn’t.”
Victor tried to sit up, winced, then continued.
“I escaped.”
“From where?”
“The lake house.”
The property from my father’s photograph.
“What’s there?”
Victor stared at me.
“Records. Cash. Copies of everything.”
“Everything what?”
“Everything your mother and Marcus did.”
I leaned closer.
May you like
Victor’s voice became a whisper.
“Including what happened to your father.”
