Chapter 7 - The Man Who Knew Everything
Owen Price knew the children’s school schedules.
He knew the alarm code at Daniel’s house.
He knew which drawer held Sarah’s locket because he had helped Daniel inventory the estate after her death.
He knew about every trust, every company account, every medical appointment, every weakness Daniel had ever admitted in private.
Daniel called him.
No answer.
Again.
Voicemail.
Hotel security searched the guest list.
Owen had checked in that afternoon under his own name.
His room was empty.
His tuxedo jacket lay across the bed.
His laptop was gone.
But in the bathroom trash, security found torn pieces of paper.
Nathan Brooks arrived at the hotel twenty minutes later and helped piece them together on a conference table.
One line became readable.
TRANSFER CONTROL UPON VERIFIED INCAPACITY.
Another fragment contained the name MERCER FAMILY TRUST.
Daniel stared at it.
Nathan exhaled slowly. “If the incapacity filing survives long enough for a temporary order, someone could try to freeze your control while the court sorts it out.”
“Who benefits?”
Nathan looked at Grant.
“On paper? Vanessa.”
Grant stood. “That’s convenient.”
Vanessa’s eyes flashed. “You’re the one who brought me Crowe.”
“And you’re the one who signed.”
“Enough,” Daniel said.
His phone buzzed.
A video message from Owen.
Daniel opened it.
Owen appeared on screen inside a dark car.
He looked exhausted, not triumphant.
“Daniel, if you’re seeing this, the plan went wrong.”
Daniel’s jaw clenched.
Owen continued.
“I didn’t rig the cake. I didn’t take Emma. I did enter your office. I did take the locket.”
Rachel whispered, “Why would he admit that?”
Owen’s recorded face moved closer to the camera.
“Because Martin Crowe has been blackmailing me for eight months. And tonight was never about your wedding.”
Daniel leaned toward the screen.
“It was about getting you declared unstable in front of two hundred witnesses.”
The video glitched.
May you like
Then Owen said one final sentence.
“Check the champagne they served only to you.”
