Chapter 4 - THE GRANDFATHER WHO KNEW TOO MUCH William looked as though someone had struck him.
“Lucas…”
The boy moved behind Michael.
“You scared Mom.”
William shook his head.
“No.”
Lucas’s voice trembled.
“She said Grandpa made a terrible mistake.”
Michael stared at his father.
“What mistake?”
William lowered himself into a chair.
For the first time, Michael saw something he had never seen in him.
Defeat.
“I tried to save the company.”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
“Michael—”
“People keep destroying my family to save a company.”
William looked at Lucas and Sophie.
“I never wanted them hurt.”
“But they were.”
“Yes.”
Michael crouched beside Lucas.
“What exactly did Mom tell you?”
Lucas concentrated.
“She said Grandpa gave bad people something.”
William closed his eyes.
Michael stood.
“What?”
William answered.
“The ledger.”
Everyone stared.
“You told me you gave it to Rachel.”
“I lied.”
Michael laughed.
“Why am I surprised?”
William continued.
“Rachel came here demanding it. I refused.”
“Then what happened?”
“She threatened to expose everything.”
“So you called someone.”
William nodded.
“Edward Langford’s old organization.”
Victoria’s father.
Michael felt sick.
“What did you tell them?”
“To scare Rachel.”
Sophie whispered:
“Grandpa?”
William couldn’t look at her.
Michael stepped forward.
“You put a threat on my wife.”
“I told them not to hurt her.”
“And you expected criminals to respect boundaries?”
William’s eyes filled.
“I was a coward.”
Michael said nothing.
At least that was true.
William continued.
“After Rachel left, I changed my mind. I tried to stop them.”
“Too late.”
“Yes.”
“Was the crash their doing?”
“I don’t know.”
Cole interrupted.
“We believe someone tampered with Rachel’s steering system.”
Michael stared.
“So it was attempted murder.”
“Yes.”
“Who ordered it?”
“That’s what Rachel spent two years trying to discover.”
Michael looked at Lucas.
“And she came back.”
Cole nodded.
“Secretly.”
“Why not come to me?”
William answered.
“Because she believed I might use the children to stop her.”
Michael turned.
“You?”
William shook his head.
“Not hurt them.”
“But threaten custody?”
Silence.
Michael understood.
“You told Rachel if she exposed the company, you’d make sure I lost everything.”
William nodded.
“I thought I was protecting the family.”
Michael stared at him.
“You were protecting the name.”
William had no answer.
Emily looked at Cole.
“What about Victoria?”
Cole’s expression changed.
“Victoria knew Rachel survived.”
Michael froze.
“How?”
“Rachel contacted her.”
“Why?”
“Because Victoria wanted out.”
Michael laughed.
“Out? She was abusing my children.”
Cole’s face hardened.
“I didn’t say she was innocent.”
Good.
Michael needed that distinction.
Whatever Victoria knew about Rachel, nothing erased what she had done to Lucas and Sophie.
Cole continued.
“Victoria inherited her father’s role in the organization. She spent years trying to identify whoever had taken control after his death.”
“Then she met me.”
“Yes.”
“Was that planned?”
“Yes.”
Michael closed his eyes.
Everything between them had begun as manipulation.
“But somewhere along the way, Victoria decided she could take control herself.”
Emily whispered:
“So she became like them.”
Cole nodded.
“She started blackmailing members.”
Michael looked toward Lucas.
“And hurting my children?”
“That wasn’t part of any plan I knew about.”
Michael’s voice became cold.
“That was her choice.”
“Yes.”
Michael’s phone rang.
Police station.
Victoria wanted to speak with him.
He almost refused.
Then he looked at Rachel’s photograph.
“I’ll go.”
Victoria sat behind glass.
No burgundy gown.
No diamonds.
No riding crop.
Just a gray detention uniform.
Michael picked up the phone.
She did the same.
“You look terrible,” she said.
Michael stared.
“Where is Rachel?”
Victoria’s expression changed.
“So Cole told you.”
“Where is my wife?”
“I don’t know.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“Because she stopped trusting all of us.”
Michael leaned closer.
“Why did she call you seven times?”
“She needed help.”
“With what?”
“Getting away from your father.”
Michael stared.
“Did you cause the crash?”
“No.”
“Did your organization?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you know she survived?”
“Yes.”
“You let me mourn her.”
Victoria’s eyes hardened.
“She asked me to.”
“And then you entered my life.”
“Yes.”
“You comforted me.”
“Yes.”
“You slept in my bed.”
Victoria looked away.
Michael whispered:
“You became engaged to me.”
She said nothing.
“How much was real?”
A tear slid down her face.
“That’s the worst part.”
Michael waited.
“I fell in love with you.”
He laughed.
“You threatened my children.”
“I know.”
“You told Sophie her mother died because she was born.”
Victoria covered her face.
“I know.”
“Why?”
She lowered her hands.
“Because Rachel came back.”
Michael froze.
“What?”
“Three months ago.”
“When Emily disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“Rachel contacted you?”
Victoria nodded.
“She said she was coming home.”
Michael’s heart pounded.
“And you panicked.”
“Yes.”
“Because you thought I’d leave you.”
Victoria cried.
“Yes.”
Michael stared at her with disgust.
“So you punished my children for having a mother you couldn’t compete with.”
Victoria couldn’t answer.
Nothing could justify it.
Michael stood.
“Wait.”
He stopped.
Victoria pressed her hand against the glass.
“Rachel found the ledger.”
Michael slowly sat again.
“Where?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
“What’s in it?”
“Names.”
“Whose?”
“Everyone who ever used the organization.”
“Police?”
“Yes.”
“Judges?”
“Yes.”
“Executives?”
“Yes.”
“Killers?”
Victoria swallowed.
“Yes.”
Michael looked at her.
“Who runs it?”
“I thought your father did.”
“And now?”
Victoria leaned closer.
“Now I know he doesn’t.”
“Who does?”
“I never saw his face.”
“His?”
“Yes.”
“He contacted me after Rachel disappeared.”
“What did he say?”
Victoria’s voice dropped.
“He said if I wanted you, I could have you.”
Michael felt cold.
“But?”
“I had to make sure Lucas never remembered what Rachel gave him.”
Michael stared.
“You knew Lucas had evidence.”
“I knew Rachel had hidden something with him.”
“That’s why you terrorized him.”
Victoria began crying.
Michael felt nothing.
“You weren’t disciplining my son.”
“No.”
“You were interrogating him.”
Victoria looked down.
“Yes.”
Michael stood.
Then Victoria said:
“Michael.”
He stopped.
“The man called himself Shepherd.”
Michael turned.
“What?”
“That was the name he used.”
She looked terrified.
“And he knew everything about your family.”
“When you traveled.”
“When Lucas went to school.”
“When Sophie had nightmares.”
Michael’s blood ran cold.
“He knew things only someone inside your house could know.”
Michael thought of staff.
Security.
Friends.
Family.
Emily.
His father.
Cole.
Victoria whispered:
“And one more thing.”
“What?”
“The night Rachel disappeared fourteen months ago, she sent me a photograph.”
Victoria pushed a printed image against the glass.
Michael stared.
Rachel stood outside a motel.
Beside her was a man.
Michael recognized him.
Emily’s older brother.
Thomas Carter.
Michael had met him twice.
Thomas had supposedly died eighteen months earlier from a drug overdose.
Michael looked at Victoria.
“He’s dead.”
“No.”
Victoria shook her head.
“He worked for Shepherd.”
Michael stared.
Emily had said almost nothing about her family.
He left the station immediately.
Emily was waiting with the children at a secure hotel.
Michael entered.
She looked up.
“What happened?”
Michael locked the door.
“Who is Thomas Carter?”
Emily froze.
“My brother.”
“He’s alive.”
The color disappeared from her face.
“No.”
Michael showed her the photograph.
Emily dropped the glass in her hand.
It shattered.
“That’s impossible.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Two years ago.”
“Why did you think he died?”
“Police told me.”
“Who?”
Emily stared at the photograph.
“Detective Cole.”
Michael felt the floor shift beneath him again.
Then someone knocked.
Three times.
Pause.
Twice.
Emily went white.
“What?”
“That knock.”
Michael looked at her.
“What about it?”
Emily whispered:
“Thomas used to do that when we were kids.”
Michael reached for the lamp.
Another knock.
Three.
Pause.
Two.
A man’s voice came through the door.
“Emily?”
She covered her mouth.
“Tom?”
“Open the door.”
Michael stepped between her and the entrance.
“Don’t.”
The man outside continued.
“I know Rachel is alive.”
Michael froze.
“And I know where she is.”
Emily stared at Michael.
The voice continued.
“But if you want to see her…”
May you like
A pause.
“…don’t let Detective Cole know I’m here.”
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