Chapter 3 - THE MAN CLAIRE TRUSTED MOST“MICHAEL!”
Daniel shouted his brother’s name into the dead phone, but the call had already ended.
He called again.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Daniel stood inside Claire’s abandoned study with Ethan in his arms while Margaret watched him.
“What did he say?” she asked.
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
“He told me to get Ethan out.”
“Then we should listen.”
Daniel hated the idea of running from his own home, but pride had already cost his son enough.
Within fifteen minutes, Ethan had been examined by Dr. Lawson.
The boy had bruising and emotional shock but, thankfully, no serious head injury.
Daniel listened to every medical instruction while rage burned beneath his calm exterior.
Someone had hurt his child inside his home.
Someone had erased the evidence.
And his own brother knew something.
Daniel ordered Aaron to prepare two vehicles.
“We’re leaving through the service gate.”
Aaron frowned.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“I’m responsible for your security.”
“You’re also one of three people capable of deleting those recordings.”
Aaron stiffened.
Daniel held his gaze.
“Until I know who I can trust, nobody knows where Ethan goes.”
Thirty minutes later, Daniel, Ethan and Margaret left in an unmarked SUV.
Daniel drove himself.
They traveled toward an old lakeside property Claire’s parents once owned in New Hampshire.
No staff.
No company security.
No public records connecting Daniel to the property anymore.
Ethan slept in the back seat beside Margaret.
Daniel kept looking into the mirror.
Every time he saw the bruise on his son’s face, guilt returned.
He had spent years building companies, acquiring competitors and crossing continents for meetings.
He had believed providing everything meant protecting everything.
He had been wrong.
Ethan had not needed a larger house.
He had needed his father inside it.
Three hours later they reached the cabin.
Daniel carried Ethan inside and placed him beneath a blanket.
Then Margaret handed him her key.
“You should have this.”
Daniel closed her fingers around it.
“No.”
“Mr. Whitmore—”
“Claire trusted you.”
Margaret looked down.
“And apparently she had reason to.”
A vehicle approached outside.
Daniel immediately reached for the fireplace poker.
Margaret pulled Ethan behind her.
Headlights swept across the windows.
A door slammed.
Then someone knocked.
“Daniel!”
Michael.
Daniel opened the door but did not lower the poker.
His brother stood outside wearing jeans, a black jacket and an expression Daniel had never seen before.
Fear.
“You came alone?”
“Yes.”
“Phone.”
Michael handed it over.
Daniel switched it off.
“Inside.”
Michael entered.
When he saw Ethan, pain crossed his face.
“My God.”
Daniel shoved him against the wall.
“Did you delete the video?”
“No.”
“You had authorization.”
“So did Aaron.”
“You told me Vanessa wasn’t alone.”
“She isn’t.”
“Then start talking.”
Michael looked toward Ethan.
“Not in front of him.”
Daniel turned to Margaret.
She took Ethan into the bedroom.
The moment the door closed, Daniel grabbed Michael’s jacket.
“Three years.”
“I know.”
“My wife left evidence about Vanessa three years ago.”
“I know.”
Daniel punched him.
Michael crashed against the wall.
He did not fight back.
“You knew her?”
“Yes.”
Another punch.
“You knew Claire was investigating her?”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s voice broke.
“And you let me bring Vanessa into my home?”
Michael wiped blood from his lip.
“I didn’t know Vanessa was the same woman until six months ago.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“She changed her name. Vanessa Crowe isn’t her real name.”
“What is it?”
“Vanessa Ashcroft.”
Daniel remembered Claire’s recording.
Ashcroft Holdings.
Michael nodded.
“Her father founded it.”
Daniel stepped backward.
Michael continued.
“Twenty years ago, Dad invested in experimental neurological research. It started legally. Then the company moved trials overseas where regulations were weaker.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Our father?”
“He claimed he didn’t know children were being used.”
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stared through the window at the dark lake.
Michael’s voice lowered.
“Claire discovered the payments.”
“Why Claire?”
“Because she was looking into your father’s estate after he died. She found accounts that didn’t make sense.”
“And Vanessa?”
“Her father died after the trials were exposed internally. Vanessa believed the Whitmore family destroyed him to protect itself.”
Daniel looked at Michael.
“So she came for revenge?”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Michael hesitated.
“Then she discovered Claire had copied the trial records.”
Daniel understood.
“She wanted the archive.”
“Yes.”
“And Ethan controls it.”
“Yes.”
Daniel clenched his jaw.
“Why didn’t you tell me six months ago?”
“Because I needed proof.”
“You needed proof while she lived with my son?”
“I was watching her.”
“You did a terrible job.”
Michael looked toward the bedroom.
“I know.”
Daniel turned away.
“Who deleted the footage?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I came here because I traced the deletion.”
Daniel looked back.
“It didn’t come from my account.”
“Whose?”
Michael removed a flash drive.
“Aaron Pike’s.”
Daniel froze.
Michael continued.
“But there’s a problem.”
“What?”
“Aaron died forty minutes ago.”
Silence.
Daniel stared at him.
“How?”
“His car went off the coastal road.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Accident?”
Michael shook his head.
“His brake line was cut.”
Daniel looked toward the bedroom where Ethan slept.
Vanessa had been cruel.
Dangerous.
But if Michael was telling the truth, someone else was cleaning up after her.
Someone with access to the villa.
Someone who knew about Claire.
Someone who had just killed the security chief.
Daniel took the flash drive.
“What’s on this?”
“Copies of the administrator logs.”
Daniel inserted it into his laptop.
Several files appeared.
The final file contained the deletion record.
Aaron Pike’s credentials had been used at 8:17 that morning.
But another line appeared beneath it.
REMOTE ACCESS ORIGIN: WHITMORE BIOMEDICAL — EXECUTIVE FLOOR.
Daniel looked at Michael.
“Who was at headquarters this morning?”
Michael didn’t answer immediately.
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“Who?”
Michael whispered the name.
“Richard Sloan.”
Daniel’s oldest friend.
His company’s chief legal officer.
May you like
Ethan’s godfather.
And the man who had introduced Daniel to Vanessa three years earlier.
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