Chapter 8 - The Man Who Helped Him Take Everything
My mother stepped through the warehouse door.
"Claire, I can explain."
I held up the photograph.
"Then explain this."
She stopped.
Her eyes dropped to the words written across the back.
DINNER WITH OUR FUTURE SON.
Daniel stood twenty feet away under police guard.
For the first time since I'd known him, he looked as confused as I felt.
Mom closed her eyes.
"That wasn't what it looks like."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Claire—"
"You knew Daniel two years before I met him."
"Yes."
The word landed hard.
"And Dad knew."
"Yes."
"You sat across from him at dinner."
"Yes."
"And Gerald Voss was there."
She nodded.
I looked at my father.
"You both lied to me."
Dad lowered his head.
"We were trying to protect you."
I laughed.
The sound echoed through the warehouse.
"That excuse is getting crowded."
Mom walked toward me.
I stepped back.
She stopped immediately.
That hurt her.
I could see it.
But I couldn't comfort her.
Not yet.
"Start with 2009."
Mom looked at Dad.
He nodded.
She took a breath.
"Your father and I were in trouble."
"What kind?"
"Financial."
"You told me the medical bills came later."
"They did."
"Then what happened?"
Dad answered.
"I invested money."
"What money?"
"Our retirement."
"All of it?"
"Most."
My mother closed her eyes.
I stared at him.
Dad had always been careful.
Coupons.
Used cars.
Repairing appliances instead of replacing them.
The idea that he had gambled their retirement seemed impossible.
"What did you invest in?"
"A development fund."
"Run by?"
Dad looked toward Thomas Vale.
Vale was now seated on a wooden crate with his hands cuffed in front of him.
He answered.
"One of my companies."
I stared at him.
"You took their money?"
"I didn't know about them personally."
"That's convenient."
"It isn't an excuse."
"How much?"
Dad whispered, "Three hundred thousand."
My stomach tightened.
"Where did you get three hundred thousand?"
"Retirement. Savings. A loan."
"Why?"
"I thought I could give your mother the life she deserved."
Mom reached for him.
Dad shook his head.
"No. She needs the truth."
He looked at me.
"The fund collapsed."
"Because?"
Vale answered again.
"Fraud."
"Yours?"
"No."
I already knew the name before anyone said it.
Gerald Voss.
Vale continued.
"Voss was outside counsel. He created companies that siphoned money from the fund."
"And you didn't notice?"
"I noticed too late."
"You were an investment banker."
"Yes."
"People trusted you."
"Yes."
"And my parents lost everything."
"Yes."
At least nobody was hiding behind softer words anymore.
"What does Daniel have to do with it?"
Mom looked toward him.
"In 2009, Daniel worked indirectly for Voss."
Daniel frowned.
"No, I didn't."
Mom looked at him.
"You delivered documents."
Daniel's expression changed.
"I was a courier."
"For three months," Mom said.
"I was twenty-four."
"You still worked for him."
"I didn't even know what his firm did."
Vale laughed quietly.
Daniel turned.
"Something funny?"
"You still tell yourself that?"
"I delivered envelopes."
"You delivered cash."
Daniel went still.
Cole looked at Vale.
"Explain."
Vale leaned back.
"Gerald liked young men who needed money. Smart enough to follow instructions. Broke enough not to ask questions."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"My mother was dying."
The anger in his voice surprised me.
Nobody spoke.
He continued.
"Her insurance stopped covering part of her treatment. I needed money."
"So you worked for Voss," I said.
"For a few months."
"Doing what?"
"Deliveries."
"What kind?"
"I didn't know."
"You didn't ask?"
"I didn't care."
There it was.
Not innocence.
Desperation.
And choice.
Always choice.
Mom continued.
"When the fund collapsed, your father tried to recover our money."
"Through Voss?"
"We didn't know he caused the losses."
Dad said, "Gerald offered to help."
My stomach turned.
Of course he did.
"He introduced you to Daniel?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Daniel delivered paperwork to our house several times."
"And you liked him."
Mom's eyes filled with tears.
"He was kind."
I looked at Daniel.
He stared at the floor.
"He fixed our broken porch light," Mom continued. "He carried groceries. When Walter was sick, Daniel drove him to a doctor's appointment."
Daniel looked up.
"I remember."
Mom nodded.
"You were good to us."
The sentence hurt because I could tell she meant it.
"Then why the photograph?" I asked.
Dad rubbed his face.
"Gerald made a joke."
"What joke?"
"He said Daniel was exactly the kind of man we should introduce to our daughter someday."
"And you wrote 'future son'?"
Mom almost smiled through her tears.
"I did."
"Why?"
"It was a silly joke."
"Except two years later, I met Daniel."
Silence.
"Was that arranged?"
Mom looked at Dad.
Then she nodded.
My chest tightened.
"How?"
"Gerald called."
"When?"
"Two weeks before you met Daniel."
I remembered that night.
A charity fundraiser.
Margaret had invited me.
I'd almost stayed home.
Daniel spilled champagne near my dress.
We laughed.
He bought me another glass.
We talked for three hours.
I had told that story dozens of times.
Our accidental meeting.
Our perfect coincidence.
There had been no coincidence.
"What did Voss say?"
Dad answered.
"He said Daniel was doing well. That he'd turned his life around. He asked if you were still single."
"And you told him where I'd be."
"Yes."
I stared at my parents.
"Did Daniel know?"
"No," Daniel said immediately.
I turned toward him.
"Don't answer for them."
"He didn't," Mom said.
I looked at her.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
Daniel's voice was quiet.
"I thought meeting you was an accident."
I wanted to believe that.
Which meant I couldn't.
"Then Voss put us together."
Vale nodded.
"Probably."
"Why?"
Nobody answered.
I looked around.
"Why?"
Vale finally spoke.
"Because of your company."
My pulse changed.
"What about it?"
"In 2011, your company was small."
"We had twelve employees."
"But your client list was valuable."
I stared at him.
"How would Voss know?"
"Because one of your clients was mine."
I remembered.
Vale Capital.
We'd handled a small digital campaign for one of its portfolio companies.
"You were watching me?"
"Not you."
"Then what?"
"Your growth."
Vale looked toward Daniel.
"Gerald recognized that your company could become valuable."
"And he decided I should date Claire?" Daniel asked.
Vale nodded.
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"Son of a bitch."
Cole watched him.
"You expect us to believe you didn't know?"
"I didn't."
"Yet you eventually helped Voss steal from your wife."
Daniel looked at me.
"Years later."
"That makes it better?"
"No."
At least he had stopped pretending.
I turned to Vale.
"So Voss put Daniel in my life because he thought my company might be worth money someday?"
"At first."
"At first?"
Vale's eyes shifted toward my mother.
"There was another reason."
Mom went pale.
I noticed.
"What reason?"
"Thomas," she whispered.
Vale ignored her.
"Gerald needed access to Walter."
"Why?"
Dad stepped forward.
"Enough."
I looked at him.
"No."
"Claire."
"No more deciding what I can handle."
Vale continued.
"Your father had something Gerald wanted."
"The recording?"
"Not in 2011. The recording didn't exist yet."
"Then what?"
Dad closed his eyes.
"Evidence from the investment fund."
"What evidence?"
"Account records."
Vale nodded.
"When the fund collapsed, Walter kept copies of several transaction statements."
Dad said, "I didn't know what they meant."
"But Voss did."
"And he wanted them."
"Yes."
"So he put Daniel near my family."
Vale nodded.
"Daniel was access."
Daniel stared at him.
"You knew?"
"I suspected."
"You watched Voss manipulate all of us and did nothing?"
"I was trying to save my company."
Daniel laughed.
"There it is."
Vale looked at him.
"We all had something we told ourselves."
That silenced everyone.
Cole's radio crackled.
Officers had reached Natalie's hospital room.
She was alive.
The man in medical scrubs had fled before entering.
Relief washed over me.
At least one person hadn't disappeared.
Cole turned to Vale.
"Who inside law enforcement works for Voss?"
"I told you, I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I know someone does because Gerald received copies of sealed financial requests before they were served."
Cole's expression changed.
"Which requests?"
"The Mercer accounts."
My name again.
I was tired of hearing it attached to crimes.
Rebecca had arrived at the warehouse entrance with another officer.
She walked toward us.
"Claire."
"What?"
"Marcus found something."
I almost laughed.
"Of course he did."
She handed me her phone.
A corporate filing appeared.
MERCER URBAN HOLDINGS LLC.
I had seen it before.
But Marcus had found the original incorporation documents.
Three owners.
Daniel Mercer — 20%.
Gerald Voss — 30%.
And—
Evelyn Carter — 50%.
I stared at my mother's name.
Then at her.
"Mom?"
She looked horrified.
"I've never seen that."
"Your name owns half the company that stole your house."
"No."
"It's right here."
"I never signed anything."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Let me see."
Cole stopped him.
Rebecca enlarged the signature.
EVELYN CARTER.
Mom shook her head.
"That's not mine."
I looked carefully.
Unlike my forged signature, this one was bad.
Too neat.
Too deliberate.
Then I noticed the date.
The company had existed long before Daniel told me he'd created it.
"Daniel."
He stared at the filing.
"I didn't create Mercer Urban Holdings."
"You told me you did."
"I thought I did."
"How can you think you created a company?"
"Voss gave me documents in 2013. He said it was a new entity."
Rebecca looked at him.
"He transferred ownership to you."
"Apparently."
"Then why call it Mercer?"
Daniel's face hardened.
"Because Gerald wanted me to think it was mine."
Vale leaned forward.
"Or wanted everyone else to think it was yours."
The structure suddenly became visible.
Voss hadn't built one fall guy.
He had built layers.
My mother.
Daniel.
Me.
Names stacked between him and the money.
"Who actually controls it?" I asked.
Rebecca scrolled.
"Manager authority belongs to another LLC."
"Which one?"
"GV Advisory."
"Gerald Voss."
"Likely."
Mom sat down.
"I signed papers in 2009."
Everyone looked at her.
"What papers?" I asked.
"When Gerald said he could recover our retirement money."
My father stared at her.
"Evelyn."
"You didn't know."
"What did you sign?"
"I don't remember."
"How many?"
"Maybe fifteen pages."
Rebecca crouched beside her.
"Did you have independent counsel?"
"No."
"Did Voss explain them?"
"He said they authorized him to negotiate."
Dad looked devastated.
"He used your signature to form the company."
Mom covered her mouth.
"And then that company took our house."
I crouched beside her.
For the first time since she'd entered, I touched her.
Her hand was freezing.
She gripped mine.
"I'm sorry."
"We're going to fix it."
It was the first promise I'd made that day.
And I intended to keep it.
Cole approached.
"We need everyone downtown."
"Why?"
"Statements. Protection. And I need Vale formally interviewed."
Vale stood.
The officer beside him took his arm.
Before moving, Vale looked at me.
"Claire."
"What?"
"Ask Daniel about the first time he met Margaret."
Daniel frowned.
"I met Margaret through Claire."
Vale shook his head.
"No."
Daniel's expression changed.
"What are you talking about?"
"You met Margaret in 2009."
Daniel stared at him.
"I didn't."
"You did."
"Where?"
Vale smiled sadly.
"At the hospital."
Daniel's face emptied.
My mother made a small sound.
I looked between them.
"What hospital?"
No answer.
"Mom?"
She stared at Daniel.
Then whispered:
"St. Anne's."
Daniel stepped backward.
"My mother died at St. Anne's."
Nobody spoke.
Mom started crying.
"That's why Gerald chose you."
Daniel stared at her.
"What do you mean?"
She covered her face.
Vale answered.
"Because your mother's treatment wasn't denied by insurance."
Daniel turned slowly.
"What?"
"It was paid."
"No."
"Every bill."
"You're lying."
"Ask Gerald."
Daniel lunged toward Vale.
Officers grabbed him.
"Who paid it?"
Vale didn't answer.
Daniel shouted.
"WHO PAID IT?"
My mother stood.
"I did."
Silence.
Daniel stopped struggling.
He stared at her.
"You?"
Mom was shaking.
"Gerald told me it was part of recovering our investment."
"How much?"
"I don't know. More than a hundred thousand."
Daniel's face collapsed.
"You paid for my mother's treatment?"
"I thought I was helping."
"Why me?"
"I didn't know you."
"Then why?"
"Gerald asked me to."
Daniel looked like the floor had disappeared beneath him.
Voss had paid Daniel through my parents.
Then brought Daniel into their lives.
Then put him into mine.
This hadn't begun with my company sale.
It hadn't begun with our wedding.
It had begun in 2009.
Before Daniel and I ever knew each other's names.
Rebecca's phone rang.
Marcus.
She answered.
Listened.
Then looked directly at me.
"What?"
She put the phone on speaker.
Marcus sounded breathless.
"I found the payment records for Daniel's mother's hospital bills."
Daniel went still.
"From Evelyn?" I asked.
"Initially."
"Initially?"
"Her account was only a pass-through."
"Where did the money originate?"
Keyboard clicks.
Then Marcus said:
"An account belonging to the Vale Development Recovery Fund."
Everyone turned toward Thomas Vale.
His face changed.
"That's impossible."
Marcus continued.
"The transfer authorization bears Thomas Vale's signature."
Vale shook his head.
"I never authorized it."
Rebecca asked, "Who had signing authority besides you?"
Vale stared ahead.
"Gerald."
"Anyone else?"
A long silence.
"Thomas?"
Vale slowly looked at my father.
"One person."
Dad's face went white.
I felt my mother grip my arm.
"Who?" I asked.
Vale swallowed.
"Margaret Ellis."
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Margaret Ellis sat alone at a restaurant table.
Today's newspaper lay beside her.
She was alive.
A second message arrived.
YOU WANT THE BEGINNING? COME TO WHERE CLAIRE FIRST MET DANIEL.
Then a third.
BRING EVELYN.
Mom stared at the screen.
Her hand began trembling.
"Claire."
"What?"
"That isn't Margaret's phone."
"How do you know?"
My mother looked toward the warehouse entrance.
"Because I recognize the number."
The outer door opened.
Footsteps approached.
May you like
Mom whispered the name.
"Gerald."
