Chapter 12 - THE LOYAL LAWYER
Rebecca had hidden something too.
Seven years earlier, Mercer Urban Holdings faced a liquidity crisis after a major development collapsed.
Rebecca had structured a foreign financing vehicle to protect the company from immediate default.
Legal.
Barely.
But one disclosure had been filed late.
Evelyn had never known.
Rebecca corrected the violation quietly and paid a penalty through the company.
Daniel had found the record.
He could make the transaction look like concealed offshore money.
Evelyn was furious.
Not because Rebecca had committed a crime.
Because Rebecca had decided what Evelyn deserved to know.
Again.
Everyone around her seemed to confuse protection with secrecy.
Daniel exploited the fracture perfectly.
He sent Rebecca a private offer.
Testify that Evelyn approved the financing arrangement, and Daniel would shield her from blame.
Rebecca showed Evelyn the message immediately.
That disappointed Daniel.
So he escalated.
Anonymous documents reached federal regulators.
Investigators opened a preliminary inquiry.
Mercer Urban Holdings' board suspended major acquisitions.
The company's value dropped.
Daniel was willing to damage the inheritance he wanted because he expected to rebuild it after gaining control.
Evelyn finally understood his real strength.
Patience.
He could destroy twenty million dollars today to gain thirty million tomorrow.
Thomas, meanwhile, contacted Evelyn secretly.
He offered evidence against Daniel.
His price was immunity from civil claims and five million dollars.
Evelyn laughed.
Thomas leaned forward.
"Daniel has changed."
"No. You finally noticed who you created."
"He'll destroy both of us."
"Perhaps."
"I know where Pike is."
Evelyn stopped smiling.
Andrew Pike had vanished again after briefly cooperating with police through counsel.
Thomas claimed Daniel arranged it.
Evelyn demanded proof.
Thomas gave her an address outside Providence.
Police found an empty rental house.
Inside was a mattress, canned food, and a burner phone.
Pike had been there recently.
On the burner phone, detectives found messages from someone identified only as D.
One message said:
KEEP HIM SAFE UNTIL I CONTROL THE BOARD.
Daniel had not hidden Pike to kill him.
He had hidden him as insurance.
Pike possessed evidence against Thomas.
Daniel wanted to use him when necessary.
Then investigators found one unsent message on the burner phone.
It was addressed to Evelyn's number.
DANIEL DID NOT ORDER THE FIRE. THOMAS DID. BUT DANIEL ORDERED SOMETHING WORSE. ASK MAYA ABOUT HER SISTER.
Evelyn immediately called Maya.
No answer.
She drove to the food truck.
It was closed.
On the counter inside lay Maya's phone.
May you like
And beside it was a photograph of Maya's younger sister, Sofia.
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