Chapter 8 - CARTER FREIGHT
Tyler finally told the whole story.
Or what he claimed was the whole story.
His father, Samuel Carter, had built Carter Freight from two trucks into a regional shipping company.
Richard wanted its routes.
Samuel refused to sell.
Within a year, Carter Freight lost contracts, faced regulatory investigations, and collapsed.
Samuel died six months later.
“Suicide?” Emma asked.
Tyler looked at Richard.
“That’s what they said.”
Richard sat in a private recovery room.
He looked exhausted.
“I didn’t kill your father.”
Tyler stepped closer.
“You destroyed him.”
“I competed with him.”
“You bribed inspectors.”
Richard said nothing.
Tyler laughed.
“There.”
Emma looked at her father.
“Did you?”
Richard’s silence was enough.
Vanessa stood near the window.
“Richard, this is why nobody believes you.”
He glared at her.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“No.”
Vanessa’s voice sharpened.
“I spent eleven years defending you to people who called you ruthless. I told myself ruthless wasn’t the same as corrupt.”
Richard looked away.
Emma asked Tyler, “Why did you come back?”
“To prove what Richard did.”
“So revenge.”
“At first.”
“And then?”
“Then I discovered somebody was stealing from Hale Atlantic.”
Emma studied him.
“You decided to protect the company that destroyed your father?”
“No.”
Tyler looked at Richard.
“I decided I wanted the truth more than revenge.”
Richard scoffed.
Tyler turned on him.
“You think that’s weakness because you’ve spent your entire life making every decision about winning.”
Richard replied, “And you think truth makes you noble?”
Tyler’s eyes hardened.
“No. I think it makes me dangerous.”
Emma interrupted.
“Samuel Carter. What does he have to do with the ledger?”
Richard closed his eyes.
“He found the first version.”
Emma stared.
“What?”
“Twenty years ago.”
Vanessa turned.
“You had a ledger twenty years ago?”
Richard nodded.
“Samuel copied pages.”
“What happened to them?”
“I don’t know.”
Tyler said, “You’re lying.”
Richard looked at him.
“I bought Carter Freight because I needed to control what Samuel knew.”
Tyler lunged.
Emma stepped between them.
“Stop!”
Tyler’s face was inches from Richard’s.
“You ruined my family to hide your crimes.”
“Yes.”
The admission silenced everyone.
Richard continued.
“But I did not kill your father.”
Tyler backed away.
Emma asked, “Who did?”
Richard looked toward the door.
“I never knew.”
Vanessa said, “That’s convenient.”
Richard nodded.
“Yes.”
He looked at Tyler.
“That doesn’t make it false.”
Emma’s phone buzzed.
An email.
Anonymous sender.
Subject: SAMUEL CARTER DID NOT KILL HIMSELF.
Attached was a scanned police photograph.
Samuel’s wrecked car beside a river.
Emma enlarged the image.
Someone stood in the background.
Young.
Twenty years younger.
May you like
But recognizable.
Vanessa Hale.
