Chapter 6 - Charles Wren DisappearsDaniel called back.
No answer.
Again.
Voicemail.
Emma immediately went upstairs for Nora.
“We're leaving.”
Daniel nodded.
He hated the idea of running from his own home.
But pride was irrelevant now.
Nora came downstairs carrying a stuffed rabbit.
Milo followed.
Evelyn appeared near the dining room.
“Where are you going?”
Daniel picked up Nora.
“Somewhere else.”
“For how long?”
“I don't know.”
Evelyn's gaze moved to Emma.
“You're taking my granddaughter away because of her?”
Emma stepped forward.
Daniel stopped her.
“This isn't about Emma.”
“It always becomes about Emma.”
“No. This is about the pool.”
Evelyn's expression stayed composed.
Daniel continued.
“This is about the camera. The ladder. Dad's trust. Charles Wren. And a forged amendment.”
Something flickered in her eyes.
There.
Daniel saw it.
Evelyn asked quietly, “Forged?”
“I didn't say how I know.”
She stared at him.
Then smiled faintly.
“You always were dramatic when frightened.”
Daniel carried Nora toward the door.
Behind him Evelyn said:
“If you leave, you're making a mistake.”
Daniel stopped.
“Is that a threat?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“Advice.”
He turned.
For an instant they looked less like mother and son than opposing attorneys across a courtroom.
Daniel said, “You should get one.”
They left.
Emma had rented a townhouse twenty minutes away.
No staff.
No family employees.
No mansion security Evelyn knew how to access.
Nora fell asleep in the car.
Daniel's phone rang again.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman's voice.
“Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Rebecca Sloan. I'm Charles Wren's assistant.”
“Where is Charles?”
“I was hoping you knew.”
Daniel's stomach tightened.
“He called me less than an hour ago.”
“He left the office suddenly.”
“Where was he going?”
“He didn't say.”
“Did he mention my mother?”
Silence.
Then Rebecca lowered her voice.
“You should come here.”
Daniel glanced at Emma.
“Why?”
“Because Mr. Wren removed a file from our secure archive this morning.”
“What file?”
“Your father's.”
Daniel arrived at Charles's law office forty minutes later.
Rebecca was waiting in the lobby.
She looked nervous.
“Charles has been strange all week,” she said.
“How?”
“Checking old records. Asking about off-site storage. He told me if you called, I was supposed to give you this.”
She handed Daniel a small envelope.
Inside was a storage-unit key and a handwritten number.
Unit 214.
“Where?”
“Arlington Secure Storage.”
“What's inside?”
“I don't know.”
“When did he give you this?”
“Yesterday.”
Daniel studied her.
“Before Nora was trapped in the pool?”
“Yes.”
That changed everything.
Charles had been afraid before Daniel knew there was anything to investigate.
“Did Charles know something was going to happen?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Daniel drove to the storage facility.
Unit 214 was registered under a shell company.
Inside sat eight banker boxes.
Old Mercer Development records.
Copies of estate documents.
And a locked briefcase.
The key fit.
Inside were financial statements.
Daniel scanned them.
Transfers.
Millions of dollars.
Mercer family investment accounts sending money to companies Daniel had never heard of.
Amber Shore Holdings.
Hollis Strategic.
Marwick Capital Partners.
One name appeared repeatedly beside authorization codes.
E. Mercer.
Evelyn.
Then Daniel found something worse.
A promissory note.
Evelyn had borrowed $18.4 million from Marwick Capital.
The loan matured in sixty days.
Collateral:
Her Mercer Development shares.
If she defaulted, Marwick could seize them.
But even that wasn't the most alarming page.
A second agreement had been drafted.
If Evelyn gained majority control before maturity, Marwick would extend the loan and provide another $10 million credit line.
Daniel read it twice.
Majority control.
Fifty-one percent.
Evelyn currently had twenty-one.
Nora had thirty-two.
Twenty-one plus thirty-two equaled fifty-three.
Daniel felt sick.
Then his phone buzzed.
A text from Rebecca.
They found Charles's car.
Daniel called immediately.
“Where?”
Rebecca's voice trembled.
“At Dulles Airport.”
“Is Charles there?”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“They don't know.”
Daniel looked at the financial papers.
His mother had a motive.
May you like
Charles had evidence.
And now Charles was missing.
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