Chapter 6 - Robert’s Warning
The letter was dated seventeen months earlier.
Three weeks before Robert Carter died.
Danielle read it twice before handing it to Lucas.
He didn’t take it.
“Read it out loud.”
She hesitated.
“Lucas—”
“Please.”
Danielle unfolded the paper.
Robert’s handwriting was steady for the first paragraph, shakier by the last.
Danielle,
If you are reading this, either I found the courage to give it to you or I failed to.
There are financial decisions inside this family that Lucas does not fully understand. Some are mistakes. Some are not.
Do not sign anything Evelyn gives you regarding Mia’s trust without independent counsel.
Do not allow Evelyn to become Mia’s guardian or trustee under any temporary arrangement, no matter how reasonable the explanation sounds.
Most importantly, if anything happens that makes you question whether a coincidence is truly a coincidence, trust the question.
Lucas leaned against the desk.
Danielle continued.
I have asked Samuel Keene to prepare changes to the estate plan. I do not know whether I will complete them in time.
There are records in the company archives under Project Harbor.
I am sorry for leaving you this burden.
Robert.
Danielle lowered the letter.
Lucas stared at the floor.
“What is Project Harbor?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t.”
“I’m serious.”
“You work at the company.”
“There are hundreds of internal project names.”
“Your father specifically told me about one.”
“And I’m telling you I don’t know it.”
She watched his face.
He looked genuinely confused.
That frightened her more.
“What changes was he making to the estate?”
Lucas walked toward the window.
“I don’t know that either.”
“Who is Samuel Keene?”
“My father’s personal estate lawyer.”
“Not the company lawyer?”
“No.”
“Why haven’t I met him?”
Lucas looked back.
“Because after Dad died, Mom moved everything to Charles Wren.”
Danielle felt a small chill.
“Why?”
“She said Keene was too old-fashioned.”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
Lucas sighed.
“I didn’t ask.”
Danielle folded the letter.
“You didn’t ask a lot of things.”
He flinched.
The door opened.
Evelyn stood there.
For a moment, no one moved.
Her eyes went to the paper in Danielle’s hand.
“What is that?”
Danielle answered calmly.
“A letter from Robert.”
Evelyn’s face emptied.
Lucas turned.
“Mom, what is Project Harbor?”
The silence was immediate.
Tiny.
But unmistakable.
Evelyn recovered.
“I have no idea.”
Lucas stared at her.
“You do.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You reacted.”
“I reacted because it is four in the morning and my son is interrogating me in his dead father’s study.”
Danielle stood.
“Robert told me not to let you become Mia’s trustee.”
Evelyn looked at her.
For the first time, there was no grandmotherly mask.
No polished warmth.
Just dislike.
“Robert became suspicious of everyone toward the end.”
Lucas stiffened.
“He had cancer. He wasn’t confused.”
“I didn’t say confused.”
“You implied it.”
Evelyn crossed the room.
“He was frightened. Dying people say things.”
“Did he tell you he was changing the estate plan?” Danielle asked.
Evelyn stopped.
“That is none of your business.”
“It is if it involves my daughter.”
“Our granddaughter.”
“My daughter.”
Evelyn’s eyes sharpened.
“Be careful, Danielle.”
Lucas stepped between them.
“Mom.”
She looked at him.
“What?”
“That sounded like a threat.”
Evelyn laughed softly.
“Now you’re both being hysterical.”
Danielle almost admired the technique.
Dismiss.
Reframe.
Insult.
Then act injured when challenged.
Robert had lived with this for decades.
No wonder he wrote instead of speaking.
Danielle held up the letter.
“Where is Samuel Keene?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Lucas grabbed his phone.
“I do.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding his number.”
“You are going to call an eighty-year-old man before sunrise because of some paranoid note your father hid under a desk?”
Lucas looked up.
“He was seventy-two.”
Evelyn blinked.
A small mistake.
But Lucas caught it.
“You know exactly who he is.”
Evelyn’s jaw tightened.
Danielle’s phone buzzed.
Detective Ortiz.
Danielle answered.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Carter, sorry for the hour. I thought you’d want to know.”
“What?”
“We received preliminary results on the vest.”
Danielle looked at Lucas.
Ortiz continued.
“The punctures were not consistent with ordinary wear.”
Danielle’s throat went dry.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning someone damaged it.”
Evelyn was watching her.
Danielle held her gaze.
Ortiz’s voice came quietly through the phone.
“And the material around those punctures showed no sign of prior tearing.”
“So it happened recently?”
“Yes.”
“How recently?”
“We can’t determine exact timing yet.”
Danielle stared at Evelyn.
“But someone did it intentionally?”
A pause.
“That is the working conclusion.”
Evelyn turned toward the door.
Lucas said, “Mom.”
She stopped.
He looked at her as if seeing a stranger.
“Don’t leave.”
Evelyn slowly turned back.
“Are you accusing me?”
Lucas’s voice broke slightly.
“I’m asking you not to leave.”
Evelyn looked from her son to Danielle.
Then she smiled.
It was the same small smile Cooper had seen beside the pool.
“You have no idea what you’re doing,” she said.
May you like
And walked out anyway.
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