Chapter 10 - The Brother Who Knew Too MuchAaron Hale arrived at the warehouse expecting another argument.
He found Daniel waiting with Olivia.
On the desk between them lay the old photograph, the drainage map, and a copy of the easement agreement.
Aaron stopped just inside the office.
“What's going on?”
Daniel pointed to the photograph.
“Why did you write E-17 on the back of Claire's picture?”
Aaron looked down.
His face changed.
“Where did you find that?”
“In her things.”
“Daniel—”
“Answer me.”
Aaron pulled out a chair.
For several seconds, he stared at the floor.
Then he began.
Three years earlier, Claire had asked Aaron to help identify drainage markers on Bellwether's western boundary. She had been too ill to walk the entire property herself.
Aaron accompanied an engineer to the creek.
They found evidence that the proposed drainage route could interfere with an old overflow channel.
The marker E-17 identified a survey reference point near that channel.
Aaron took photographs.
Claire later asked him to keep copies of the engineer's preliminary notes.
“Where are they?” Daniel demanded.
Aaron rubbed his face.
“I don't know anymore.”
“Try harder.”
Aaron looked at Olivia.
“I never meant to hurt Claire.”
Olivia's expression hardened.
“Then why did you hide her concerns?”
“I didn't hide them at first.”
He explained that after Claire's death, Graham approached him about the land.
Sable Ridge was interested in a larger development now.
The company needed access to the creek.
Aaron had just begun managing Hale Restoration's mounting financial problems.
He listened.
At first, Graham offered ordinary construction work.
Then the proposal expanded.
If Aaron could help arrange a legal easement, the company might receive significant contracts for site preparation.
“And you didn't tell me?” Daniel asked.
“You were barely functioning after Claire died.”
“That was three years ago.”
“I know.”
Aaron swallowed.
“Then you started dating Vanessa.”
Daniel stared.
“What does Vanessa have to do with this?”
Aaron hesitated.
“She was working in real estate administration. She knew how to coordinate transactions.”
“Did you introduce us?”
Aaron nodded.
Daniel felt something inside him turn cold.
He remembered meeting Vanessa at a charity auction.
Aaron had invited her.
She seemed friendly, intelligent, and interested in his daughter.
He had thought it was chance.
“Did she know about Bellwether before she met me?”
Aaron looked down.
“Yes.”
Olivia made a small sound.
Daniel leaned against the desk.
“Was the entire marriage planned?”
“No,” Aaron said quickly. “I swear it wasn't.”
“Then what was planned?”
Aaron's answer came slowly.
“I thought she could help with property records. Graham wanted someone who understood the paperwork. Vanessa said she could build trust with the family.”
Daniel felt sick.
“Build trust?”
“She said she cared about you.”
“Did she?”
Aaron didn't answer.
Daniel stared at the brother who had stood beside him at Claire's funeral.
The brother who had helped carry her coffin.
The brother who had watched Nora take her first steps, climb her first tree, and learn to tie her shoes with one hand.
“You brought someone into my life because you wanted access to my daughter's property.”
Aaron's face crumpled.
“I thought we'd all benefit.”
“Nora?”
“She would get the easement payment.”
“And Vanessa?”
Aaron stared at the desk.
“Vanessa was supposed to receive a consulting fee.”
“How much?”
“Three hundred and fifty thousand.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“And you?”
Aaron didn't speak.
Daniel waited.
“Sixteen thousand as an initial payment,” Aaron finally said. “More work if the development went forward.”
Olivia stood.
“Claire trusted you.”
Aaron looked at her.
“I know.”
“No,” she replied. “You knew she was worried about the creek. You knew she'd refused Graham. And you helped him try again after she died.”
Aaron began to cry.
Daniel felt no satisfaction.
He only felt tired.
“Did you know Vanessa was mistreating Nora?”
Aaron wiped his eyes.
“No.”
“Did she tell you she was withdrawing Nora from school?”
“No.”
“Did you sign any trust documents?”
“No.”
Daniel looked at him carefully.
“Do you know who did?”
Aaron hesitated.
“I suspected Vanessa was using copies of your signature.”
“Suspected?”
“I saw the drafts.”
“And you said nothing?”
Aaron's voice broke.
“If the project failed, the company could collapse.”
Daniel felt the last remaining thread of trust snap.
“You should have told me.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was Nora.”
Aaron stopped crying.
Daniel gathered the papers.
“I'm taking these to the lawyers. You need your own attorney. And I won't discuss this with you outside that process anymore.”
At the door, Aaron called after him.
“Daniel, there was something else.”
Daniel turned reluctantly.
Aaron reached into a drawer.
He removed a small external hard drive.
“Claire gave me this before she died. It has some of the drainage files.”
Olivia stepped forward.
“Why didn't you give it to us?”
Aaron stared at the device.
“Because I opened it last month.”
Daniel felt his stomach tighten.
“And?”
“There are photographs on it.”
“Of what?”
Aaron raised his eyes.
“The creek. The old culvert. And something Graham's contractors did before Claire got sick.”
May you like
He placed the drive on the desk.
“I think that's why he wants the easement so badly.”
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