Chapter 6 - Charles Hale’s Warning
Daniel did not ask why Mark was inside his house.
He asked a different question.
“How long?”
Mark looked tired.
Not guilty.
Not yet.
“How long what?”
“How long have you been helping her?”
Mark’s eyes shifted toward the papers.
“You don’t understand what those are.”
“I understand your handwriting.”
Mark took one step forward.
Daniel raised his phone.
“Don’t.”
Mark stopped.
“You called the police?”
“No.”
“Then put the phone down.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re making this worse.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“My mother was pushed down a hill this morning.”
“I didn’t touch your mother.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
Mark’s face tightened.
Daniel understood something important.
Mark was afraid of being connected to Lauren’s act.
That meant whatever they had planned, the push may not have been part of it.
“Did you know she was going to do it?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Daniel stared.
Mark looked away.
“No,” he repeated. “I knew nothing about that.”
“But you knew she wanted Mom out of the way.”
Mark said nothing.
Daniel lifted the trust amendment.
“What does ‘need Margaret removed’ mean?”
“Removed from control.”
“By pushing her down a mountain?”
“Stop saying that.”
“She did it.”
“You don’t know that.”
“My mother knows.”
Mark ran a hand over his face.
“You’ve spent your entire life believing Margaret Hale tells you everything.”
Daniel’s anger sharpened.
“She told me about the trust.”
“Today.”
Daniel fell silent.
Mark continued.
“Ask yourself why.”
“Because you and Lauren were stealing.”
Mark’s jaw tightened.
“You think your parents built Hale Ridge cleanly?”
Daniel stared.
“Careful.”
“I was there.”
“You were an accountant.”
“I was Charles’s CFO.”
“You became CFO after the company was already successful.”
“I knew where the bodies were buried.”
“Metaphorical bodies?”
Mark gave a bitter smile.
“Mostly.”
Daniel hated the answer.
“What did my father do?”
Mark looked toward the dark windows.
“In 2008, Hale Ridge was weeks from collapse.”
Daniel knew that.
Every property developer had nearly collapsed in 2008.
“Banks froze lending,” Mark continued. “Projects failed. Buyers disappeared. Your father had ninety-seven million dollars in debt.”
“So?”
“So he moved liabilities.”
“Legally.”
“Some.”
Daniel stared.
Mark continued.
“He created special-purpose companies. Shifted land. Delayed disclosures.”
“That doesn’t make you innocent now.”
“No.”
The word surprised Daniel.
Mark looked almost relieved to say it.
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Mark sat in the chair opposite him.
“Charles discovered what I was doing about six months before he died.”
“The irregularities Mom mentioned.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“At the time? Two hundred thousand.”
“Why?”
“My daughter’s treatment.”
Daniel knew Mark had a daughter.
Emily.
She had leukemia as a teenager.
“She survived.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad didn’t fire you?”
“No.”
“He covered it?”
“He made me repay everything.”
Daniel’s anger faltered.
Mark continued.
“But after he died, Lauren found out.”
“How?”
“She saw an old reconciliation file.”
“And blackmailed you.”
Mark looked at him.
“At first.”
“At first?”
“She needed someone who understood Hale Ridge’s controls.”
Daniel slowly sat.
“You taught her.”
“I helped create vendors. She handled the accounts.”
“Three-point-six million dollars.”
“Not all of it went to us.”
“Us?”
Mark looked sick.
Daniel’s heart pounded.
“You took money too.”
Mark nodded.
“How much?”
“About nine hundred thousand.”
Daniel stood again.
“You sat at my father’s funeral.”
“I know.”
“You came to my house every Christmas.”
“I know.”
“You called me family.”
“I know.”
“And you stole from me.”
Mark stared at the floor.
“Yes.”
Daniel wanted to hit him.
Instead he asked, “Why did Lauren need the money?”
Mark looked up.
“That’s the part you still don’t know.”
“What?”
“She didn’t start this to get rich.”
“Then why?”
Mark hesitated.
“She was paying someone.”
“For what?”
May you like
Mark’s face had gone pale.
“To keep a secret about who she was before she married you.”
