Chapter 7 - Lauren Mercer
Daniel had known his wife as Lauren Mercer before she became Lauren Hale.
Or he thought he had.
According to Mark, Lauren Mercer had existed only nine years.
Before that, she had been Lauren Vale.
Daniel stared across the dark living room.
“Vale?”
Mark nodded.
“Where?”
“Phoenix.”
Daniel’s mind moved quickly.
“What secret?”
“I don’t know all of it.”
“You transferred millions for a woman you were blackmailing and never asked why?”
“I asked.”
“And?”
“She said someone from her past had evidence that could destroy her.”
“Evidence of what?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
Daniel looked down at the folder.
“How did this turn into stealing from Hale Ridge?”
“Her payments kept increasing.”
“To whoever was blackmailing her?”
“Yes.”
“What was the first payment?”
“Thirty thousand.”
“When?”
“Almost three years ago.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
Three years.
The first suspicious vendor payment Rachel had flagged had appeared thirty-one months earlier.
“What changed?”
“The person started asking for more.”
“Who?”
Mark shook his head.
“I never knew.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I deliberately didn’t know.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“That’s convenient.”
“It was survival.”
“For you.”
“Yes.”
At least Mark had stopped pretending.
Daniel called Margaret.
She answered on the second ring.
“Are you home?”
“No.”
“Where are you?”
“At the hospital.”
“Stay there.”
“Daniel—”
“Mom, Lauren has a different name.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Lauren Vale.”
Another silence.
Then Margaret said, “I’ve heard that name.”
Daniel’s skin prickled.
“Where?”
“I don’t remember.”
He almost snapped, then stopped himself.
The medical folder upstairs had been designed to turn those four words into evidence against her.
Margaret continued.
“Not recently. Your father said it once.”
“When?”
“A few months before he died.”
Daniel looked at Mark.
Mark was watching him.
“What did Dad know about Lauren?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure he said the name Vale.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I thought it was someone connected to a project.”
Daniel ended the call and looked at Mark.
“My father knew.”
Mark frowned.
“Knew what?”
“Her old name.”
For the first time that night, Mark seemed genuinely shocked.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Lauren told me she changed it long before she ever met your family.”
Daniel went upstairs.
He returned with one of Charles Hale’s old leather notebooks.
Margaret had given Daniel several after Charles died, but most were filled with project notes and names.
Daniel had never read them carefully.
He turned pages.
Dates.
Banks.
Land parcels.
Then a page near the end.
A single line.
L. Vale — Mercer — why is she near Daniel? Ask Susan to verify.
Daniel stopped breathing.
The date was eight months before Charles died.
Two months before the trust amendment.
Mark leaned over his shoulder.
“Jesus.”
There was another notation lower on the page.
1999 settlement / Mesa Vista.
Daniel looked up.
“What's Mesa Vista?”
Mark’s face changed.
“What?”
“Dad wrote Mesa Vista.”
Mark closed his eyes.
“Mark.”
“It was one of the first developments Charles ever did in Arizona.”
“And?”
“It went badly.”
“How badly?”
Mark looked at the notebook.
“A retaining wall failed.”
Daniel thought of the mountain road.
“When?”
“1999.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
Mark did not answer.
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“Was anyone hurt?”
“A worker died.”
The room went silent.
“Who?”
“I don’t remember.”
“You’re lying.”
“I don’t remember his name.”
Daniel stared at him.
Mark finally said, “Vale.”
Daniel’s heart seemed to stop.
“The worker’s last name was Vale?”
“Yes.”
Lauren Vale.
Daniel looked at the page again.
His father had recognized the name.
Not because Lauren had a criminal past.
Because twenty-seven years earlier, a man named Vale had died on one of Charles Hale’s construction sites.
Daniel whispered, “Who was he?”
May you like
Mark looked at him.
“I think he was her father.”
