Chapter 12 - What Grace HeardGrace asked Daniel to meet her outside the mansion.
Not inside.
They sat on a bench near the old rose garden.
Cooper lay at Daniel’s feet.
“You should have told me before,” Daniel said.
“I know.”
“What happened?”
Grace looked ashamed.
“About six weeks before Alyssa went into the hospital, she and Evelyn had a terrible argument.”
“You mentioned that.”
“I didn’t tell you all of it.”
Daniel waited.
“Evelyn told Alyssa she could ruin you.”
“How?”
“She said she had records showing you were careless with company money.”
Daniel frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know.”
“My company is audited.”
“I know.”
“What exactly did Alyssa say?”
Grace stared at her hands.
“She laughed.”
“Laughed?”
“She told Evelyn, ‘You forged the wrong signature.’”
Daniel sat very still.
Grace continued.
“Then Evelyn said Alyssa was confused because of medication.”
Daniel felt anger rise.
“She was already sick?”
“She had just been diagnosed.”
“And Evelyn was threatening her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Alyssa refused to support the company sale.”
Daniel looked toward the greenhouse.
“Alyssa knew about Haven Ridge.”
Grace nodded.
“She told Evelyn she was giving the records to federal investigators if the money wasn’t returned.”
“Did she?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel remembered the duplicate records.
Perhaps Alyssa had been preparing to.
Grace wiped her eyes.
“I should have said something.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because Alyssa made me promise.”
“Why?”
“She said you were already falling apart watching her get sick.”
Daniel looked away.
The truth hurt because it sounded exactly like Alyssa.
Always protecting him.
Even when she should not have.
Grace continued.
“There was something else.”
“What?”
“The night after that argument, Evelyn came into the kitchen.”
“And?”
“She was crying.”
Daniel was surprised.
“She said, ‘Everything I built is going to disappear because my daughter thinks she’s better than me.’”
“Everything she built?”
“That’s what she said.”
The foundation.
The company.
The family’s reputation.
Perhaps Evelyn no longer distinguished between them.
Daniel looked down at Cooper.
“Was Leonard here?”
“Several times.”
“Before Alyssa died?”
“Yes.”
“After?”
“Yes.”
“Did he ever meet Evelyn privately?”
“Frequently.”
Grace swallowed.
“I saw them burning papers in the outdoor fireplace two weeks after the funeral.”
Daniel looked sharply at her.
“What papers?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I thought they were Alyssa’s medical documents.”
Daniel stood.
“You thought they were burning my wife’s medical records and you said nothing?”
Grace flinched.
Daniel immediately regretted his tone.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. You’re right.”
He sat again.
“I’m angry at everyone.”
“You should be.”
“Mostly myself.”
Grace looked at him.
“You were barely functioning after Alyssa died.”
“And Evelyn used that.”
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at the mansion.
For eleven months, he had thought Evelyn stayed because she wanted to help him raise Mia.
Perhaps she had stayed because she wanted access.
Documents.
Computers.
Alyssa’s office.
The trust.
Daniel.
He suddenly remembered something.
“The night before the pool.”
Grace looked at him.
“What?”
“Evelyn brought me tea.”
“So?”
“She never does that.”
Grace went quiet.
Daniel looked at her.
“I fell asleep at one in the afternoon the next day and could barely wake up when Cooper pulled the blanket.”
“Daniel…”
He stood.
At the hospital after Mia’s rescue, a nurse had drawn blood because he appeared unusually groggy and disoriented.
At the time, everyone assumed exhaustion.
Daniel called Detective Cole.
“Please tell me the hospital still has my blood sample.”
Cole was silent.
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“Why?”
“Because I don’t think I was only tired.”
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