Chapter 2 - The Man on Thursdays
Daniel drove past his apartment without slowing.
Emily noticed.
“Daddy, where are we going?”
“To Uncle Ben’s.”
Ben Mercer was not actually Emily’s uncle.
He had been Daniel’s closest friend since they were twelve years old, and after Rachel died, Ben became the person Daniel called when the world became too heavy.
Ben lived twenty minutes outside the city in a renovated farmhouse with security cameras, two German shepherds, and the temperament of a man who spent fifteen years investigating financial crimes for the federal government.
Daniel had never needed those skills before.
Tonight he did.
Sophia remained on the phone.
“Mom meets him at the old office downtown.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know his real name.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I know what she calls him.”
“What?”
“Mr. Vale.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“That sounds fake.”
“It probably is.”
“What does he want?”
Sophia exhaled shakily.
“Control.”
“Of what?”
“Everything Dad built.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Their father, Samuel Carter, had founded Carter Development when Daniel was six.
By the time Daniel graduated high school, the company owned shopping centers, office parks, warehouses, and apartment buildings across three states.
Then Samuel died in what police ruled a boating accident.
Eleanor inherited controlling interest.
Sophia joined the company.
Daniel walked away.
Or so he thought.
Sophia continued.
“You remember the Northbridge project?”
“Dad’s last development.”
“Yes.”
“What about it?”
“It never belonged to Carter Development.”
Daniel frowned.
“I was at the groundbreaking.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
He heard movement on Sophia’s end.
A car door slammed.
“Where are you?”
“Moving.”
“Sophia.”
“I’m trying to stay alive.”
Daniel glanced at Emily.
She was listening.
He lowered his voice.
“Who are you running from?”
“Mom.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“No. It isn’t.”
Sophia started crying.
Daniel had seen his sister cruel, arrogant, dismissive, and manipulative.
He had almost never seen her afraid.
“What happened after the lights went out?”
“Vale’s people came through the service entrance.”
Daniel’s blood went cold.
“People?”
“They took the recorder.”
“You left with them?”
“No. I ran through the library and climbed over the east wall.”
“Why?”
“Because Mom knows I made a copy.”
Daniel turned onto the rural road toward Ben’s farmhouse.
“Do you have it?”
“Yes.”
“Then send it to me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because if I send it electronically, they’ll trace it.”
Daniel glanced at the mirror.
No obvious cars followed them.
“Then meet me.”
“I will.”
“When?”
Silence.
“Sophia.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Where?”
“I’ll contact you.”
He swore.
“You don’t get to disappear after treating Emily like garbage tonight.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I was trying to make you leave.”
Daniel blinked.
“What?”
“At the party.”
Sophia’s voice cracked.
“I took the favor from Emily because I needed you angry enough to leave.”
“That’s your excuse?”
“I saw Vale’s car outside.”
Daniel’s anger collided with confusion.
“If you were protecting us, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Mom was watching.”
“You humiliated a six-year-old.”
“I know.”
“Emily was crying.”
“I know!”
Sophia’s sob broke through the phone.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel said nothing.
Some things could be explained without being excused.
They reached Ben’s long gravel driveway.
Sophia whispered, “You need to ask Ben about Falcon Ridge.”
Daniel slowed.
“What is Falcon Ridge?”
The line went dead.
He tried calling back.
Nothing.
Ben opened the farmhouse door before Daniel reached the porch.
Six-foot-three, broad-shouldered, gray beginning at his temples, he took one look at Daniel’s bleeding hand and Emily’s tear-streaked face.
“What happened?”
Daniel handed him the phone.
“My family finally got interesting.”
Ben crouched in front of Emily.
“Hey, Em.”
“Hi, Uncle Ben.”
“You hungry?”
She nodded.
“There’s chocolate milk.”
Her expression brightened slightly.
“And waffles?”
“At midnight?”
Emily nodded hopefully.
Ben looked at Daniel.
Daniel shrugged.
“Make the waffles.”
Twenty minutes later, Emily sat at the kitchen island eating while Rosie waited beside her.
Daniel told Ben everything.
The birthday party.
The recorder.
Sophia’s call.
Vale.
Falcon Ridge.
Ben’s expression changed at the last name.
Daniel noticed.
“You know it.”
Ben leaned back.
“I know a Falcon Ridge Holdings.”
“What is it?”
“A shell company.”
Daniel stared.
“How do you know?”
“Because five years ago I investigated a money-laundering network that used it.”
The room went quiet.
Daniel looked toward Emily.
She was focused on her waffles.
Ben lowered his voice.
“Falcon Ridge was connected to dozens of real estate transactions. Fake loans. Inflated property valuations. Ghost contractors. Money went in clean and came out cleaner.”
“And Carter Development?”
Ben hesitated.
“Your father’s company appeared twice.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You never told me.”
“You never asked.”
“My father was involved in money laundering?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“What are you saying?”
“His company was used.”
“By whom?”
“We never proved it.”
Daniel stood.
“Ben.”
“The investigation got shut down.”
“By who?”
“Someone high enough that my entire task force was reassigned within forty-eight hours.”
Daniel felt cold.
“When was this?”
“Five years ago.”
Two years after Samuel Carter’s death.
Daniel looked toward the dark window.
“So Dad wasn’t the one running it.”
“Maybe not.”
Ben opened his laptop.
“Let’s see if Falcon Ridge still exists.”
His fingers moved quickly.
A corporate registry appeared.
Falcon Ridge Holdings LLC.
Registered in Delaware.
Active.
Ben opened another database.
Then another.
His face tightened.
“What?”
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“You’re listed as a beneficial owner.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“How much?”
Ben looked up.
“Forty-nine percent.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
Ben clicked again.
A scanned document opened.
Daniel stepped closer.
At the bottom was his signature.
Except he had never signed it.
Ben zoomed in.
“That document was executed six months after Rachel died.”
Daniel’s stomach twisted.
“I was barely functioning.”
“Exactly.”
Another record appeared.
A transaction.
Twenty-eight million dollars transferred through Falcon Ridge to a private trust.
Daniel stared at the beneficiary.
EMILY RACHEL CARTER.
His daughter’s full legal name.
Daniel whispered, “What the hell?”
Ben’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
Then he looked at Daniel.
“What?”
Ben turned the screen around.
One of his driveway cameras showed a black SUV parked half a mile down the road.
May you like
Headlights off.
Waiting.
