Chapter 9 - THE MAN AT THE GATE
Sadie left without giving Richard the case.
He let her.
That frightened her more than if he had fought.
Outside, Wyatt emerged from behind the hedge line.
"You okay?"
"No."
She handed him the case.
"He knows about four ledgers."
Wyatt frowned.
"We only have one."
"Exactly."
A vehicle pulled up near the gate.
An electrical service van.
The driver stepped out.
Daniel Mercer.
Sadie recognized him from old estate repair work, though she could not remember meeting him directly.
He approached carefully.
"Ms. Carter?"
"Yes."
"My name's Daniel."
Wyatt moved slightly in front of her.
Daniel noticed.
"Good instinct."
"What do you want?"
Daniel looked at the mansion.
"Charles asked me to wait until Richard lost control."
Sadie stared.
"You work for my grandfather?"
"For thirty-two years."
"As an electrician?"
Daniel smiled.
"Among other things."
He handed Sadie a small black device.
"A recorder?"
"A receiver."
"For what?"
"Your grandfather wired the west side of the estate before he disappeared."
Sadie looked toward the house.
"He has been recording them?"
"For years."
"Then why hasn't he gone to the police?"
Daniel's expression darkened.
"Because the first detective Charles trusted died three days after receiving the evidence."
Wyatt said, "Accident?"
"Officially."
Sadie's stomach tightened.
Daniel continued.
"Second was a federal prosecutor. Suicide."
"And the third?"
"Disappeared."
Sadie looked back at the mansion.
"So he stayed hidden."
"He built insurance."
"The ledgers?"
"Partly."
Daniel pointed toward the receiver.
"This connects to a storage node under the east garden wall."
"What does it contain?"
"Enough to prove what Richard did to you."
"The balcony?"
"That and more."
Sadie's breath caught.
"More?"
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"After the fall, Richard paid a doctor to alter your neurological records."
Wyatt said, "Why?"
"To establish a future incompetence claim."
Sadie stared.
"He planned to have me declared mentally incompetent?"
"Yes."
"For the trust."
Daniel nodded.
"Charles discovered it."
Sadie looked down at the receiver.
Every childhood doctor's appointment suddenly felt sinister.
Every time Richard called her unstable.
Every time Victoria described her as emotional.
Every family story about Sadie being difficult.
They had been building a narrative.
Not merely insulting her.
Preparing evidence.
Wyatt touched her arm.
"We go to federal authorities now."
Daniel shook his head.
"Not yet."
Wyatt's expression hardened.
"I'm getting tired of people saying that."
Daniel looked directly at him.
"Then you'll enjoy the next part even less."
He removed a folded photograph from his pocket.
A man stood beside Richard outside a courthouse.
Sadie recognized him.
County Judge Nathaniel Brooks.
Daniel said, "The judge who would hear an emergency incapacity petition against Sadie has been receiving money from Richard for eleven years."
Wyatt went silent.
Daniel continued.
"And the physician expected to evaluate her is Malcolm Reed's brother-in-law."
Sadie looked between them.
"So if I marry Wyatt..."
"They lose the trust."
"And if they declare me incompetent before the wedding..."
"They control your shares."
Sadie felt suddenly cold despite the heat.
Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then his face changed.
"What?"
Sadie stepped closer.
May you like
Daniel ended the call.
"Charles is gone."
