Chapter 9 - the price of the company)
Police reached the Reeves home minutes after Eric.
The basement safe was open.
Several folders were missing.
Eric was gone.
A rear window had been forced.
Ortiz called Daniel.
What exactly was stored there.
Company ownership certificates.
Trust documents.
Some personal records.
Could Eric transfer control with them.
Not legally without my signature.
Could he forge it.
Daniel thought about the shell companies.
The false vendor approvals.
The years of manipulated records.
Yes.
Daniel drove to company headquarters under police escort.
A legal team reviewed the corporate accounts.
They discovered that Eric had prepared an emergency board filing two weeks earlier.
It claimed Daniel was medically incapacitated overseas after a severe accident.
Daniel stared at the document.
He planned to remove me.
The attorney nodded.
The filing was incomplete because it required additional signatures.
Whose.
Margarets and mine.
Margaret had already signed.
Daniel felt another betrayal.
When.
Nine days ago.
Before Emily found the card.
Daniel called Ortiz.
Margaret was questioned again.
She admitted signing.
Eric told me it was a temporary succession document in case Daniels plane crashed.
Daniel nearly laughed.
That was his explanation.
I did not read it carefully.
You never read anything carefully when Eric asked.
Margaret closed her eyes.
No.
The attorney found something worse.
Erics forged documents would have transferred Daniels voting authority to a trust controlled jointly by Margaret and Eric.
If Daniel died or became incapacitated, Eric could potentially control the company.
Emily had discovered some of this.
That explained the schedule of Daniels flights.
The family routines.
The obsession with evidence.
But Daniel still did not understand one thing.
If Eric wanted control, why target Emily.
The answer came from recovered files on Emilys damaged laptop.
She had drafted an email to an attorney.
The message contained financial records.
At the end she wrote.
If anything happens to me, Daniel, or Sophie, please send these files to federal investigators.
Daniel read it twice.
Sophie was named.
His daughter was not simply a witness.
Under the family trust, if Daniel died, part of his ownership passed to Emily.
If Daniel and Emily both died, those shares went into trust for Sophie.
Eric could never fully control the company while Sophie remained a beneficiary.
Daniel felt physically ill.
Ortiz did not speculate aloud.
She did not need to.
Daniel asked.
Do you think he planned to hurt us.
We know he prepared fraudulent succession documents and monitored your family. We know he threatened witnesses and participated in illegally confining Martin Hale. That is what we can prove right now.
Daniel looked at her.
And Sophie.
Ortiz said carefully.
We are treating your family as at risk.
The hospital immediately increased security.
Daniel did not leave Sophie or Emily alone.
That evening, Martin Hale requested to speak with him.
Martin looked exhausted.
He had worked for Reeves Agricultural Supply for seventeen years.
Daniel sat across from him.
Why did you never tell me about Dad.
Martin stared at his hands.
I tried once.
When.
After the funeral.
Daniel remembered.
Martin had approached him in the church parking lot.
Margaret interrupted.
She said Martin wanted to discuss work and that it could wait.
Martin never tried again.
I was twenty four. I had a newborn son. Your mother told me that if I accused Eric without proof, I would lose my job and be sued.
Daniel said.
You had a statement in Dads locker.
I did not know he kept it.
Martin shook his head.
I was a coward.
Daniel thought of Margaret.
Fear.
Cowardice.
Silence.
Different words for the same engine.
Martin continued.
Three months ago, I saw the false disposal records again.
Same pattern as before.
I confronted Eric.
He laughed.
He told me nobody cared eleven years ago and nobody would care now.
So you started collecting evidence.
Yes.
Did you give anything to Emily.
Martin nodded.
Daniel leaned forward.
What.
The old memory card.
Daniel stared.
You gave it to her.
I found it in a box from the old compliance archive.
Arthur must have hidden it before he went to Warehouse Four.
Why give it to Emily instead of me.
Martin looked ashamed.
Because I did not know if I could trust you.
Daniel felt the words like a blow.
Martin continued.
You defended Eric for years.
Every complaint about him disappeared.
Every employee who challenged him got reassigned.
Daniel knew it was true.
He had believed he was protecting family harmony.
Instead, he had trained everyone around him to expect Eric would never face consequences.
Martin said.
Emily asked questions nobody else would ask.
So I gave her the card.
Did she make a second copy.
Martin paused.
Yes.
Daniel straightened.
Where.
She did not tell me.
Only that it was somewhere Eric would never think to look.
Daniel returned to Emilys room.
She was awake.
You made another copy.
Emily looked guilty.
Martin told you.
Where is it.
Emily glanced at Sophie.
Not here.
Where.
She gave a weak smile.
You are going to hate this.
Daniel waited.
Emily said.
The kindergarten time capsule.
Daniel blinked.
What.
Sophies class made a family time capsule last month. Parents could include photos or digital files for the children to open when they graduate.
Daniel stared.
You put corporate evidence in a kindergarten time capsule.
I put a duplicate memory card inside a sealed envelope beneath our family photos.
Daniel almost laughed despite everything.
Eric would never think to look there.
Exactly.
Daniel leaned down and kissed her forehead.
That may be the smartest ridiculous thing you have ever done.
Then Sophie said.
Uncle Eric knows.
Both parents turned.
How.
Sophie looked worried.
I told Grandma.
Emily went still.
When.
Grandma asked where Mommy hid the other secret.
Daniel felt his chest tighten.
What did you say.
I said school.
Daniel grabbed his phone.
The elementary school was closed for the evening.
But the time capsule had not yet been buried.
It was stored inside the main office.
Ortiz called school security.
No answer.
A patrol unit was dispatched.
May you like
Seven minutes later, they reported the front office door had been forced.
The time capsule was gone.
