Chapter 6 - The Missing Grandson)
The ballroom foyer was crowded.
Guests in suits and evening dresses held champagne glasses beneath enormous floral arrangements.
Daniel pushed through them.
Several people congratulated him.
He did not respond.
He reached the side lounge where he had left Noah with Thomas.
Empty.
A toy car lay beneath a chair.
Daniel grabbed the nearest hotel employee.
“Did you see a little boy in a gray suit?”
The woman pointed toward the ballroom.
“I think he went that way.”
Daniel entered.
Noah was not there.
Thomas was not there either.
Rebecca stood at the far end posing for photographs.
Daniel avoided her line of sight and called Marcus.
“Noah’s gone.”
“I’ll pull every camera.”
“Find Thomas too.”
Daniel ended the call.
He searched the restrooms.
The coatroom.
The corridor outside the ballroom.
Nothing.
Then he spotted one of Noah’s shoes.
It lay near an emergency exit.
Daniel picked it up.
His fear became something colder.
The door led to a service stairwell.
Daniel entered.
“Noah!”
His voice echoed.
Nothing.
He ran down one flight.
“Grandpa?”
Daniel stopped.
A tiny voice came from below.
He rushed down.
Noah sat on a stair beside a housekeeping cart.
Thomas crouched in front of him.
Daniel descended slowly.
Thomas looked up.
“There you are.”
Daniel reached them.
“What are you doing?”
“Noah wanted to find his mother.”
Thomas stood.
“He slipped away from me.”
“So you brought him into a stairwell?”
“I caught him here.”
Noah ran to Daniel.
Daniel lifted him.
“Are you okay?”
The boy nodded.
Thomas looked offended.
“What exactly are you accusing me of?”
Daniel studied him.
Emily’s warning echoed.
Don’t trust Thomas.
“Nothing.”
Thomas laughed once.
“You’re acting strange.”
“It’s my wedding day.”
“That excuse stopped working an hour ago.”
Daniel held Noah closer.
Thomas stepped forward.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
Daniel considered him.
Then he decided to test him.
“Emily found something about Catherine.”
Thomas’s expression remained neutral.
“What?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“She says Catherine changed the trust before she died.”
Thomas blinked.
There.
Again.
A fraction too much reaction.
Daniel continued.
“Do you know anything about that?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Why would I?”
Daniel smiled.
“No reason.”
Thomas stared at him.
“What did Emily tell you about me?”
Daniel said nothing.
Thomas’s face changed.
“She did, didn’t she?”
“Did what?”
“She told you I had something to do with last night.”
Daniel shifted Noah onto his other arm.
“I never said anything happened last night.”
Thomas froze.
The stairwell became silent.
Daniel stared at him.
Thomas slowly inhaled.
“Rebecca called me.”
“When?”
“After midnight.”
“Why?”
“She said Emily had been injured.”
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“You told me you knew nothing.”
“I knew there was an argument. That’s all.”
“Were you at my house?”
“No.”
“Did you help put Emily into a car?”
Thomas looked genuinely shocked.
“What?”
Daniel watched him closely.
Thomas shook his head.
“Daniel, I swear to you, I never touched Emily.”
“Then why did she hear your voice?”
“I don’t know.”
“You introduced Rebecca to me.”
“Yes.”
“You lied about knowing her.”
Thomas looked away.
Daniel’s anger sharpened.
“How long?”
“Not the way you think.”
“How long did you know Rebecca before that dinner?”
Thomas rubbed his forehead.
“About three months.”
Daniel nearly laughed.
“Three months.”
“She approached me through the foundation.”
“You told me you didn’t know her.”
“I knew her professionally.”
“Why lie?”
“Because Catherine asked me to.”
Daniel became motionless.
“What did you say?”
Thomas’s eyes closed briefly.
“Not here.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You used my dead wife’s name. You better explain.”
Thomas glanced toward Noah.
“Not in front of him.”
Daniel looked at his grandson.
The boy was watching them silently.
Daniel’s anger receded enough for reason to return.
He called Marcus.
“Send someone I trust to the west stairwell.”
Two minutes later, a female security officer arrived.
Daniel handed Noah to her.
“Take him to Marcus Bell. Nobody else.”
The officer nodded and carried Noah away.
Daniel waited until the door shut.
Then he turned to Thomas.
“Talk.”
Thomas sat on the stair.
“Six months before Catherine died, she contacted me.”
Daniel remained standing.
“She said someone had been asking questions about the trust.”
“Who?”
“She didn’t know.”
“She would have told me.”
“She was afraid you’d confront them.”
Daniel stared at him.
“She asked me to quietly investigate people approaching the family.”
“And Rebecca?”
“She appeared after Catherine died.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Thomas nodded slowly.
“Rebecca contacted the foundation. She said she had information about Bellweather Holdings.”
Daniel felt his stomach tighten.
Emily had found payments from Bellweather to Rebecca.
“What information?”
“She claimed Bellweather had been moving money through charities and shell companies.”
“And you believed her?”
“I verified enough to know the company existed.”
“Why introduce her to me?”
Thomas’s face filled with shame.
“Because she asked to meet you.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“And you never wondered why?”
“I did.”
“But you introduced us anyway.”
“She knew things about Catherine.”
Daniel stopped.
“What things?”
“She knew Catherine had created a private file before she died.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What file?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“Thomas.”
“I swear.”
Daniel paced once.
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
“Because Catherine made me promise.”
“She’s dead.”
“I know.”
“That promise nearly got Emily killed.”
Thomas stood.
“I didn’t know Rebecca was involved.”
“She was paid by Bellweather before she met me.”
Thomas’s face went pale.
“You’re sure?”
“Emily found the transfer.”
Thomas whispered a curse.
Daniel studied him.
“Who else knew about Catherine’s investigation?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Samuel Price.”
“My former attorney.”
“Yes.”
“Anyone else?”
Thomas looked toward the stairwell door.
“One other person.”
“Who?”
Before he could answer, every light in the stairwell went out.
Emergency lights came on seconds later.
Thomas looked upward.
A hotel alarm began sounding.
Daniel’s phone rang.
Marcus.
He answered.
“What happened?”
Marcus’s voice came fast.
“We lost camera access.”
“Where’s Noah?”
“With me.”
“Keep him there.”
“I will, but you need to know something.”
“What?”
“We recovered part of the loading dock footage.”
Daniel waited.
Marcus said, “The man who helped Rebecca move Emily wasn’t Thomas.”
Daniel looked at his old friend.
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“Send me the image.”
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared.
A man in a dark coat stood beside Rebecca near a blue sedan.
Daniel enlarged the face.
Thomas looked over his shoulder.
Then Thomas whispered, “That’s impossible.”
“You know him?”
Thomas backed away.
“Daniel.”
“Who is he?”
Thomas stared at the photograph.
“That’s the other person Catherine told.”
Daniel’s heart pounded.
“Who?”
May you like
Thomas looked up.
“Your brother.”
