Chapter 6 - The Metal Box)
Rick did not mention the green paint.
That frightened Emily more than anger would have.
He simply walked upstairs.
Laura waited twenty minutes.
Then she moved the metal box from beneath her coat into a laundry basket.
She covered it with towels.
Emily followed her to the basement.
They hid the box inside the broken dryer Rick had been promising to remove for two years.
At midnight, they opened it.
Inside were three ledgers.
A stack of bank records.
Several photographs.
A small flash drive.
And a sealed envelope addressed to Richard Hale.
Laura stared at it.
"James wrote this."
Emily touched the handwriting.
She knew it from old birthday cards.
Laura opened the envelope.
Richard,
If Dawson learns what I found, Laura and the kids may become leverage. The ledgers establish the missing accounts. The digital file contains the transfer history and correspondence with the vendor who altered the vehicle maintenance report.
Laura stopped reading.
Emily stared at her.
"Vehicle maintenance?"
Laura continued.
I cannot prove Dawson caused anything. I can prove he paid the mechanic responsible for falsifying the inspection of my car two days before the brake failure.
Emily stopped breathing.
Laura dropped into a chair.
For eight years, James Carter's death had been described with one simple sentence.
His brakes failed on Interstate 70.
An accident.
Now those words felt obscene.
Emily picked up the letter.
James had written more.
If something happens to me, protect my family before you protect my reputation or the company. Tell Emily that being brave does not mean being unafraid. Tell Noah, if he is old enough to understand, that I loved him every day I had.
Emily could no longer see clearly.
She wiped her eyes.
Laura was crying too.
At the bottom of the box was another document.
A trust agreement.
James had placed a significant portion of his life insurance and company holdings into protected trusts for Emily and Noah.
Richard Hale was listed as co trustee.
Laura was the second trustee.
Rick Dawson had no authority.
Yet the attached account summaries showed withdrawals beginning eighteen months after James's death.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Then more.
By the seventh year, over two million dollars had disappeared.
Emily looked at Laura.
"Did you know we had this?"
"I knew there was a trust. Rick told me the investments failed."
"He stole it."
"Yes."
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
They froze.
Laura quickly returned everything to the box.
Another sound.
Footsteps.
Someone was entering the basement.
Emily shut the dryer door.
Rick appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
"What are you doing down here?"
Laura stood beside a pile of laundry.
"Looking for Noah's soccer uniform."
"At midnight?"
"I forgot he needs it tomorrow."
Rick looked at Emily.
"And you?"
"Helping."
Rick studied the room.
His eyes landed on the broken dryer.
He walked toward it.
Emily's heart began pounding.
Rick placed his hand on the handle.
Laura suddenly said, "I called my father."
Rick stopped.
Emily stared at her.
Laura's face was pale but steady.
Rick slowly turned around.
"What?"
"I said I called my father."
Rick's voice became soft.
"Why would you do that?"
"Because I wanted to."
"You know what Richard tried to do."
"Yes."
"Take the children."
"No."
Rick stared at her.
Laura continued.
"You told me he tried to take them."
Rick stepped toward her.
"And now you believe him?"
"I believe James."
For the first time, real fear crossed Rick's face.
It disappeared quickly.
"What does James have to do with anything?"
Laura said nothing.
Rick walked closer.
"You found something."
Emily moved between them.
Rick laughed.
"Look at this. Little Emily playing bodyguard again."
"Back off."
Rick looked at her.
"I wasn't talking to you."
"You are now."
Laura touched Emily's arm.
"Go upstairs."
Emily did not move.
"Emily."
Reluctantly she walked toward the stairs.
Rick's voice followed her.
"If you've been digging around in things that don't belong to you, you're going to regret it."
Emily turned.
"It belonged to my father."
Rick smiled.
May you like
Then he said something that followed Emily all night.
"Your father should have learned when to stop digging too."
