Chapter 9 - The Dead Man's Mailbox)
Danielle stared at Michelle.
"Say that again."
"I mailed the master copy to Daniel's old post office box."
Danielle's late husband had been named Daniel Mercer.
He had died in a helicopter crash four years earlier while traveling between two Harrington facilities.
After his death, Danielle closed almost every account connected to him.
Almost.
"He had a private box downtown."
Michelle nodded.
"You never closed it."
"How do you know?"
"He told me about it years ago."
Caleb frowned.
"Why would Daniel have a secret mailbox?"
Danielle remembered.
Her husband had been a corporate attorney before marrying into the Harrington family.
He disliked Victor's habit of having security staff screen family correspondence.
They had argued about it once.
Daniel had rented a private box and joked that it was the only place Victor could not read his mail.
Danielle had forgotten.
Michelle continued.
"I sent the encrypted drive there because Dad monitors every address connected to me or Caleb. I knew he wouldn't think of Daniel."
"When?"
"Nine days before I disappeared."
Danielle checked the date in her head.
The package had been sitting there for more than three months.
"Do you still have the key?"
Danielle shook her head.
"The box was in Daniel's name."
Michelle looked disappointed.
Marissa spoke.
"Death certificate and identification may be enough for his spouse."
Danielle looked at her.
"How long before Victor sends people here?"
Michelle answered.
"He already knows about the cottage."
"What?"
"He searched it two months ago."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because he searched it once."
Michelle gave a tired smile.
"Dad never repeats a search after he decides he's right."
Danielle almost smiled.
That was true.
Victor treated conclusions like property.
Once he owned one, he rarely surrendered it.
Caleb sat at the table.
"We need that drive before the board meeting."
Danielle nodded.
"Then we go tonight."
Michelle shook her head.
"Victor will have the city watched."
"Not every route."
"He has traffic camera access through one of the network companies."
Marissa said.
"I can create a gap."
Everyone looked at her.
Michelle's eyes narrowed.
"Why would we trust you?"
"You shouldn't."
Marissa's answer surprised them.
She continued.
"But Victor still thinks I need him to survive this. I can call him."
Danielle understood.
"You tell him you escaped from us."
"I tell him Caleb attacked me and you took the keys."
Michelle laughed.
"And he'll believe you?"
Marissa looked at her.
"He believed worse about your husband."
Caleb went still.
"What do you mean?"
Marissa realized she had said too much.
Danielle stared.
"What about Daniel?"
Marissa said nothing.
"Marissa."
"I don't know enough."
"Tell me what you know."
Marissa looked toward Liam.
Danielle sent him into the bedroom with a plate of crackers and headphones.
When the door closed, Marissa sat down.
"Four years ago, three days before Daniel's helicopter crashed, Victor asked me for a report on him."
Danielle's face became expressionless.
"What report?"
"Travel history. Calls. Meetings."
"Why?"
"He said Daniel was discussing confidential company matters with a competitor."
"Was he?"
"I found no evidence."
"Did you tell Victor?"
"Yes."
"What happened next?"
"Nothing."
"Then Daniel died."
Marissa looked at the floor.
"I never connected it."
Michelle whispered.
"I did."
Danielle turned toward her.
"What?"
Michelle opened another folder.
"The Continuity Network paid a private aviation maintenance contractor six days before Daniel's crash."
Danielle stopped breathing.
"No."
"I don't know what the payment was for."
"No."
"Dani."
"The crash investigation found mechanical failure."
"I know."
"The rotor assembly cracked."
"I know."
Michelle's eyes filled.
"The contractor who serviced that assembly received four hundred thousand dollars from a Victor controlled shell company."
Caleb whispered.
"Jesus."
Danielle stood so abruptly the chair fell.
She walked outside.
Rain struck her face.
She kept walking until the cottage disappeared behind the trees.
She wanted to scream.
Instead she pressed both hands against an apple tree and tried to breathe.
Daniel.
Four years.
She had spent four years believing an accident had taken him.
Victor had stood beside her at the funeral.
Held Liam.
Told Danielle she needed to be strong.
Told her grief could destroy weak leaders.
Danielle heard footsteps.
Michelle stopped several feet away.
"I didn't want to tell you until I had proof."
"You don't have proof."
"No."
"Then don't say he killed Daniel."
"I didn't."
"You implied it."
"I showed you a payment."
Danielle turned.
"Do you know what happens if I let myself believe this before I know?"
Michelle was crying.
"Yes."
"No, you don't."
Danielle's voice broke for the first time.
"He is our father."
Michelle stepped closer.
"I know."
"He taught me to ride a bicycle."
"I know."
"He slept on the floor beside my bed when I had pneumonia."
"I know."
"He walked me down the aisle."
Michelle took her hand.
"I know."
Danielle looked toward the mansion lights in the distance.
"How does someone become this and still have been those things?"
Michelle had no answer.
That was the worst part.
People wanted villains to be simple.
Victor had never been simple.
He had loved his daughters.
Danielle believed that.
He had also controlled them, lied to them, stolen from them, imprisoned Caleb, and perhaps done something much worse.
Both things could be true.
That realization was almost unbearable.
Danielle wiped her eyes.
"We get the drive."
Michelle nodded.
"Then we find out what happened to Daniel."
Marissa's plan was simple.
At 7:20 that evening, she called Victor.
Danielle listened through speaker mode.
Victor answered immediately.
"Where are you?"
Marissa made her breathing sound uneven.
"North service road."
"Where is Danielle?"
"She left me."
"With whom?"
"Caleb and Michelle."
A pause.
Victor said.
"Michelle is there?"
"Yes."
Danielle watched her sister.
Michelle stared at the phone.
"Where are they going?"
"I don't know. Danielle took the keys."
"Did she find the archive?"
"Yes."
Victor was silent.
Then.
"Come back."
Marissa looked at Danielle.
"Am I safe?"
Victor's answer came without hesitation.
"If you remain useful."
Marissa closed her eyes.
"Understood."
After the call ended, Michelle said.
"He didn't even lie convincingly."
Marissa put away the phone.
"No."
They waited twenty minutes.
Then Marissa accessed the security network from her tablet.
Three vehicles left the mansion heading north.
Victor was sending men to search for them.
The south route was open.
Danielle looked at Caleb.
"You stay here with Liam."
"No."
"You can barely walk."
"Michelle was missing for three months. I'm not letting her out of my sight."
Michelle took his hand.
"You aren't."
She looked at Danielle.
"We all go."
Danielle wanted to argue.
Then she realized Victor's greatest advantage had always been separating them.
Fine.
They would stay together.
The private mailbox office closed at nine.
They arrived at eight forty-two.
Danielle presented Daniel's death certificate electronically and identification proving their marriage.
The clerk disappeared into the back.
Danielle's heart pounded.
He returned holding a small stack of envelopes.
And one padded package.
Michelle exhaled.
"That's it."
Danielle signed the release.
Outside, they entered Marissa's vehicle.
Michelle tore open the package.
Inside was an encrypted flash drive.
And something none of them expected.
A handwritten letter.
Danielle recognized the handwriting instantly.
Daniel's.
Her dead husband's handwriting.
She unfolded it.
Dani,
If this reaches you because something happened to me, do not let your father convince you I was paranoid.
I found what he is building.
And I made the mistake of confronting him alone.
May you like
Danielle stopped reading.
The date at the top was three days before Daniel died.
