Chapter 13 - Daniel’s Bargain
Daniel’s phone went directly to voicemail.
His car remained at the police station.
Security footage showed him leaving through a side exit beside a man wearing a police maintenance uniform. The man’s face was hidden by a cap.
No force was visible.
Daniel appeared to leave willingly.
Claire received a message from Nathan Cole’s attorney claiming Nathan would exchange information about Daniel’s location for immediate bail negotiations.
The police refused.
Evelyn believed the message was designed to waste time.
Melissa stood in the kitchen while investigators searched her phone and laptop.
“I may know where they took him,” she said.
Walter glared at her.
“You have said that before.”
“Bellweather uses a closed agricultural research station south of the lake. Daniel visited it last month.”
Evelyn turned.
“He told me he had no direct contact with Bellweather.”
“He lied.”
Melissa’s voice held no triumph, only exhaustion.
“He met them without me.”
“Why?”
“They offered to clear his company debts if he convinced Evelyn to sign a temporary transfer.”
Evelyn felt something inside her go still.
Daniel had not merely been manipulated through Melissa.
He had chosen to participate.
Claire studied Melissa.
“How much did he know about Rose?”
“Enough to know another claimant existed. Not enough to know her identity.”
“You said earlier that he did not know.”
“I was protecting him.”
Walter moved toward her.
“Every lie you tell creates another disaster.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Evelyn raised her hand.
“Take us to the station.”
The research facility stood behind rusted gates and overgrown hedges. Its greenhouses had been abandoned years earlier after government funding ended.
Police units approached from the main road while Evelyn, Walter, Claire, and an investigator entered through a broken section of fence.
Inside the largest building, they found Daniel’s coat on the floor.
A trail of blood led toward a laboratory.
Evelyn’s breath caught.
She opened the door.
Daniel sat in a metal chair with his wrists tied behind him. Blood covered one side of his face, but he was conscious.
A man stood beside him holding a phone.
Not Nathan.
Thomas Vale, Melissa’s uncle.
Evelyn had met him only twice, both times at family funerals.
Melissa entered behind them and froze.
“Uncle Thomas?”
He smiled.
“You always were slow to understand.”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“Don’t give him the ledger.”
Thomas Vale pressed the phone against Daniel’s throat.
“The ledger, Evelyn.”
Walter stepped forward.
“You are Helena’s brother.”
“Yes.”
“Eleanor’s descendant.”
“Yes.”
“Then you have a potential claim too.”
Thomas laughed.
“Potential claims are for people who enjoy courts. I prefer certainty.”
Claire studied him.
“You created Bellweather.”
“With Nathan and Samuel. Each of us had something the others needed.”
“Samuel betrayed you.”
“Samuel betrayed everyone.”
Evelyn held the wrapped ledger beneath her coat.
“What do you want?”
“Recognition as controlling beneficiary.”
“You are not the eldest descendant.”
“Margaret is dead. Helena is dead. Rose is missing. Melissa signed away her claim.”
Melissa stared at him.
“I signed no such thing.”
“You signed dozens of documents without reading them.”
Her face went pale.
Thomas Vale continued.
“Walter’s identity can be challenged. His adoption records are incomplete, and Samuel altered several birth documents. Once Daniel is convicted of arson and Evelyn is declared incapable after tonight’s trauma, the estate will enter emergency administration.”
“And you become administrator?” Claire asked.
“Bellweather becomes administrator.”
Daniel struggled against the restraints.
“He made me meet him at the station. He said he had proof Melissa started the fire.”
Thomas Vale struck him across the face.
“Be quiet.”
Evelyn’s fear turned to rage.
“You will not touch him again.”
“Then give me the ledger.”
She removed it slowly.
Walter whispered, “Evelyn, no.”
Thomas Vale held out his hand.
Evelyn walked closer.
Behind him, a glass wall reflected the laboratory entrance.
She saw the police investigator moving into position.
Thomas Vale saw her eyes shift.
He grabbed Daniel by the hair and pressed a knife to his throat.
“Tell them to stay back.”
Evelyn stopped.
“Let him go.”
“The ledger.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Don’t.”
Evelyn threw the ledger across the room.
Thomas Vale released Daniel and lunged toward it.
Walter tackled him.
The knife slid across the floor.
Daniel kicked it away while Claire pulled him and the chair backward.
Police officers rushed inside.
Thomas Vale struck Walter, broke free, and reached the ledger.
He tore away the oilcloth.
Then he smiled.
The book inside was an ordinary farm account volume.
“A copy,” Evelyn said.
Thomas Vale turned toward her in disbelief.
The officers forced him to the floor.
Melissa stood in the doorway, shaking.
Her uncle looked at her while he was handcuffed.
“You think they will forgive you?”
She said nothing.
“You are still one of us.”
“No,” Melissa whispered. “That is the first lie I’m finally willing to stop telling.”
Daniel was taken to hospital.
His injuries were painful but not life-threatening.
Evelyn sat beside him after midnight.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Finally, Daniel said, “I knew about Bellweather’s plan.”
“I know.”
“I thought I could control it.”
“I know.”
“I never meant for anyone to be hurt.”
“People often say that after choosing the road that leads to harm.”
He closed his eyes.
“I wanted the money.”
“Yes.”
“I wanted to prove Father was wrong about me.”
“And?”
“He wasn’t.”
Evelyn looked at her son.
“You still have time to prove him wrong.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“Will you ever forgive me?”
“I don’t know.”
He nodded, accepting the answer.
Evelyn took his hand.
“But I am still here.”
His fingers tightened around hers.
Claire entered the room carrying her phone.
“They searched Thomas Vale’s office.”
“What did they find?” Evelyn asked.
“Files connecting Bellweather to the barn fire, Walter’s debt, the forged transfer records, and the diversion of Rose’s trust payments.”
“Enough to clear Daniel?”
“Enough to show someone used his accounts. But there is a problem.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What problem?”
“Bellweather received regular information from someone inside Ashbourne.”
“Melissa?”
Claire shook her head.
“The source began sending documents before Melissa married you.”
Evelyn felt cold.
“Who?”
Claire showed her a scanned payment record.
May you like
The recipient was identified only by initials.
E.A.
