Chapter 4 - The Name Behind the Money
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Daniel turned the photograph over again.
The date was three months old.
Impossible.
The man in the photograph had been declared dead nearly four years earlier.
Rachel looked at Ethan.
"Who was he?"
Ethan answered quietly.
"Jonathan Vale."
Daniel sat down.
Rachel had heard the name.
Everyone in the Mercer family had.
Jonathan Vale had been Daniel's father's business partner.
He had disappeared after an investigation into financial fraud.
Then came the official report.
Dead.
A boating accident.
No body recovered.
But the family had accepted it.
At least, Rachel thought they had.
Daniel looked at Ethan.
"Where did you get this?"
"Vanessa had it."
Rachel's attention snapped toward him.
"How do you know?"
"I saw it in her apartment."
"Why were you in her apartment?"
Ethan looked embarrassed.
"She asked me to help her move."
Rachel noticed Daniel's expression.
"You knew Ethan was investigating her."
"No."
Ethan shook his head.
"I wasn't investigating her. I was trying to figure out why she kept asking me questions about Rachel."
Rachel went cold.
"What questions?"
"Where you worked. Which bank you used. Whether you were planning to have children."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Rachel whispered.
"Why?"
Ethan didn't answer.
He looked at Daniel.
"Tell her."
Daniel shook his head.
"Not here."
Rachel stepped closer.
"Tell me."
Daniel looked at her.
"Your father was involved."
Rachel stared.
"My father?"
"Yes."
"My father died when I was nineteen."
"I know."
"What did he have to do with your family?"
Daniel looked down.
"Everything."
Rachel felt the ground disappear beneath her.
Her father had been a quiet accountant.
He had never talked about the Mercer family.
Never mentioned Jonathan Vale.
Never mentioned Daniel's father.
Never mentioned money.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't know until recently."
"How recently?"
"Four months ago."
Rachel laughed bitterly.
"Four months."
Daniel looked away.
"You were already pregnant."
"I wasn't pregnant then."
"I know."
"Then why did you say that?"
"Because I was afraid."
Rachel stepped back.
Daniel's voice lowered.
"Four months ago, I found a hidden account in my father's name."
"And?"
"It contained records."
"What records?"
"Payments."
"To whom?"
Daniel looked directly at her.
"Your father."
Rachel froze.
Ethan looked at the floor.
Daniel continued.
"Your father received money from my father for years."
Rachel shook her head.
"No."
"I wanted to believe that too."
"My father wasn't corrupt."
"I didn't say he was."
"Then what are you saying?"
Daniel hesitated.
"I'm saying he may have been trying to protect someone."
Rachel's eyes filled with tears.
"Who?"
Daniel didn't answer.
His phone rang.
He checked it.
A message.
One sentence.
You should have left her when you had the chance.
Daniel looked up.
Rachel saw the message.
She didn't know what frightened her more.
May you like
The threat.
Or the fact that Daniel looked as if he recognized the sender.
