Chapter 3 - The Man Who Had Been Beside Her All Along
Clara met Daniel Mercer at twenty-eight.
She had just accepted a senior financial analyst position and needed an attorney to review an employment contract.
Julian had introduced them.
At the time, Clara thought nothing of it.
Daniel was respected.
Calm.
Meticulous.
He later handled Clara’s property purchases, her mother’s probate issues, and eventually her personal financial agreements with Julian.
Including the family support arrangement.
Now Richard’s words followed her through the morning.
Don’t trust Daniel.
At 8:30, Daniel arrived at Clara’s temporary office with coffee and two private investigators.
Clara smiled as if nothing had changed.
“Did you trace the threat?”
“Burner number.”
“And the termination file?”
“We can decrypt it.”
“How long?”
“Maybe today.”
She watched him carefully.
“Daniel, who recommended you to Julian?”
He blinked once.
“Excuse me?”
“When Julian introduced us, how did he know you?”
Daniel put his coffee down.
“We had mutual business contacts.”
“Which contacts?”
“Clara, this doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
He leaned back.
“What happened after I got off the phone with you?”
“Richard visited me.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“What did he tell you?”
“Not enough.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stood.
“You should have called me.”
Clara almost smiled.
“Why?”
“Because Richard is involved in whatever this is.”
“So are you?”
Silence.
The private investigators exchanged a glance.
Daniel’s jaw hardened.
“That’s a serious accusation.”
“It wasn’t an accusation.”
She folded her arms.
“But your reaction is interesting.”
He exhaled.
“Julian and I attended the same university.”
Clara stared.
“You told me you barely knew him.”
“We weren’t friends.”
“How well did you know him?”
“We were in the same finance society.”
“What finance society?”
Daniel looked toward the investigators.
“Give us five minutes.”
They left.
Daniel waited until the door closed.
“It was called the Hawthorne Society.”
Clara knew the name.
Every major business school had elite clubs.
But this one sounded familiar for another reason.
She searched her memory.
Stone Harbor Advisory.
Ridgewell Capital.
North Crest Imports.
“Hawthorne.”
Daniel watched her.
“You’ve seen it somewhere?”
“Not exactly.”
She opened the transfer spreadsheet.
Each shell company had an executive contact.
Clara had overlooked the initials before.
H.S.
H.S.
H.S.
Every one.
“The companies are connected to the society.”
Daniel said nothing.
Clara’s voice sharpened.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew Julian had connections to these people.”
“I knew he knew wealthy men who enjoyed hiding money. That is not the same as knowing he was stealing from you.”
“Did you create the support agreement?”
“Yes.”
“Did Julian ask you to?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Teresa controlled the destination account?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know money was leaving that account?”
“No.”
Clara stepped closer.
“You’ve been my lawyer for seven years.”
“Yes.”
“If you are lying to me now, I will destroy your career before I destroy Julian.”
Daniel did not flinch.
“I believe you.”
A phone rang.
Not Clara’s.
Daniel’s.
He checked the number.
Unknown.
He answered.
“Mercer.”
No one spoke.
Then Clara heard a mechanical sound from the speaker.
A click.
A pause.
Another click.
Daniel’s face changed.
He hung up.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“What was that?”
He moved toward the door.
“Daniel.”
He turned.
“The Hawthorne Society had a signal.”
“For what?”
“For members who talked about internal matters.”
Clara’s voice lowered.
“What signal?”
Daniel looked at his phone.
“Two clicks.”
“And what does it mean?”
He met her eyes.
“You’ve been warned.”
Clara’s stomach tightened.
“Warned to do what?”
May you like
Daniel picked up his briefcase.
“To disappear.”
