Chapter 10 - The Photograph Taken Yesterday)
Vanessa agreed to meet in a public place.
Daniel refused.
He chose an empty Whitmore hotel undergoing renovation.
No guests.
No staff except security he personally selected.
Vanessa arrived alone.
She wore a black coat and no jewelry.
For once, she did not look like the woman who dominated ballrooms.
She looked tired.
Daniel stood beside a window.
"Show me."
Vanessa handed him her phone.
The photograph showed an older man entering a building.
His face was visible.
Daniel had not seen that face in twenty years.
But he knew it.
Thomas Whitmore.
Older.
Gray hair.
Lines around his mouth.
Yet unmistakable.
Daniel sat down.
For a moment, everything around him disappeared.
His father was alive.
Not possibly.
Not theoretically.
Alive.
Yesterday.
Marcus enlarged the photograph.
"Where?"
Vanessa answered.
"Boston."
"What building?"
"My father doesn't know."
Daniel looked at her.
"Charles doesn't know?"
"No."
"Why would someone send it to him?"
"To frighten him."
Daniel handed the phone back.
"Good."
Vanessa stared.
"You think this is justice?"
"I think your father deserves fear."
"So do I."
Daniel studied her.
"Why did you humiliate my mother?"
Vanessa looked away.
"You won't believe the answer."
"Try."
"My father told me she was carrying evidence that could destroy both families."
"That doesn't explain the slap."
"No."
"Then explain it."
Vanessa remained silent.
Daniel's anger rose.
"You could have talked to me."
"I tried."
"When?"
"Every time I asked about your father's old properties."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"That was your version of honesty?"
"I couldn't tell you what I knew."
"Why?"
"Because my father had someone following my younger brother."
Daniel paused.
He had met Vanessa's brother Julian twice.
Quiet.
Twenty four.
Studying architecture in London.
"Charles threatened his own son?"
"Charles threatened everyone."
Marcus asked, "What did he tell you to do at the party?"
Vanessa looked ashamed.
"Create a public incident."
"Specifically?"
"Make Eleanor react. Make Daniel react. Give the board grounds."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"You chose to hit a woman who trusted you in her son's house."
Vanessa's eyes filled.
"Yes."
"Why order her to kneel?"
Vanessa said nothing.
"Why?"
"Because I needed you angry."
Daniel stared.
"You knew that would break me."
"Yes."
"How?"
"Because you told me."
Daniel remembered.
Months earlier, one night after dinner, he had told Vanessa about his childhood.
How Eleanor cleaned hotel floors.
How she often returned home with swollen knees.
How Daniel once found her crying in the bathroom because she could not stand after a twelve hour shift.
Vanessa had listened.
Held his hand.
Promised his mother would never be treated that way again.
Daniel felt sick.
"You used something I told you because I loved you."
Vanessa whispered, "Yes."
He looked away.
No explanation could erase that.
Vanessa continued.
"I knew if you lost control publicly, the board would suspend you."
"And Charles would control the company."
"Temporarily."
"Long enough to search the archives."
"Yes."
"What was supposed to happen to me after that?"
Vanessa looked at him.
"We were supposed to marry."
Daniel laughed.
"You expected me to marry you after the ballroom?"
"My father thought you would."
"And you?"
"No."
"Then what did you expect?"
Vanessa swallowed.
"I expected you to hate me."
"You succeeded."
She closed her eyes.
"Good."
Daniel stared at her.
"You think hurting my mother protected me?"
"I think if my father believed I had chosen him over you, he would stop watching Julian."
Daniel walked closer.
"Your family is not my responsibility."
"I know."
"My mother almost knelt because of you."
"I know."
"You don't get forgiveness because you were afraid."
"I didn't ask for forgiveness."
For the first time, Daniel believed her.
Marcus asked, "Who sent the photograph?"
"I don't know."
"Does Charles suspect Thomas is in Boston?"
"He sent people."
Daniel's face hardened.
"When?"
"This morning."
Gabriel, standing near the rear doorway, stepped forward.
"Where in Boston?"
Vanessa handed him another image.
The original photograph contained a partial street sign.
Gabriel recognized the neighborhood.
They left within minutes.
Vanessa remained behind under guard.
Daniel did not trust her.
But he believed the fear in her eyes.
Three hours later, they reached the building.
It was an old storage facility near the waterfront.
The unit shown in the photograph was empty.
Daniel stood inside.
A chair.
A table.
A coffee cup still holding a dark stain.
Someone had been there recently.
Marcus found a newspaper.
Yesterday's date.
Gabriel searched the walls.
Daniel saw something scratched into the table.
D W.
His initials.
Below them.
Room 317.
Marcus asked, "Hotel room?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Could be anything."
Gabriel looked toward the door.
"Your father knew you might come."
Daniel touched the scratched letters.
For the first time since childhood, he felt close to Thomas.
Not to a photograph.
Not to a story.
To a man who might have touched that same table hours earlier.
Then Daniel noticed something beneath the chair.
A small silver object.
He picked it up.
A cufflink.
Whitmore crest.
His father had worn a matching pair in every photograph from Daniel's childhood.
Daniel closed his hand around it.
Marcus's phone rang.
He answered.
Then his expression changed.
"What?"
Marcus looked at Daniel.
"Someone accessed the Whitmore corporate archive."
"Who?"
"Richard's credentials."
Daniel turned toward his uncle.
Richard was not with them.
He had remained in Vermont.
"When?"
"Ten minutes ago."
Daniel called Richard.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a security alert arrived.
The corporate system began transferring historic property records to an external server.
Daniel stared at the screen.
"He's copying the archive."
Marcus shook his head.
"Richard wouldn't."
Gabriel asked, "Where is he physically?"
Daniel checked the family tracking system.
Richard's phone was no longer in Vermont.
It was moving south.
Toward New York.
Daniel whispered, "He's going back to the company."
Then Vanessa called.
Daniel answered.
Her voice was panicked.
"My father is missing."
"What?"
"He left his office twenty minutes ago."
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know."
"Why are you calling me?"
"Because before he left, he sent me one message."
Daniel waited.
May you like
Vanessa read it aloud.
If Daniel reaches Room 317 before I do, everything changes.
