Chapter 8 - The Confession Eleanor Had Buried for Twenty Years)
Eleanor was waiting in Daniel's library.
She had changed into a simple cream blouse and dark skirt.
No jewelry.
No makeup.
The champagne gown had been packed away.
Perhaps forever.
Daniel entered with Marcus.
Gabriel remained outside with security.
Eleanor saw him through the window.
Her eyes widened.
"Gabriel Cole."
Daniel stopped.
"So you know him."
"I haven't seen him for twenty years."
"You told me you didn't know who Thomas Mercer was."
"I didn't. Not until you described what he told you."
Daniel sat across from her.
"No more pieces."
She nodded.
"No more pieces."
"What happened the night Dad disappeared?"
Eleanor breathed slowly.
"Your father came home."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"You told me he didn't."
"I know."
"What time?"
"About five in the morning."
"After the car went into the river."
"Yes."
"Was he hurt?"
"His hands were bleeding. His shirt was torn. He had lost one shoe."
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.
"What did he say?"
"He told me the accident was staged."
"By him?"
"No. Someone tried to force him off the road. He escaped before the car went over."
"Who?"
"He didn't know."
"What happened next?"
"He wanted us to leave."
"You refused?"
"At first."
She looked toward the fireplace.
"You were asleep upstairs. Thomas kept saying we had minutes. He gave me a bag."
"What was inside?"
"Cash. Documents. Passports."
Daniel whispered, "Fake passports?"
"For you and me."
"What about him?"
"He had another identity."
Daniel felt his heart beat harder.
"What identity?"
Eleanor looked at him.
"I never knew the name."
"Then what?"
"We packed."
Daniel could imagine it.
Twelve year old Daniel asleep.
His parents quietly preparing to vanish.
A completely different life waiting before sunrise.
"Why didn't we leave?"
Eleanor's eyes filled.
"Because someone knocked."
Daniel already knew.
"Charles."
"No."
"Grandfather."
She nodded.
Daniel felt cold.
"How did he know Dad was there?"
"I don't know."
"What did he want?"
"Thomas opened the door. They argued."
"About the evidence?"
"About you."
Daniel frowned.
Eleanor continued.
"Your grandfather told Thomas that running would destroy your life. He said Charles would never stop looking."
"Was he threatening us?"
"I couldn't tell."
"What happened?"
"Thomas accused him of helping Charles."
"Was it true?"
"Your grandfather admitted some things."
"Like what?"
"That years earlier he had allowed company properties to be used for private transactions. He claimed he didn't know how far Charles had taken it."
"Did Dad believe him?"
"No."
Eleanor wiped her eyes.
"Then your grandfather offered a deal."
Daniel leaned forward.
"What deal?"
"Thomas would disappear."
Daniel stared.
"Voluntarily?"
"Your grandfather said Charles needed to believe Thomas was dead. If Thomas vanished permanently and the evidence was hidden, Charles would have no reason to harm us."
Marcus asked, "And Thomas agreed?"
"Not immediately."
Daniel's voice was quiet.
"But he did."
Eleanor nodded.
Something inside Daniel broke open.
His father might have chosen to leave him.
For twenty years.
"Why didn't he come back?"
Eleanor closed her eyes.
"Because I told him not to."
Daniel stood.
The chair scraped across the floor.
"You what?"
"I told him to go."
"You told my father to abandon me?"
"I told him to keep you alive."
Daniel turned away.
His mother continued through tears.
"You were twelve. Men were following you. People had already tried to kill Thomas. Your grandfather said if Thomas disappeared, Charles would stop."
"Did he?"
"For years."
Daniel faced her again.
"So Dad walked out."
"He hugged you while you were sleeping."
Daniel froze.
"He came into my room?"
"Yes."
A memory moved at the edge of Daniel's mind.
The smell of rain.
A hand on his hair.
A voice he had always assumed belonged to a dream.
He felt suddenly unsteady.
"What did he say?"
Eleanor's voice broke.
"He said he was sorry."
Daniel looked down.
"And then?"
"He left with your grandfather."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"You never saw him again?"
"No."
"Did he contact you?"
Eleanor hesitated.
Daniel saw it.
"Mom."
"Three times."
Daniel's face changed.
"Three times?"
"Over twenty years."
"You told me nothing."
"I couldn't."
"When?"
"The first was six months later."
"What did he say?"
"That he was safe."
"Where?"
"He didn't tell me."
"The second?"
"Five years later."
"What did he say?"
"That Charles was still watching."
"And the third?"
Eleanor looked at the bank notice on the table.
"Six months ago."
Daniel stopped breathing.
"He contacted you six months ago?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"I received a package."
"What package?"
"A photograph."
"Of what?"
Eleanor stood and walked to a cabinet.
She removed a book.
Inside was a photograph.
Daniel took it.
A man stood on a train platform.
Gray hair.
Older face.
Partially turned away.
But Daniel recognized the shape of his shoulders.
The same posture from old photographs.
His father.
On the back was a date.
Six months earlier.
And four handwritten words.
It is starting again.
Daniel stared.
"Why did you hide this?"
"I was afraid."
"Of Dad?"
"Of what his return meant."
Marcus asked, "Did the package include the envelope from last night?"
"No. The photograph made me reopen everything I had hidden after Thomas disappeared."
"The ledger."
"Yes."
Daniel said, "And you confronted Vanessa."
"I had seen her asking questions about old properties. Then Charles started pressuring you to complete the merger early. I realized they were searching for something."
"So you threatened her."
"I told her that if she hurt you, I would give everything to the authorities."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"And she decided to humiliate you in front of my board."
Eleanor nodded.
"I thought she would be frightened."
"Instead she made you the target."
"Yes."
Daniel looked again at the photograph.
His father had been alive six months ago.
Possibly still alive today.
"Where was this taken?"
Marcus examined the background.
A station sign was partly visible.
Only three letters could be read.
R O W.
Gabriel entered after Daniel called him.
He looked at the photograph.
For a long time, he said nothing.
Then he pointed to a clock tower in the background.
"I know that station."
Daniel looked at him.
"Where?"
"Brownsville, Vermont."
Marcus immediately began searching.
Daniel asked Gabriel, "Why would my father be there?"
Gabriel's expression changed.
"Because there is an old Whitmore property fifteen miles away."
Daniel felt the pattern return.
"What property?"
"A lodge."
Daniel had never heard of it.
"What was it called?"
Gabriel answered.
"North Haven."
Eleanor stood so quickly her chair nearly fell.
"No."
Daniel looked at her.
"You know it."
Her face had become white.
"Thomas told me one thing before he left."
May you like
"What?"
"If anyone ever mentioned North Haven, I was supposed to take you and disappear."
