Chapter 7 - The Ledger Nobody Was Supposed to Find)
Jonathan called Andrew back.
No answer.
Daniel called again.
The phone went directly to voicemail.
Michael walked to the window.
“So there’s another ledger.”
Jonathan nodded.
“And Rebecca has it.”
Daniel looked at the red notebook.
“What could be worse than this?”
Jonathan turned several pages.
“Potentially proof of who ultimately received the missing Bellweather money.”
Daniel felt Emily lean against his shoulder.
He looked down.
She was fighting sleep.
The adult problems had consumed the afternoon while she had been carrying the emotional weight of them since morning.
Daniel closed the notebook.
“Enough.”
Jonathan looked at him.
Daniel lifted Emily into his arms.
“She needs food, clean clothes and somewhere she feels safe.”
Jonathan nodded.
Michael said, “My place.”
Daniel agreed.
They went to Michael’s house outside Greenwich.
Michael’s wife, Anna, immediately took Emily upstairs.
She found one of her daughter’s old sweatshirts and made grilled cheese sandwiches.
Daniel remained downstairs with Jonathan.
The canceled wedding had already begun spreading across social media and gossip sites, but Daniel refused to look.
His phone had more than two hundred messages.
He turned it off.
Jonathan worked from a laptop.
“The forged enrollment contract gives us grounds to challenge anything else Rebecca prepared.”
Daniel paced.
“I want every document she touched reviewed.”
“Already happening.”
“What about Andrew?”
“Company security disabled his credentials.”
“Can he move money?”
“Not company funds.”
Daniel stopped.
“Emily’s trust?”
“No.”
That gave him little comfort.
Anna entered.
“Emily asked for you.”
Daniel went upstairs.
Emily sat on the edge of the guest bed wearing an oversized lavender sweatshirt.
The flower-girl dress lay folded across a chair.
Daniel sat beside her.
“How are you?”
She shrugged.
“Are you mad at me?”
Daniel stared.
“Why would I be mad at you?”
“Because there’s no wedding.”
He closed his eyes for a second.
Then he pulled her close.
“There’s no wedding because I made a bad decision.”
Emily looked at him.
“Rebecca said you’d hate me.”
Daniel felt rage rise again.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“What exactly did she say?”
Emily stared at her hands.
“She said if I caused trouble, you would choose her because grown-ups always choose their wives.”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“She was wrong.”
Emily nodded but did not look convinced.
Daniel touched her cheek.
“Listen to me. I should have noticed what was happening sooner.”
She looked up.
“I should have listened better.”
“You were busy.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You are my daughter. Being busy never makes it okay for me to stop seeing you.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
Daniel continued.
“I can love someone else someday. I hope I do. But nobody gets to become part of our family by pushing you out of it.”
Emily leaned against him.
After several quiet minutes, she whispered, “I miss Mom.”
“So do I.”
“Do you think she knew Rebecca?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Not Rebecca personally.”
“Then why did Rebecca hate her?”
“Sometimes people grow up holding anger that belongs to someone else.”
Emily thought about that.
“Like borrowing a coat?”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“Yes. A very heavy coat.”
Emily finally smiled too.
Then she remembered something.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“The book.”
“What book?”
“The brown one Rebecca kept in her drawer.”
Daniel went still.
“What did it look like?”
“Old. With a broken corner.”
“Did you see inside?”
“No.”
Emily frowned.
“But she yelled when Margaret touched it.”
Daniel immediately called Jonathan upstairs.
Emily described the object.
Jonathan listened.
“Could be a ledger.”
Daniel asked, “Where is it?”
Emily answered.
“It was in Rebecca’s bridal bag this morning.”
Daniel stared at Jonathan.
The bridal suite.
They had left quickly.
The police had not been called.
Daniel had chosen not to escalate publicly.
Rebecca could still have the bag.
Jonathan called venue security.
A manager answered.
The bridal suite had been cleared twenty minutes earlier.
By Rebecca and Margaret.
Daniel stood.
“Where did they go?”
The manager did not know.
Daniel turned to Michael.
“Get the security footage.”
Michael made the call.
Five minutes later they had an image of Rebecca leaving through the rear service entrance.
She carried a white bridal bag.
Margaret walked beside her.
A black SUV waited outside.
Daniel enlarged the frame.
The driver was Andrew Miles.
Michael stared.
“He didn’t leave town.”
Daniel felt something worse.
“No.”
Jonathan looked at him.
“They’re together.”
Daniel picked up Laura’s red notebook.
Andrew had lied during the call.
He was not running from Rebecca.
He was helping her.
Why?
Daniel turned several pages.
Near the back, Laura had listed shell companies.
One name appeared three times.
Merritt Strategic Holdings.
Daniel knew the company.
Carter Holdings had purchased Merritt eight years ago on Andrew’s recommendation.
Daniel stared.
“Jonathan.”
“What?”
“We bought one of these companies.”
Jonathan came closer.
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
“Who recommended it?”
Daniel already knew.
“Andrew.”
They searched the acquisition records.
Carter Holdings had paid twelve million dollars for Merritt Strategic Holdings.
The seller had been an offshore investment company.
Jonathan traced it through public documents.
The beneficiary name appeared on the screen.
Charles Miles.
Michael stared at Daniel.
“You bought Andrew’s father’s shell company.”
Daniel felt sick.
“With company money.”
Jonathan continued reading.
“The transaction occurred after Charles died.”
“Who inherited the offshore company?”
Jonathan clicked another record.
The answer appeared.
Andrew Miles.
Daniel finally understood why Andrew had stayed close.
It was not merely loyalty.
Andrew had used Daniel’s company to wash his father’s stolen assets into legitimate wealth.
And Laura had been close to discovering it.
Daniel whispered, “Rebecca’s ledger proves it.”
Jonathan nodded.
“That’s why Andrew needs it.”
Michael asked, “And once he gets it?”
Daniel looked toward the dark window.
“He won’t need Rebecca anymore.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Daniel answered.
A woman whispered, “Mr. Carter?”
“Yes?”
“This is Rebecca.”
Daniel stood.
The voice was shaking.
“Where are you?”
“I made a mistake.”
In the background, Daniel heard a car door slam.
Rebecca whispered faster.
“Andrew lied to us.”
“What happened?”
“He took the ledger.”
Daniel’s eyes locked on Jonathan.
“Where are you?”
Rebecca began to answer.
Then a male voice spoke in the background.
Andrew.
“Give me the phone.”
May you like
Rebecca gasped.
The call ended.
