Chapter 10 - Gerald’s Real Name
By sunrise, Detective Ruiz had reconstructed the first part of Gerald Pike’s history.
Gerald Hale was twenty-three when his father died.
Derek Hale had been Howard Capital’s chief financial controller.
He accused Charles Howard of moving company money into secret trusts.
Three months later, Derek lost his job.
Six months after that, he died in what police classified as a single-car accident.
Gerald disappeared from public records for almost four years.
When he resurfaced, he was Gerald Pike.
Law degree.
New city.
New identity.
Eventually, Charles Howard hired him.
Richard could not understand it.
“Why would my father hire the son of a man he destroyed?”
Ruiz looked through the ledger.
“Maybe he didn’t know.”
Mrs. Howard shook her head.
“Charles always knew.”
Richard turned to her.
“Then why?”
“Because your father thought owning someone was safer than fearing them.”
That sentence explained Charles Howard better than anything Richard had ever heard.
Elena returned home later that morning under strict medical instructions.
Ruiz objected.
Elena insisted.
“I’m safer in a house full of police than in a hospital room anyone can locate.”
Richard agreed reluctantly.
The mansion no longer felt like a home.
Crime-scene tape marked the study.
Officers moved through the hallways.
Technicians copied surveillance drives.
Vanessa was still being questioned.
Gerald remained missing.
Elena entered the nursery.
Her hand instinctively went to her stomach.
Richard stood behind her.
“I’m sorry.”
She looked back.
“For what part?”
“For doubting you.”
“That part will take time.”
“I know.”
“For keeping secrets.”
“I know.”
“For letting Vanessa become part of our lives again.”
Richard lowered his eyes.
Elena noticed.
“Again?”
He looked up.
She had caught the word.
“What do you mean again?”
Richard hesitated.
That hesitation was becoming something Elena hated.
“Vanessa and I knew each other before you.”
Elena waited.
“How well?”
“We dated.”
The room went very still.
“When?”
“College.”
“For how long?”
“Almost two years.”
Elena stared at him.
In five years of marriage, Richard had never told her.
“She told me you were old friends.”
“We were.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“I know.”
“Did your mother know?”
“Yes.”
Elena laughed softly.
Everybody had known except her.
Richard moved closer.
“It ended years before I met you.”
“Why hide it?”
“Because it ended badly.”
“How?”
Richard looked toward the window.
“She wanted to marry me.”
“And you didn’t.”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“I found out she had been seeing Daniel.”
Elena’s anger disappeared under surprise.
“Your brother?”
Richard nodded.
“Daniel and Vanessa?”
“For almost six months.”
Elena suddenly understood why Vanessa knew intimate details about Daniel.
Why she had reacted strangely when his name appeared.
“Did Gerald know?”
“I have no idea.”
Richard’s phone rang.
Detective Ruiz.
He answered on speaker.
“We found something in Vanessa’s apartment.”
Ruiz’s voice was tense.
“What?”
“A storage key.”
“To where?”
“A facility outside White Plains.”
Richard frowned.
Ruiz continued.
“The unit is registered under a false name.”
“What name?”
May you like
Ruiz paused.
“Daniel Howard.”
