Chapter 7 - THE FATHER DANIEL STILL FEARED
Daniel insisted on going.
Detective Shaw refused to let him approach Robert alone.
“He expects police.”
“He also expects me to obey.”
Daniel looked toward me.
“For once, that may help us.”
The note included a warehouse address near the Indiana border.
Investigators prepared a tracking device and hidden microphone.
The ledgers from box 417 were copied.
The originals remained in federal custody.
Daniel carried the copies inside a leather case.
Before leaving, he entered Emma’s room.
She sat on the bed coloring a picture of a princess with long purple hair.
“Daddy?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to Grandma’s house?”
“No.”
“I am helping Aunt Lauren.”
Emma looked at him carefully.
“Did she steal?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to shave her?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“No.”
“No one should have done that to you.”
Emma returned to the drawing.
“Grandma said sorry makes people weak.”
Daniel knelt beside her.
“Grandma was wrong.”
He kissed the top of her knitted hat.
Then he left.
The warehouse stood beside an abandoned railway line.
Daniel entered through the loading door.
Robert waited beneath a hanging light.
Lauren was tied to a chair.
Her injured arm had begun bleeding again.
Robert held a gun.
“You brought the books?”
“Yes.”
“Place them on the floor.”
Daniel obeyed.
Robert opened the case with one hand.
He examined the first ledger.
“These are copies.”
“The originals are protected.”
Robert aimed the gun at Lauren.
“Then she dies.”
Lauren laughed weakly.
“You always said family came first.”
“You stopped being family when you betrayed me.”
Daniel moved closer.
“Let her go.”
“You still think you can give me orders.”
“No.”
“I think you want something larger than the ledgers.”
Robert’s eyes narrowed.
Daniel understood his father.
Robert did not merely want escape.
He wanted recognition.
He wanted Daniel to admit that everything the family possessed existed because of him.
“You built the company,” Daniel said.
Robert’s posture shifted.
“You protected us.”
“I did.”
“You made every difficult decision.”
“Yes.”
“You stole retirement money.”
Robert’s face hardened.
“You ungrateful little—”
“You drugged Aunt Evelyn.”
“She threatened all of us.”
“You forged Rachel’s signature.”
“She was an outsider.”
“You used Emma.”
“She was a name on a form.”
The hidden microphone captured every word.
Outside, officers waited for the signal.
Daniel continued.
“Did you kill Evelyn?”
Robert became still.
“She fell.”
“After you drugged her?”
“Your mother handled the tea.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Robert had just implicated Margaret.
“Did you push her?”
“No.”
“She tried to reach the phone.”
“I stopped her.”
“How?”
Robert’s eyes filled with cold irritation.
“I pulled her away.”
“She lost her balance.”
Lauren looked toward Daniel.
Their aunt’s death had not been a planned murder.
It had been the predictable result of violence.
Robert saw movement near the warehouse window.
He realized Daniel was wearing a microphone.
He fired.
The bullet struck Daniel’s shoulder.
Police entered.
Robert grabbed Lauren by the throat and dragged her toward a freight elevator.
Daniel collapsed beside the ledgers.
Robert pressed the elevator button.
The doors opened.
There was no platform behind them.
The old elevator had been removed.
Robert stepped backward into darkness.
Lauren caught the metal frame.
Robert lost his grip on her.
He fell into the empty shaft.
The impact echoed from below.
Daniel remained conscious long enough to ask one question.
May you like
“Is Lauren alive?”
Then he closed his eyes.
