The men outside did not come toward the house immediately.
They remained beside the vehicles, speaking quietly.
Richard watched them through the window.
“Who are they?”
“One is Daniel Mercer.”
“Mercer?”
“Your father's cousin.”
I frowned.
“I've never met him.”
“You have.”
I stared at him.
“When?”
“At your father's funeral.”
I remembered dozens of people.
Faces blurred by grief.
A tall man in a dark coat.
Someone who had shaken my hand.
Someone who had told me to stay strong.
I hadn't remembered his name.
Claire came closer.
“Why would Dad's cousin be with investigators?”
Richard didn't answer.
Evelyn did.
“Because he wants the company.”
I looked at her.
“What company?”
“Your father's remaining holdings.”
Richard shook his head.
“That isn't the immediate issue.”
“What is?”
“The evidence.”
He pointed to the USB drive.
“If the financial records connect the seventeen million to the original fraud, everyone named in those documents becomes exposed.”
I looked at the drive.
“And you think someone will try to destroy it.”
“I think someone already has.”
Claire looked toward the window.
“Mom?”
Evelyn didn't respond.
Richard said, “Not necessarily.”
The front door opened.
A man's voice came from the hallway.
“Richard?”
Richard walked out.
I followed.
Daniel Mercer stood inside the entrance.
He was in his early sixties, broad-shouldered, with gray hair and a heavy face that reminded me vaguely of my father.
He looked at me.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he smiled.
“You must be the daughter.”
I didn't like the way he said it.
“The daughter?”
“Your father spoke about you.”
“What did he say?”
“That you were stubborn.”
I almost smiled.
“That sounds like him.”
Daniel's smile widened.
“May I come in?”
Richard stepped aside.
Daniel entered.
Two investigators remained outside.
Claire stood behind me.
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
“You said you weren't coming.”
“I changed my mind.”
“You always do.”
Daniel ignored her.
He looked at the folder on the table.
Then at the safe.
His eyes narrowed.
“You opened it.”
I didn't answer.
Richard did.
“She has a right to.”
Daniel sighed.
“That's unfortunate.”
I stepped forward.
“Why?”
“Because there are things in there that should remain private.”
“My father's records?”
“Family matters.”
“I've heard that phrase before.”
His eyes met mine.
“Then you understand.”
“No.”
He looked toward Evelyn.
“You told her?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Not yet.”
Daniel sighed.
“Then perhaps I should.”
Richard moved between us.
“No.”
Daniel smiled.
“You still believe you're in control.”
“I know exactly what my responsibilities are.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Your father wasn't a good man.”
The room went still.
I felt Claire tense beside me.
“You knew him.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me what he did.”
Daniel sat down.
“He took money.”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“That's not the whole story.”
“I didn't say it was.”
Daniel looked at me.
“He built his fortune through companies that weren't always clean.”
I waited.
“He bribed officials.”
Richard interrupted.
“Allegations.”
“Documented allegations.”
“Some were disproven.”
“Some weren't.”
I looked at the investigators outside.
“Are they investigating Dad?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Your father is dead.”
“Then who?”
“Everyone left.”
That answer made the room colder.
I opened the folder.
“Then start with the seventeen million.”
Daniel's eyes flicked toward the documents.
“That money belonged to a consortium.”
“What consortium?”
“People who expected your father to protect their interests.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“He took the money.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked toward Evelyn.
“She knows.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
I turned to her.
“Tell me.”
She whispered, “He planned to expose them.”
I stared.
“Then why take their money?”
“Because he needed leverage.”
Richard nodded slowly.
“That matches the documents.”
I looked at him.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
Daniel stood.
“Your father believed he could play both sides.”
“Could he?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because people with that much money don't forgive betrayal.”
I looked toward the lake.
“Then why am I alive?”
Daniel smiled without warmth.
“Because they couldn't find you.”
My stomach tightened.
I looked at Richard.
“Is that why Dad sent me overseas?”
Richard hesitated.
“Yes.”
Claire whispered, “What?”
“He wanted you away from the property.”
I looked at her.
“For protection.”
She shook her head.
“Then why didn't he tell us?”
“Because the less you knew, the safer you were.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Your father made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He trusted Evelyn.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“You're one to talk.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You were the one who signed the transfers.”
I froze.
“What transfers?”
Daniel looked at me.
“The ones moving money from the trust.”
Evelyn's face changed.
“I didn't authorize all of them.”
“But you authorized enough.”
Richard stepped forward.
“That's why the account was frozen.”
Daniel nodded.
“Exactly.”
I looked at Evelyn.
“Why?”
She didn't answer.
“Why did you take the money?”
She finally looked at me.
“Because I was trying to save Claire.”
Claire shook her head.
“You told me it was for the house.”
“It was.”
“No.”
Claire's voice broke.
“You told me Dad left us with debts.”
Evelyn said nothing.
I looked at Richard.
“Were there debts?”
“No.”
I closed my eyes.
Claire sat down.
“I believed her.”
“I know.”
“I thought she was protecting us.”
“I know.”
She covered her face.
Daniel walked toward the door.
“We should leave.”
I stopped him.
“Why?”
“Because you've heard enough.”
“No.”
I stepped in front of him.
“You came here for the evidence.”
He stared at me.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it belongs to the estate.”
“No.”
His expression changed.
“It belongs to me.”
He smiled.
“You don't understand estate law.”
“I understand enough.”
Richard stood beside me.
“She does.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You've made your choice.”
“No,” Richard said. “Her father made it.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“Then you're both making a mistake.”
He left.
The investigators followed.
The door closed.
Claire whispered, “Who is he really?”
Richard looked at me.
“Your father's cousin.”
“That isn't what I mean.”
Richard hesitated.
“He was one of the people your father was investigating.”
I felt a chill.
“Then why is he working with the investigators?”
“He isn't.”
I looked through the window.
Daniel was speaking to one of them.
The investigator shook his hand.
I turned back.
“What is happening?”
Richard lowered his voice.
“Your father left one final instruction.”
“What?”
“If Daniel ever appeared at the property after your return, I was supposed to give you a second key.”
“To what?”
Richard reached into his jacket.
He placed it in my hand.
A small brass key.
I recognized the shape.
“Where does this go?”
“Your father's old office in town.”
I looked at him.
“What's there?”
“The records he couldn't keep at the lake house.”
I closed my fingers around the key.
“Then we're going.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because someone has already been there.”
I looked at him.
“How do you know?”
He handed me a photograph.
The office door had been forced open.
On the floor was a single object.
My father's old military-style duffel bag.
The same kind I had carried home.
And written across the photograph in black marker were four words.
SHE WAS NEVER THE TARGET.
I stared at the message.
Claire stepped closer.
“Who was?”
Richard looked at me.
“You.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 8: The Hidden Office Revealed Why My Father Sent Me Away, and the Person Who Had Been Watching Me Was Much Closer Than I Imagined
I Came Home From Fourteen Months Overseas to Discover My Family Had Turned My Lake House Into Their Private Kingdom
Part 7 of 12
