Chapter 8 - THE VOICE IN THE CAR
They played Elena’s final recording in Daniel’s office.
At first there was only road noise.
Then Elena’s voice.
Clear.
Tense.
“I know you’re following me.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
He had not heard her voice in four years.
The recording continued.
“I copied everything.”
“You cannot erase all of it.”
A man spoke.
His voice was muffled.
But recognizable.
Ethan.
“You need to stop.”
Elena answered.
“You stole from my daughter.”
“I moved assets.”
“You stole.”
“I was protecting the company.”
“From a six-year-old trust?”
Lily had only been two at the time.
Ethan’s voice became colder.
“You don’t understand how much damage Daniel can do when he acts emotionally.”
“I understand exactly what you’re doing.”
A door slammed.
There was movement inside the car.
Then another voice entered the recording.
A woman.
Vanessa.
“Elena, please.”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She covered her mouth.
Elena spoke again.
“You too?”
Vanessa began crying in the recording.
“I didn’t know what he was planning.”
Ethan snapped.
“Enough.”
Elena said something that made everyone in the office go still.
“I already told Owen.”
Daniel looked at Grant.
The family lawyer.
Then Elena continued.
“If anything happens to me, he has the original documents.”
Ethan laughed.
“Owen works for the Reed family.”
“He works for Daniel.”
“No.”
“He works for whoever is left standing.”
The recording ended with Elena leaving the car.
No crash.
No confession.
But enough to prove the conspiracy existed before her death.
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“You let me bury my wife believing she died because she lost control of her car.”
Vanessa’s face crumpled.
“I didn’t know Ethan had touched the brakes.”
Ethan shouted.
“I didn’t touch them!”
Grant stood.
“Then who did?”
Ethan looked toward the windows.
Nobody answered.
Daniel walked to his brother.
“You have one opportunity.”
“Who sabotaged Elena’s car?”
Ethan’s eyes met his.
“I transferred money.”
“To whom?”
“A mechanic.”
“What mechanic?”
“His name was Paul Mercer.”
Grant immediately wrote it down.
Daniel stared at Ethan.
“Why?”
“I wanted him to disable the vehicle.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
Ethan rushed on.
“Not crash it.”
“I wanted Elena stranded.”
“I needed time to recover the documents before she reached the prosecutor.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s the truth.”
Grant interrupted.
“What happened to Mercer?”
Ethan hesitated.
“He disappeared.”
Grant looked at Daniel.
“No.”
“He didn’t.”
Grant typed something into his phone.
“Paul Mercer was found dead in Kentucky eleven days after Elena’s crash.”
Daniel stared at Ethan.
“Cause?”
“Officially?”
“Overdose.”
Grant’s expression said he did not believe it.
Vanessa suddenly whispered.
“Owen.”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
“Ethan didn’t deal directly with Mercer.”
“Owen did.”
Ethan shouted.
“Stop!”
Vanessa ignored him.
“Owen arranged everything that required cleanup.”
Daniel looked at Grant.
“Find Owen Pierce.”
Grant already had his phone out.
But Adrian entered before he could make the call.
“Sir.”
Daniel turned.
Adrian’s face told him something had gone wrong.
“Owen Pierce’s office is empty.”
“His house is empty.”
“And according to flight records, his private jet took off forty minutes ago.”
“Where is he going?”
Adrian swallowed.
“He filed a flight plan for Canada.”
Daniel looked toward Ethan.
Adrian continued.
“But there’s another problem.”
“Lily’s trust account just initiated a transfer.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
May you like
“How much?”
“Eighty-six million dollars.”
