Chapter 10 - Blackwood
By sunrise, Michael had made a decision.
Emily and Noah would remain in the hospital under private security.
Mason would stay beside his mother.
Michael would go to Blackwood with Thomas and Jonathan.
Emily hated the idea.
“You’re walking into something you don’t understand.”
Michael looked at her.
“I’ve spent my whole life not understanding it.”
“You could be killed.”
“So could you.”
Emily turned away.
Michael lowered his voice.
“I already failed you once tonight.”
She looked at the bruise on her cheek.
Michael followed her gaze.
“I know.”
Emily’s expression remained cold.
“One trip to a cabin doesn’t erase that.”
“I’m not asking it to.”
That was the first answer she seemed willing to accept.
Blackwood stood three hours north of the city.
The cabin was hidden behind dense pine forest.
Jonathan sat in the back of Thomas’s SUV.
His left arm was bandaged.
Michael sat beside him.
“Start talking.”
Jonathan stared out the window.
“Your brother discovered what your father was doing.”
Michael felt his jaw tighten.
“My father built commercial properties.”
Jonathan laughed bitterly.
“That was the legal business.”
Michael looked at him.
“What was the illegal one?”
“Money laundering.”
Thomas glanced in the mirror.
Jonathan continued.
“Your father moved money through construction projects.”
Michael remembered childhood dinners.
Men in suits.
Late-night phone calls.
Locked offices.
“Christopher found documents.”
“How?”
“He was curious.”
Michael’s hands tightened.
“He threatened to tell your mother.”
Jonathan looked at him.
“He did tell her.”
Michael went silent.
Jonathan continued.
“Your mother wanted to go to police.”
“And my father?”
“He threatened her.”
Michael looked out the window.
“What happened to Christopher?”
Jonathan did not answer.
Michael turned.
“What happened to my brother?”
Jonathan’s face tightened.
“The boat accident wasn’t an accident.”
Michael stared at him.
“Who killed him?”
“I don’t know.”
Michael grabbed Jonathan’s jacket.
Thomas swerved slightly.
“Michael.”
Jonathan did not resist.
“I swear.”
Michael released him.
Jonathan continued.
“Your mother believed your father ordered it.”
“Did he?”
“She never proved it.”
Michael leaned back.
“And Emily’s father?”
“Samuel Bennett was your father’s attorney at the time.”
Michael stared at him.
“He helped cover it up.”
Jonathan nodded.
“For three weeks.”
Michael’s expression hardened.
“Then Samuel changed sides.”
“Why?”
“Guilt.”
Jonathan looked toward him.
“He spent the next twenty years quietly moving assets away from your father’s control.”
“Into Emily’s name.”
“Yes.”
Michael finally understood.
“Carter Dynamics.”
Jonathan nodded.
“Samuel funded it because he believed you were nothing like your father.”
Michael laughed without humor.
“I slapped my pregnant wife because my sister cried convincingly.”
Jonathan said nothing.
Michael stared out the window.
“Maybe Samuel was wrong.”
They reached Blackwood at 9:12 AM.
The cabin looked abandoned.
Emily’s brass key opened the front door.
Dust covered the furniture.
Thomas swept the rooms.
“Clear.”
Jonathan walked toward the fireplace.
He removed one stone.
Behind it was a steel box.
Michael used the key.
It opened.
Inside lay several folders.
One photograph.
And a cassette tape.
Michael picked up the photograph.
Two teenage boys stood beside a lake.
One was Christopher.
The other was someone Michael did not recognize.
On the back, handwriting read.
CHRISTOPHER AND DANIEL.
SUMMER 1999.
Michael stared at Jonathan.
“Daniel Reeves knew my brother?”
Jonathan looked genuinely shocked.
“No.”
Michael held up the photograph.
“Then start explaining.”
Jonathan stepped closer.
His face drained of color.
“That isn’t Daniel Reeves.”
Michael frowned.
“The name says Daniel.”
Jonathan looked at him.
“That boy’s name was Daniel.”
May you like
He pointed toward the teenager beside Christopher.
“But Daniel Reeves is not the man currently working as your CFO.”
