Chapter 4 - The Dead Man’s SecretFor twelve years, Grace had believed her father died of pancreatic cancer.
Grace Harrington stared at the faded brass plaque beside the stairwell.
SHAW FAMILY LAW & CIVIL LITIGATION.
“This is your plan?”
Daniel killed the truck’s engine.
“My plan is not getting caught.”
“That is not a plan.”
“It’s gotten us seven miles.”
Emma leaned between the seats.
“Miss Rebecca has candy.”
Grace looked at Daniel.
“Your five-year-old has more confidence in your attorney than you do.”
“She’s been through my custody hearings.”
Grace’s expression softened.
“You were in a custody fight?”
“Long story.”
Daniel got out.
The black SUV that had followed them was no longer visible.
That worried him.
He would have preferred seeing the threat.
They climbed two flights.
Rebecca opened the office door before Daniel knocked.
She was forty-two, dark-haired, sharp-eyed, wearing jeans beneath a navy blazer.
She took one look at Daniel, Emma, and Grace.
“No.”
Daniel blinked.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You brought trouble.”
“Technically—”
“No.”
Emma hugged her.
“Hi, Miss Rebecca.”
Rebecca’s expression immediately softened.
“Hi, peanut.”
Then she pointed at Daniel.
“You have exactly two minutes.”
Grace stepped forward.
“My name is Grace Harrington.”
Rebecca stared.
Unlike Daniel, she recognized it instantly.
“You’re Grace Harrington?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca looked at Daniel.
“What did you do?”
“Why does everyone assume this is my fault?”
“Because you’re standing in my office with a woman who was reported missing yesterday.”
Grace froze.
“Reported how?”
Rebecca pulled out her phone.
News alerts filled the screen.
HARRINGTON HEIRESS MISSING AFTER MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS.
FAMILY ASKS PUBLIC FOR PRIVACY.
DANGEROUS DELUSIONS PRECEDED DISAPPEARANCE, SOURCES SAY.
Grace sat down.
“They’re already doing it.”
Rebecca read quickly.
“Your family says you voluntarily entered treatment.”
“I didn’t.”
“They say you assaulted staff.”
“I was restrained.”
“They say you stopped taking prescribed medication.”
“I don’t take psychiatric medication.”
Rebecca’s eyes sharpened.
“Can you prove that?”
Grace shook her head.
“My medical records are controlled through Harrington Health Services.”
“So your family owns the clinic?”
“A subsidiary owns the company that owns the clinic.”
Daniel muttered, “That seems convenient.”
Rebecca shut the door.
“Start from the beginning.”
Grace told her everything.
The dead father’s signatures.
The missing billions.
The confrontation with Malcolm.
The intervention.
The sedation.
The locked clinic room.
The emergency guardianship order.
Rebecca didn’t interrupt.
When Grace finished, Rebecca held out her hand.
“The order.”
Daniel handed it over.
Rebecca read it twice.
“This is temporary.”
Grace nodded.
“Emergency petition pending full hearing.”
“And whoever filed it claimed you were an immediate danger to yourself or others.”
“My uncle Robert.”
Rebecca tapped a paragraph.
“You have a hearing Friday.”
“I was never notified.”
“That may be intentional.”
“Can you stop them taking me?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Maybe for a few hours. Maybe longer if we get in front of the right judge.”
“How?”
“I need evidence that the petition was fraudulent or materially misleading.”
Grace laughed weakly.
“All my evidence is inside company systems I can’t access.”
Daniel leaned against the desk.
“What about the board meeting?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“What board meeting?”
“If she’s declared incapable tomorrow, brother gets control.”
Grace nodded.
Rebecca’s face changed.
Now she understood the scale.
“This isn’t just a family fight.”
“No.”
“This could be securities fraud, kidnapping, unlawful confinement, financial crimes—”
“And about twenty other things,” Grace said. “If I can prove any of it.”
Rebecca stood.
“We need someone who understands the company.”
Grace thought.
“My chief financial officer.”
“Call him.”
“I don’t have his number memorized.”
Daniel stared.
“You’re kidding.”
“I had an assistant.”
“Rich people really are helpless.”
Grace almost smiled.
Rebecca opened a laptop.
“Name?”
“Elliot Mercer.”
Rebecca searched.
Within seconds, a business biography appeared.
Then public contact information.
Rebecca dialed the corporate switchboard.
“This is Rebecca Shaw, attorney for Grace Harrington.”
The woman on the other end apparently went silent.
Rebecca repeated herself.
“Yes. That Grace Harrington.”
She waited.
Then her expression hardened.
“You’re saying Mr. Mercer is unavailable?”
Pause.
“What about his mobile?”
Pause.
“I understand.”
She hung up.
“His assistant says he’s on indefinite medical leave.”
Grace stood.
“What?”
“Started yesterday.”
“That’s impossible. Elliot hasn’t taken more than two consecutive vacation days in twelve years.”
Daniel looked at Grace.
“Maybe he found something too.”
Before Grace could respond, the office buzzer sounded downstairs.
Rebecca frowned.
“I don’t have appointments.”
Daniel walked toward the window.
A black SUV pulled to the curb.
Then another.
“They found us.”
Rebecca swore.
Emma hugged Daniel’s leg.
Grace whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Daniel turned.
“Stop apologizing and think.”
Rebecca grabbed her phone.
“I’m calling a judge I know.”
“Will it work?”
“It’ll make people uncomfortable. Sometimes that’s enough.”
The buzzer sounded again.
Then a voice came through the intercom.
“Ms. Shaw, this is Chicago Police. We need to speak with you.”
Rebecca pressed the button.
“Do you have a warrant?”
“We have an order concerning Ms. Grace Harrington.”
“Then slide it under the downstairs door.”
A pause.
“We know she’s inside.”
“And now you know I’m her attorney.”
Rebecca released the button.
Grace stared at her.
“You’re officially representing me?”
Rebecca looked at Daniel.
“You can’t afford my normal rate.”
Daniel snorted.
“I wasn’t hiring you.”
Rebecca turned to Grace.
“One dollar retainer.”
Grace searched her pockets.
She was wearing borrowed sweatpants.
“I don’t have one.”
Emma reached into her tiny purse.
“I have a dollar.”
Everyone looked at her.
She produced a crumpled bill.
Rebecca took it.
“Congratulations. You just retained counsel.”
Grace began laughing.
Then crying.
Rebecca accepted the dollar solemnly.
“Best fee I’ve collected all year.”
The situation moved quickly after that.
Rebecca contacted a county judge.
Then another attorney specializing in corporate governance.
The police remained downstairs.
Harrington security remained outside.
And for nearly an hour, nobody moved.
Then Rebecca’s phone rang.
Her expression shifted as she listened.
“Repeat that.”
She looked at Grace.
“Judge Moreno has issued a temporary stay on enforcement of the guardianship order pending review.”
Grace’s knees nearly gave out.
Daniel caught her arm.
Rebecca kept listening.
“Thank you.”
She hung up.
“You’re safe from that order until five this afternoon.”
Daniel looked at the clock.
“Six hours.”
“Six hours is a lifetime in litigation.”
Grace walked toward the window.
“What now?”
Rebecca tapped the desk.
“Now we prove you’re competent, and we find evidence your family committed fraud.”
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
This time the sender was unknown.
A photo appeared.
Daniel opened it.
His face emptied.
The picture showed Emma leaving kindergarten the previous week.
Taken from across the street.
Grace saw it over his shoulder.
“Oh no.”
A second photo arrived.
Daniel carrying groceries.
A third.
His apartment building.
Then a message.
YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO US.
RETURN HER.
Daniel’s voice was cold.
“She doesn’t belong to anybody.”
Grace’s face changed.
“Send those to Rebecca.”
He did.
Rebecca studied them.
“This is intimidation.”
“Can we use it?”
“If we can connect the number.”
Grace stared at the photos.
“Malcolm wouldn’t send these himself.”
“He texted earlier from his private number.”
“That was emotional. This is different.”
“What do you mean?”
“This looks organized.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Who else would do it?”
Grace hesitated.
Then she said a name she clearly didn’t want to say.
“Victor Dane.”
Daniel frowned.
“Who’s that?”
“My father’s former head of security. He now runs corporate risk management.”
“And Malcolm controls him?”
“I always assumed he did.”
“Assumed?”
Grace’s eyes narrowed.
“When I confronted Malcolm about the missing money, he looked surprised.”
Daniel stared.
“You think your brother might not be the one stealing it?”
“I think…”
She trailed off.
“What?”
“I think Malcolm may be greedy enough to steal my company.”
“And?”
“But he may not be smart enough to steal eight billion dollars without leaving fingerprints.”
Rebecca folded her arms.
“Who is?”
Grace’s gaze moved toward the window.
“Victor.”
A knock sounded at the office door.
Everyone froze.
They were on the second floor.
Nobody should have reached the hallway because Rebecca had locked the stairwell entrance.
The knock came again.
Three slow taps.
Rebecca reached into her desk and removed pepper spray.
Daniel picked up a heavy stapler.
Grace looked at him.
“That’s your weapon?”
“It’s metal.”
Rebecca approached the door.
“Who is it?”
A weak voice answered.
“Elliot Mercer.”
Grace gasped.
She rushed forward.
Rebecca stopped her and opened the door cautiously.
A man in his late fifties collapsed across the threshold.
His expensive suit was wrinkled.
His glasses were cracked.
Blood stained one sleeve.
Grace dropped beside him.
“Elliot!”
His eyes opened.
“Grace.”
“What happened to you?”
“They came to my house.”
“Who?”
Elliot clutched her wrist.
“You were right.”
Grace went still.
“About the money?”
He nodded.
“Your father never signed those transfers.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Elliot coughed.
“You don’t understand.”
His eyes moved to Daniel, then Rebecca.
“The transfers weren’t stealing money from Harrington Global.”
Grace frowned.
“Then what were they doing?”
Elliot swallowed.
“They were hiding who really owns it.”
Nobody spoke.
Grace leaned closer.
“What are you saying?”
Elliot’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Your father changed the ownership structure before he died.”
Grace stared.
“Why?”
Elliot looked directly at her.
“Because he discovered someone had been poisoning him.”
May you like
Grace’s face turned white.
“And he believed the person responsible was inside your family.”
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