Chapter 6 - The Enemy Under the Same RoofThere were twenty-three people employed at the Harrington estate.
Victor Harrington had been Richard’s younger brother by three years.
Where Richard was controlled, disciplined, and cautious, Victor was charming, reckless, and magnetic.
At family gatherings, Victor had made children laugh and adults nervous.
Then, when Daniel was seventeen, Victor disappeared from their lives.
Victoria told Daniel he had moved overseas after a disagreement with Richard.
No one mentioned him again.
Now Marcus claimed Victor might be connected to an attempt on Daniel’s life.
The hospital shooter escaped during the blackout.
Marcus survived only because Brooks pulled him behind the bed seconds before two bullets shattered the window.
By morning, federal investigators joined the case.
The financial records hidden beneath the Harrington mansion crossed multiple states and international banking systems.
Daniel returned home under armed protection.
Maria and Sofia were moved to a secure apartment.
Victoria remained in the mansion but under investigation.
At ten that morning, Daniel entered his father’s old office.
One question consumed him.
Why had Richard erased Victor from the family?
He searched old files for hours.
Finally, behind a bookshelf, he found a photograph.
Richard and Victor stood together at a groundbreaking ceremony in 1998.
Between them was Daniel, twelve years old.
On the back, Richard had written:
Three Harrington men. One future.
Daniel stared at it.
Once, his father expected Victor to remain part of the company.
So what happened?
An old corporate archive supplied the answer.
Victor had served as executive vice president until 2004.
That year, the board quietly removed him.
The official explanation was “personal reasons.”
But hidden meeting minutes told a different story.
Victor had borrowed money against company assets without authorization.
Richard discovered it.
Millions had disappeared.
Daniel called retired CFO Harold Price.
The eighty-two-year-old answered from Florida.
At first, Harold refused to discuss Victor.
Then Daniel mentioned Richard’s recording.
Silence followed.
“Your father always said this would come back one day,” Harold finally whispered.
“What would?”
“Victor.”
Harold explained that Victor owed enormous gambling debts.
Not casino debts.
Private debts to people who did not sue when someone failed to pay.
They threatened him.
Victor began moving company money.
Richard discovered it and forced Victor out.
“But he didn’t prosecute him,” Harold said.
“Why?”
“Because Victoria begged him not to.”
Daniel frowned.
“My mother?”
“She thought public scandal would destroy the family.”
“Did she help Victor?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel looked at the handwritten note again.
V.
“What happened after Victor was fired?”
“He disappeared.”
“No one heard from him?”
Harold hesitated.
“One person did.”
“Who?”
“Charles Bennett.”
Daniel felt the pieces moving.
“Why?”
“Because Charles negotiated Victor’s departure agreement.”
Daniel ended the call and immediately gave Brooks the information.
Investigators uncovered international accounts connected to Victor.
He had not disappeared.
He had simply changed his financial footprint.
For years, money from Harrington subsidiaries flowed toward companies linked indirectly to him.
The stolen fortune had not been Charles Bennett’s scheme alone.
It had been funding Victor.
That afternoon, Victoria asked to speak privately with Daniel.
Her lawyer objected.
Victoria insisted.
Daniel met her in the glass conservatory.
For the first time in his life, his mother looked old.
Not elegant.
Not powerful.
Just exhausted.
“You found out about Victor.”
“Yes.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I should have told you.”
“You should have told me a lot of things.”
She accepted that.
“Was the note his?” Daniel asked.
“What note?”
He showed her a photograph.
Victoria stared.
Then nodded.
“Yes.”
Daniel’s anger rose.
“You knew someone tried to kill me?”
“No.”
“He wrote D.”
“I didn’t see that note until after Richard died.”
Daniel studied her.
“Why were you in Vermont?”
Victoria took a long breath.
“Charles called me. He said Richard had discovered the transfers and was threatening to go to the FBI. Charles wanted me to convince him to handle it privately.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor would have gone to prison.”
“So?”
“He was your father’s brother.”
“He tried to kill me.”
Victoria looked horrified.
“I didn’t know that then.”
Daniel wanted to believe her.
He hated that part of himself still wanted to believe her.
“What happened at the lodge?”
“Richard accused Charles of helping Victor steal from the company. Charles admitted moving money but claimed Victor had threatened his family.”
“Did Dad believe him?”
“No.”
“And you?”
“I didn’t know what to believe.”
“Then Dad left.”
Victoria nodded.
“Ten minutes later, Marcus ran inside and said Richard had taken the Mercedes.”
“What did Charles do?”
“He panicked.”
“Why?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
Victoria began crying.
“Then we heard about the crash.”
Daniel watched her.
“You lied to police.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Charles told me that if investigators discovered we had argued with Richard that night, they would blame us. I was afraid.”
“And the missing evidence?”
“I had nothing to do with that.”
“The forged service report?”
“No.”
“The financial transfers?”
Victoria looked away.
Daniel’s voice lowered.
“Mother.”
“I signed documents Charles put in front of me.”
“How much did you know?”
“I knew money was being moved.”
“You helped them.”
“I thought I was protecting the company.”
“From what?”
“From Victor.”
Daniel stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
Victoria’s voice broke.
“You don’t understand your uncle.”
“Then make me understand.”
She looked directly at him.
“When you were fourteen, Victor kidnapped you.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“You don’t remember because we told you it was an accident.”
Memories surfaced.
A summer weekend.
A cabin.
Being separated from his parents for hours.
Adults telling him he had wandered away.
Victoria continued.
“Victor was desperate for money. He took you and demanded Richard cover his debts.”
Daniel felt the room tilt.
“Dad paid?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you call police?”
“Richard wanted to. I stopped him.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid Victor would hurt you.”
Daniel stared at his mother.
For decades, family loyalty had been built on fear.
Victoria had protected Victor.
Richard had hidden Victor’s crimes.
Charles had helped move money.
And Daniel had grown up inside a story designed to keep the Harrington name clean.
“Where is Victor now?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel’s phone rang.
Brooks.
He answered.
“We found Charles Bennett.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“A private airfield north of the city.”
Daniel exhaled.
“Did he try to escape?”
“No.”
Brooks paused.
“He walked into a police station.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
“He says Victor Harrington is coming for you.”
Daniel’s pulse jumped.
“And he says the drug in your orange juice wasn’t Victoria’s idea.”
Daniel looked at his mother.
Brooks continued.
“According to Bennett, your mother was being blackmailed.”
Daniel stared at Victoria.
“By Victor?”
“No.”
May you like
Brooks’s answer was worse.
“By someone living inside your house.”
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