Chapter 6 - The Dead Banker’s SecretRichard Hale was found in his penthouse at 9:42 p.m.
ARCHITECT LINKED TO HALSTEAD FINANCIAL SCANDAL.
MERCER’S GIRLFRIEND APPROVED SUSPICIOUS PAYMENTS.
INSIDER OR SCAPEGOAT?
I learned something terrifying about the internet that day.
Once people decide what kind of person you are, facts arrive too late.
Some called me a gold digger who had helped Daniel manufacture a financial attack.
Others claimed I had been secretly stealing from Halstead for years.
A commentator on cable television spent seven minutes discussing my “possible motivations” without ever speaking to me.
My mother called from Vermont crying.
My younger brother threatened to drive to New York and “find whoever started this.”
I told him not to.
Then I turned off my phone.
Daniel stood near the windows of his office, speaking with lawyers.
Mercer Capital occupied the top floors of a tower on Park Avenue.
I had imagined Daniel working in a quiet office.
I had not imagined three hundred employees.
Or private elevators.
Or a boardroom larger than my apartment.
I had definitely not imagined seeing my own face on six television screens while executives discussed how to protect me from accusations of financial crimes I hadn’t committed.
Maya entered carrying a folder.
“We have good news.”
I laughed without humor.
“I could use some.”
“The authentication logs prove the invoice approvals were generated through an administrative override.”
“Can we prove Preston created it?”
“Not yet.”
Daniel ended his call.
“Why?”
“The IT request came from a generic Halstead project account.”
“Who had access?”
“Seven people.”
“Preston?”
“Yes.”
“Charles?”
“Yes.”
“And William?”
Maya nodded.
I stared at the table.
“So they can still say it was me.”
“For now.”
Daniel sat opposite me.
“We’ll release enough evidence to establish that the approvals were falsified.”
“No.”
Both of them looked at me.
I continued.
“If we release it now, they change their story.”
Maya’s expression became interested.
“What do you suggest?”
“They think I don’t know anything.”
Daniel leaned back.
“You know quite a lot.”
“They don’t know that.”
I looked at Maya.
“Preston thinks he scared me.”
“You want him to keep thinking that.”
“Yes.”
Daniel studied me.
“I don’t like where this is going.”
“You don’t have to.”
His eyebrow rose.
“Emma.”
“He framed me using my own credentials. Then he attacked Martin when Martin tried to preserve evidence. Now his family put my face on national television.”
I leaned forward.
“I’m done reacting.”
Maya almost smiled.
“What do you want?”
“I want Preston to contact me.”
“He already did.”
“Anonymously.”
“You want him to believe you’re desperate.”
“Yes.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“You said we were doing this together.”
“Together doesn’t mean using you as bait.”
“It isn’t bait if I choose it.”
“That sentence does not improve the situation.”
Maya intervened.
“It could work.”
Daniel looked at her.
She shrugged.
“He already believes Emma is the weakest point.”
Daniel’s voice turned cold.
“She isn’t.”
“I know that. Preston doesn’t.”
I picked up my phone.
“What should I say?”
Daniel stood.
“Emma.”
I looked directly at him.
“If you control every decision because you have more money and more security, how are you different from the people who spent last night deciding I didn’t matter?”
That stopped him.
The room went silent.
I immediately wished I had phrased it differently.
Daniel stared at me.
Then slowly sat down.
“You’re right.”
Maya slid my phone toward me.
“Send something simple.”
I typed:
I KNOW ABOUT RIVERSIDE. I WANT OUT.
We waited.
Three minutes.
Five.
Eight.
Then the phone buzzed.
UNKNOWN:
SMART.
Another message.
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN SMART SIX MONTHS AGO.
I typed:
I CAN HELP YOU.
Response:
HOW?
I looked at Maya.
She nodded.
I typed:
I STILL HAVE PROJECT ACCESS.
The reply took longer.
Then:
MEET ME TONIGHT.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Maya asked, “Where?”
A location arrived.
An underground parking garage beneath an unfinished Halstead tower in Brooklyn.
Daniel said one word.
“No.”
Maya looked at him.
“We can control the location.”
“He chose it.”
“We can control the perimeter.”
“No.”
I turned toward Daniel.
“He may confess.”
“He may do worse.”
“I’ll be wired.”
“No.”
“You can put ten security teams around the building.”
“Emma.”
“What?”
His voice softened.
“I watched my father die because he thought money and preparation could control every risk.”
The argument disappeared from my mouth.
Daniel had almost never mentioned his father.
He looked down at his hands.
“He built the first version of Mercer Capital. When I was twenty-four, he received threats during a hostile acquisition.”
“What happened?”
“He ignored them.”
I waited.
“A truck ran a red light.”
I knew immediately.
“It wasn’t an accident.”
“No.”
“Did they catch anyone?”
“The driver.”
“But not whoever ordered it.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That’s why you hate being known.”
He looked at me.
“That’s why I hate people knowing exactly what matters to me.”
I understood.
And the realization hurt.
“Do I matter to you?”
He answered without hesitation.
“Yes.”
The room seemed suddenly smaller.
Daniel continued.
“More than I intended.”
I reached across the table and took his hand.
“Then trust me.”
He closed his eyes briefly.
When he opened them, he looked at Maya.
“Every entrance covered.”
She nodded.
“Two teams inside, two outside.”
“Police?”
“Detective Alvarez can have plainclothes officers nearby.”
Daniel looked back at me.
“If anything feels wrong, you leave.”
“Deal.”
At 9:17 that night, I entered the parking garage alone.
At least, I appeared alone.
A microphone was hidden beneath my blouse.
Maya listened from a van across the street.
Daniel was somewhere nearby.
I walked past concrete columns until I reached level B3.
Preston stood beside a black sedan.
He looked worse than he had at the gala.
No tuxedo.
No smile.
No arrogance.
“You came.”
“You threatened me.”
“You should be grateful.”
“For framing me?”
“For giving you a way out.”
I stopped six feet from him.
“What way?”
Preston opened the sedan’s trunk.
Inside was a duffel bag.
He unzipped it.
Cash.
A lot of it.
“Five hundred thousand.”
I stared.
“You think I’m going to run?”
“I think you’re going to disappear.”
“And if I don’t?”
His expression hardened.
“Then the federal investigation finds your credentials on fourteen million dollars in fraudulent payments.”
“You created those approvals.”
He smiled.
“Prove it.”
The microphone beneath my blouse suddenly felt very heavy.
I said, “Why Riverside?”
His smile disappeared.
“You ask too many questions.”
“That’s why you used my name.”
“You were convenient.”
“And Martin?”
“Martin became inconvenient.”
My pulse jumped.
“Did you tell Colin to attack him?”
Preston stepped closer.
“You’re trying too hard.”
I forced myself not to move.
“You stole more than two hundred million dollars.”
His eyes widened.
That was the first real mistake he made.
Then he looked down.
Not at my face.
At my blouse.
He understood.
“Wire.”
I stepped backward.
Preston grabbed my arm.
“Who’s listening?”
I pulled away.
“Let go.”
He reached inside his coat.
Suddenly headlights exploded from both directions.
“Police!”
Preston froze.
“Hands where we can see them!”
Officers rushed forward.
Daniel appeared behind them.
Preston stared at me.
Then he laughed.
“You think this ends with me?”
Detective Alvarez cuffed him.
Preston looked past me toward Daniel.
“My father knows everything.”
Daniel’s expression remained unreadable.
Preston smiled.
“And so does Victoria.”
The officers led him away.
I turned toward Daniel.
“You heard that?”
“Yes.”
Maya approached, removing her headset.
“We got the confession.”
I finally exhaled.
Then Detective Alvarez’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He walked away.
Thirty seconds later, he returned.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Daniel looked at him.
May you like
Alvarez said quietly:
“Richard Hale is dead.”
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