Chapter 6 - The Man Who Wanted Andrew Dead
Andrew increased security.
Ethan hated it.
Two guards at the gate became six.
School happened remotely.
Drivers changed routes.
Andrew’s schedule vanished from public calendars.
Marcus moved into the guesthouse.
Mrs. Delgado carried pepper spray despite everyone explaining it would not stop a professional attacker.
“I don’t need professional,” she said. “I need enough time to hit him with a pan.”
Ethan nodded approvingly.
Andrew looked at both.
“Why am I surrounded by violent people?”
Mrs. Delgado raised an eyebrow.
“Sir.”
Fair.
The annual shareholder meeting became a trap.
Mercer would expect Andrew.
Police wanted him to appear.
Marcus wanted him absent.
Andrew wanted Mercer arrested.
Ethan wanted everyone to stop whispering.
At breakfast, he put down his spoon.
“Tell me.”
Andrew looked up.
“What?”
“What’s happening.”
“You don't need—”
Ethan’s face changed.
Andrew stopped.
There it was.
Adults deciding silence was protection.
Claire had done it.
Rebecca had done it.
Mara? No, wrong story. Avoid crossover. We are fine.
Andrew corrected himself.
“Mercer may try to hurt me.”
Ethan went pale.
Andrew immediately continued.
“Police know.”
“Like he hurt Mom?”
“Yes.”
“And Claire?”
“Yes.”
Ethan stared at his cereal.
“Because of me.”
“No.”
“My money.”
“No.”
“My shares.”
Andrew leaned forward.
“Listen to me.”
Ethan looked up.
“Adults chose to commit crimes because they wanted money and power. That is not caused by the child whose name appears on paperwork.”
Ethan’s eyes filled.
“If I didn't exist—”
Andrew’s voice sharpened.
“Never say that.”
The boy flinched.
Andrew softened.
“Sorry.”
Silence.
Then Andrew said,
“If you didn’t exist, Claire would still be dead.”
Pain crossed his face.
“Rebecca might still have been targeted.”
He took Ethan’s hand.
“And I would not have you.”
Ethan looked at their hands.
Andrew rarely initiated physical affection.
He was learning.
Slowly.
“That matters to me.”
Ethan whispered,
“Okay.”
The shareholder meeting filled an auditorium at Whitman Technologies headquarters.
Andrew arrived through a secure garage.
Police embedded officers among staff.
Marcus monitored entrances.
Maya stayed with Ethan at Whitman House.
Andrew stood backstage.
The last time he had felt this level of controlled fear was before doctors confirmed Claire and Lily were dead.
He hated the memory.
Marcus adjusted his earpiece.
“Mercer isn’t here.”
“He’ll appear.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Andrew looked at the stage.
“Men like Calvin don’t spend nine years manipulating a company to watch the ending on television.”
The meeting began.
Routine financials.
Board elections.
Governance changes.
Then Mercer appeared.
Not physically.
Video screen.
Remote connection.
Shareholders murmured.
Calvin Mercer looked polished.
Calm.
“Andrew.”
Andrew stared.
“Calvin.”
“I wish circumstances were different.”
“I don’t.”
Mercer smiled.
“Always difficult.”
“You killed my wife.”
The room erupted.
Andrew’s legal team had wanted discretion.
He ignored them.
Mercer’s face did not change.
“That is an outrageous allegation.”
“Police disagree.”
“Police have one frightened woman trying to save herself.”
“And a truck driver.”
The smile faded slightly.
Andrew continued.
“And Rebecca’s recordings.”
Mercer’s eyes hardened.
Shareholders began whispering.
Andrew walked forward.
“This meeting is being recorded publicly.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
Andrew held up documents.
“For nine years, entities connected to you diverted more than eighty million dollars through fraudulent consulting agreements.”
Mercer’s expression remained controlled.
Andrew continued.
“You attempted to obtain control of voting stock belonging to Daniel Whitman’s son.”
A larger reaction.
“Daniel’s trust prevented it.”
Mercer leaned back.
“Are you finished?”
“No.”
Andrew looked directly into the camera.
“You also ordered Claire Whitman’s vehicle intercepted because she was carrying evidence.”
Silence.
Mercer smiled faintly.
“Can you prove that?”
Andrew paused.
That question.
Not “that’s false.”
Can you prove it?
Andrew knew.
Mercer realized too late.
Andrew smiled.
“Thank you.”
Mercer’s face changed.
“For what?”
“For not denying it.”
The stream suddenly cut.
Marcus spoke into Andrew’s earpiece.
“He moved.”
“Where?”
“Signal originated inside the building.”
Andrew’s blood went cold.
“Calvin is here.”
Alarms activated.
Security began evacuating the auditorium.
Andrew moved backstage.
Marcus appeared.
“Garage.”
They ran.
A black SUV crashed through the lower security barrier.
Police vehicles blocked exits.
Mercer emerged from a service corridor.
Gun in hand.
He grabbed an employee.
Chaos.
Andrew stopped twenty yards away.
Mercer saw him.
“There he is.”
Police shouted.
“Drop the weapon!”
Mercer pressed the gun toward the hostage.
“Back off.”
Andrew looked at Marcus.
“No.”
Marcus understood what he was thinking.
“Absolutely not.”
Mercer shouted,
“Andrew!”
Andrew stepped forward.
Police protested.
He ignored them.
“Let her go.”
Mercer laughed.
“Still pretending to be heroic?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Andrew’s voice was calm.
“Because she has nothing to do with us.”
Mercer stared.
“Neither did Claire.”
Andrew’s face changed.
Mercer smiled.
There.
He wanted anger.
Andrew refused to give him control.
“Claire had everything to do with you.”
“She should have minded her own business.”
Andrew’s fists tightened.
“She was pregnant.”
“I didn’t know.”
Samuel had said the same.
Mercer looked almost annoyed.
“The operation was supposed to recover documents.”
“You killed her.”
“An accident killed her.”
“You created it.”
Mercer’s face hardened.
“Your family created everything.”
Andrew frowned.
“Daniel discovered the transfers. Claire interfered. Rebecca panicked.”
He laughed bitterly.
“All over five percent of shares.”
“No.”
Andrew shook his head.
“Over your belief that everyone else existed to serve you.”
Mercer’s eyes narrowed.
Andrew realized something.
Calvin wanted justification.
To feel clever.
Men like him often confessed while explaining why they were right.
Andrew continued.
“You could have stopped after Daniel died.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because Daniel made Ethan the key.”
“You mean his son.”
Mercer scoffed.
“A mistake.”
Andrew heard footsteps behind Mercer.
Tactical unit.
Slow.
Mercer did not.
Andrew kept talking.
“You never understood Daniel.”
“I understood him perfectly.”
“No.”
Andrew smiled.
“He knew exactly what you were.”
Mercer’s face twisted.
He moved the gun.
Tactical officers fired.
Mercer fell.
The hostage screamed but remained unharmed.
Andrew stood frozen.
Police rushed.
Marcus grabbed his shoulder.
“Stay.”
Mercer was alive.
Bullet through the arm and side.
He would stand trial.
Andrew felt no satisfaction.
Only exhaustion.
Then his phone rang.
Maya.
He answered instantly.
“Ethan?”
“Safe.”
Andrew closed his eyes.
“He saw the news alert.”
Of course.
“Put him on.”
A pause.
Then Ethan.
“Andrew?”
“I’m okay.”
“Did he shoot you?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
“I am literally speaking to you without being shot.”
“That’s not the same.”
Andrew almost smiled.
“No bullets.”
Silence.
Then Ethan whispered,
“Come home.”
Andrew looked at the police scene.
“Yes.”
This time, home meant something.
When he arrived, Ethan ran from the family room.
Andrew crouched.
The boy hugged him.
Andrew held him.
Maya watched.
Mrs. Delgado cried openly.
Marcus pretended he had something in his eye.
Later, after Ethan slept, Andrew entered Claire’s old study.
For months after her death he had kept the room unchanged.
Then Ethan began using the desk for homework.
Crayons lay beside Claire’s old fountain pen.
A dinosaur sticker was attached crookedly to a drawer.
At first Andrew had almost removed it.
Now he touched it.
Smiled.
Maya stood in the doorway.
“You decided?”
Andrew looked back.
“About what?”
She waited.
He knew.
“Yes.”
“You want guardianship.”
“No.”
Maya frowned.
Andrew looked around Claire’s study.
“I want adoption.”
Silence.
Maya smiled.
“Does Ethan know?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Why good?”
“Because you should ask him.”
Andrew blinked.
“Children get asked?”
“They should.”
Andrew thought.
Of course.
Choice.
The thing adults kept taking from Ethan.
The next morning Andrew found him eating pancakes.
“Ethan.”
“That sounds serious.”
“It is.”
The boy slowly put down his fork.
Andrew sat.
“I have to ask you something.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“No.”
“Did I break something?”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Andrew narrowed his eyes.
“We'll revisit that.”
Ethan smiled nervously.
Andrew continued.
“The court can make me your legal guardian.”
“I know.”
“But guardianship can end.”
Ethan’s smile disappeared.
Andrew took a breath.
“There is another option.”
“What?”
“Adoption.”
The boy stared.
Andrew’s voice became quieter.
“If you wanted that.”
Ethan did not move.
Andrew panicked internally.
Maya had warned him not to oversell.
So he waited.
Finally Ethan whispered,
“You would be my dad?”
Andrew’s chest tightened.
“Legally.”
“What about Daniel?”
“He would still be your biological father.”
“My mom?”
“Still your mom.”
“Claire?”
Andrew swallowed.
“Still Claire.”
Ethan thought.
“Would I have to change my name?”
“No.”
“Could I?”
“Yes.”
“Would you want me to?”
Andrew chose carefully.
“I want you to choose.”
Ethan stared down.
Then asked,
“Could I be Ethan Cole Whitman?”
Andrew’s eyes burned.
“Yes.”
“That keeps Mom.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad.”
“Yes.”
“And you.”
Andrew could barely speak.
“Yes.”
Ethan nodded.
“Okay.”
Andrew blinked.
“Okay?”
“I want that.”
Then the boy resumed eating pancakes.
Andrew stared.
“That’s it?”
“What?”
“I expected… more.”
Ethan shrugged.
“I already decided.”
“When?”
“Hospital.”
Andrew looked at him.
“You waited this long to tell me?”
“You didn't ask.”
Andrew laughed.
Actually laughed.
Ethan smiled.
Then climbed down.
Walked around the table.
Hugged him.
Andrew closed his eyes.
The adoption process began that day.
But one final problem remained.
Evelyn Voss.
She had cooperated.
She had also committed crimes.
And she held one piece of information no one else did.
The missing document case Claire carried on the day she died.
Evelyn had taken it from the crash.
She claimed Mercer later stole it.
Mercer denied having it.
Police could not find it.
Inside, according to Claire’s notes, was something beyond financial records.
A letter from Daniel.
For Andrew.
And one for Ethan.
If the case still existed, it contained the only words Daniel had ever written directly to his son.
Andrew needed to find it.
Not for the company.
May you like
For Ethan.
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