Chapter 5 - The Man I Trusted With Everything
I couldn't believe Daniel was involved.
For fifteen years, he had been more than my lawyer.
He had handled family trusts.
Corporate mergers.
My mother's estate.
Nicholas's estate.
My entire life.
But evidence had begun stacking against him.
His access card.
His knowledge of the trust.
His fingerprints were found on documents from the storage locker.
The police brought him in for questioning.
He denied everything.
I watched from behind the observation glass.
“I had nothing to do with the kidnapping,” Daniel said.
The detective placed a photograph on the table.
His expression changed.
It was a picture of Daniel meeting Richard Hale.
Three months before Nicholas died.
Outside a private restaurant.
Daniel finally admitted they had met.
But he claimed the meeting was about a property dispute.
I wanted to believe him.
Then I remembered the note.
Don't trust the man closest to you.
Maybe it wasn't referring to Camila.
Maybe it was Daniel.
We traced Matthew's movements.
The kidnappers had taken him from Mrs. Alvarez's house while she slept.
No broken locks.
No alarms.
Someone had provided them access.
Someone who knew how to bypass security.
A Vance employee.
My security chief found the trail.
One of our contractors had received an encrypted payment from a company owned by Richard Hale.
We raided the contractor's office.
He panicked immediately.
“I didn't hurt the boy.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“Who hired you?”
He gave us a name.
Daniel.
I confronted my attorney in the interrogation room.
“Where is Matthew?”
Daniel stared at me.
“I don't know.”
“Who paid you?”
“No one.”
“Then explain the transfers.”
He looked defeated.
“I did what Nicholas asked.”
My anger stopped me.
“What?”
“Nicholas came to me three years ago.”
“Why?”
“He knew someone wanted him dead.”
“Who?”
“Richard Hale.”
“Then why did you help Hale?”
“I didn't.”
Daniel pulled a folder from his bag.
Inside was a copy of Nicholas's last will.
“Nicholas told me to make sure Matthew remained hidden.”
“You knew about him.”
“Yes.”
“And you lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Nicholas believed someone inside your own company would use the boy as leverage.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked at me.
“I never knew.”
I sat down.
“What happened the night Nicholas died?”
Daniel took a long breath.
“I was supposed to meet him.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“He called me and said there was a problem.”
“What problem?”
“He told me Camila had arrived.”
I went still.
Daniel continued.
“He said she knew about Matthew.”
“Then?”
“Then the call dropped.”
“Did you call him back?”
“Yes.”
“No answer.”
“He was dead the next morning.”
I looked at the folder.
“Why hide all this from me?”
“Because Nicholas made me promise.”
The door opened.
Marcus entered.
“We found something.”
He handed me a photograph from a traffic camera.
A black sedan.
The license plate belonged to Richard Hale's company.
The car was near the scene of Nicholas's accident fifteen minutes before the crash.
I turned to Daniel.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“Three years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
Daniel lowered his head.
“I thought the truth would get you killed too.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Hours later, police discovered another lead.
The black sedan had not belonged to Richard himself.
It had been assigned to an executive assistant.
Camila.
I stared at her.
She was sitting in my office under police supervision.
“I told you I was there,” she whispered.
“You said you met Nicholas.”
“I did.”
“Why was your car at the accident site?”
“Because Nicholas asked me to follow him.”
“Follow him where?”
“To a warehouse.”
“What warehouse?”
“Vance Logistics Facility 17.”
I felt a chill.
Facility 17 had been shut down two years ago after a structural inspection.
It should have been empty.
We searched it that night.
Behind a false wall, police found a room.
Inside were files.
Photographs.
Surveillance equipment.
And a child's birth certificate.
Matthew Mendoza.
Father: Nicholas Vance.
Mother: Rose Mendoza.
But there was another document.
A bank statement showing monthly payments into Rose's account.
The payer was not Nicholas.
It was Richard Hale.
I looked at Camila.
She whispered:
“My father knew.”
The realization was brutal.
Richard hadn't merely learned about Matthew.
He had been paying Rose.
For seven years.
Why?
We searched the room more carefully.
A hidden safe was opened.
Inside was a letter from Nicholas.
Alex,
If you are reading this, I am probably dead.
Don't trust my death certificate.
Don't trust the accident report.
And most importantly, don't trust the story they tell you about Matthew.
He is not just my son.
He is the reason they will come after you.
The final line was torn away.
Before I could read more, Marcus's phone rang.
His face turned white.
“The kidnappers called.”
“What did they say?”
“They want you alone.”
“Where?”
May you like
Marcus looked at me.
“Facility 17.”
