Chapter 4 - The Secret Employee Who Was Never on PayrollBy Wednesday night, Emily knew one thing.
Someone inside Redwood was willing to destroy the entire company to keep her mother's secret buried.
What she didn't know was why.
Daniel took her to a private office above an old warehouse.
No company logos.
No computers.
No cameras.
“This was my first office,” he said.
Emily looked around.
“You worked here?”
“I started Redwood with six people.”
“And now?”
“Six thousand employees.”
“You look sad about that.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Because somewhere along the way, we stopped building restaurants and started building an institution.”
“Institutions don't become corrupt by themselves.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“People make them that way.”
Emily studied the photograph.
“My father.”
“What was his name?”
“Thomas Carter.”
Daniel nodded.
“Thomas was Redwood's regional auditor.”
“What happened to him?”
“He disappeared the same week your mother did.”
“Did they love each other?”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
Emily nodded slowly.
“Thank you for telling the truth.”
Daniel smiled sadly.
“She deserves that much.”
At 1:17 a.m., Emily received a text.
Unknown number.
COME TO 84TH STREET. ALONE.
Daniel immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“It could be my father.”
“It could be a trap.”
“So we bring security.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“We don't go.”
Emily stared at him.
“I spent twenty years believing my father was dead.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You don't get to tell me not to look for him.”
He sighed.
“You're right.”
They went.
The address led to a closed laundromat.
Inside, a man waited.
Late fifties.
Thin.
Baseball cap.
Nervous eyes.
He looked at Emily.
“You're Claire's daughter.”
“Yes.”
“My name is Samuel Reed.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Jonathan's brother.”
Samuel nodded.
“I used to work in payroll.”
“What do you know?”
“I know Richard Cole wasn't the mastermind.”
Emily frowned.
“Then who?”
Samuel handed her a folder.
“Someone above him.”
She opened it.
The names had been redacted.
All except one.
EVELYN COLE.
Emily stared.
“Vanessa's mother?”
Samuel nodded.
“She controlled the money after Gregory died.”
Daniel looked stunned.
“But Evelyn left Redwood.”
“She left the public company.”
Samuel leaned closer.
“She still controls a private trust that owns a huge percentage of Redwood stock.”
Emily looked up.
“Then she owns part of the company.”
“More than part.”
Daniel’s expression became grim.
“She owns twenty-nine percent.”
Emily's eyes widened.
“Enough to influence the board.”
Samuel nodded.
“And enough to remove me.”
Daniel's gaze sharpened.
“You?”
Samuel smiled bitterly.
“They've been trying to remove anyone who remembers your mother.”
Emily turned the folder.
There were payroll documents.
Old employee records.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Thomas Carter.
Status: Active.
Emily almost dropped the folder.
“Active?”
Samuel nodded.
“He was never formally terminated.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone has been paying him.”
“Where?”
Samuel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Then why bring me here?”
“To tell you something else.”
He handed her a photograph.
Thomas Carter stood outside a motel.
The date was four months earlier.
Emily stared at his face.
Older.
Gray around the temples.
But unmistakable.
Her father was alive.
Daniel touched her shoulder.
“We'll find him.”
Samuel looked toward the window.
“No.”
Emily frowned.
“What?”
Samuel whispered:
“He found you first.”
The laundromat door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Thomas Carter.
Emily's world stopped.
She couldn't move.
He looked older than the father in her childhood photographs.
But his eyes were the same.
“Emily?”
Her lips trembled.
“Dad?”
Thomas took one step toward her.
Then stopped.
“You need to leave.”
Emily stared.
“I've spent twenty years looking for you.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you disappear?”
His face broke.
“Because I was told your mother was dead.”
Emily gasped.
“They told me you died.”
“I was told you did.”
Daniel looked at Thomas.
“Who told you?”
Thomas's gaze shifted.
“Jonathan Reed.”
Daniel went still.
“And Evelyn Cole.”
Emily's heart pounded.
Thomas took another step.
“I didn't know you were alive.”
“You didn't know?”
“I came back for your mother.”
“What happened?”
Thomas looked at Daniel.
“Your mother found out who controlled the money.”
“Who?”
Thomas whispered:
“Redwood's board.”
Daniel shook his head.
“The board?”
Thomas nodded.
“They've been stealing for decades.”
“And my mother?”
“She tried to expose them.”
“So they made her disappear.”
Thomas looked at Emily.
“No.”
“What?”
“They killed someone else.”
Silence.
“Who?”
Thomas's eyes filled with tears.
May you like
“Your mother is alive.”
Emily stopped breathing.
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