Chapter 6 - The Secret Deari’s Father Took to the GraveCaitlyn woke the next morning in her own guest room.
Alone.
Fully clothed.
Deari had walked her to the door after their kiss.
Then stopped.
“I want to do this correctly.”
Caitlyn almost laughed.
The head of a criminal empire wanted proper dating etiquette.
“You extorted three companies last week.”
“Yes.”
“And now you're worried about propriety?”
“With you?”
His expression had become serious.
“Yes.”
That answer stayed with her.
At breakfast Deari was already gone.
On her plate was a note.
MEETING DOWNTOWN.
EAT.
—D
Caitlyn smiled before she could stop herself.
Then her phone vibrated.
Unknown sender.
One message.
ASK DEARI HAMILTON WHO KILLED YOUR PARENTS.
Caitlyn froze.
Attached photograph.
Her parents' car.
Wrecked against a concrete barrier.
Seven years earlier.
Caitlyn's hands began shaking.
A second message arrived.
IT WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT.
Then a scanned police report.
Vehicle brake-line failure.
Investigation terminated after lack of evidence.
Caitlyn knew the public report.
This document contained pages she had never seen.
Confidential witness statement.
Black sedan observed following the Elmore vehicle.
Vehicle registered to Hamilton Holdings.
Her stomach dropped.
“No.”
A third message.
DEARI KNOWS.
Caitlyn stood.
The breakfast room tilted.
She read again.
Hamilton Holdings.
Seven years ago Deari had already controlled most family operations.
She called him.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Luigi entered.
One look at her face and he stopped.
“What happened?”
Caitlyn held out the phone.
Luigi read.
His expression changed.
That frightened her.
“You know.”
“No.”
“You recognize something.”
“Caitlyn—”
“Tell me.”
Luigi looked toward the guards.
“Not here.”
They entered the library.
Caitlyn closed the door.
“Did Hamilton Holdings own that vehicle?”
Luigi exhaled.
“Yes.”
Her knees nearly failed.
“Who drove it?”
“We had hundreds of cars.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Does Deari?”
Luigi did not answer quickly enough.
Caitlyn laughed bitterly.
“Oh my God.”
“Listen to me.”
“No.”
“Deari didn't order your parents killed.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I was there seven years ago.”
Caitlyn stopped.
Luigi continued.
“Your father, Michael Elmore, was not just a civil engineer.”
“What?”
“He worked as a consultant on harbor expansion projects.”
Caitlyn knew that.
“He found structural fraud involving Hamilton contractors.”
She stared.
“Fraud?”
“Deari's father, Charles Hamilton, was still alive. Deari was taking over, but Charles controlled older operations.”
“What fraud?”
“Construction companies billing the city for materials that were never used. Millions.”
Caitlyn felt sick.
“My father found it.”
“Yes.”
“And then he died.”
“Yes.”
“Deari knew?”
“Afterward.”
Her eyes filled.
“He never told me.”
Luigi rubbed his face.
“You were hired five years later. I don't think he recognized your name initially.”
“Eventually?”
“Eventually he did.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
She stared.
Luigi explained.
While investigating Owen, Deari found archived files.
Michael Elmore had reported suspected Hamilton corruption.
The night of the crash, a Hamilton car followed him.
Charles Hamilton had ordered surveillance.
Deari had spent all night reopening the records.
“He was meeting someone this morning,” Luigi said.
“Who?”
“The retired detective who handled the crash.”
Caitlyn struggled to breathe.
“He kissed me knowing this.”
“He found out after.”
“How do you know?”
“Because at four in the morning he called me and said words I won't repeat.”
Caitlyn turned away.
Her emotions collided.
Grief.
Anger.
Fear.
Hope.
Distrust.
Deari returned an hour later.
Caitlyn was waiting in his office.
He saw her face.
Then the phone on his desk.
He knew.
“Owen contacted you.”
She stiffened.
“You knew he might?”
“No.”
“But the report is real.”
“Yes.”
The word destroyed something.
Caitlyn laughed once.
“You couldn't lie?”
“No.”
“I almost wish you had.”
Deari closed the door.
“Your father uncovered fraud connected to my father's companies.”
“Did Charles Hamilton kill my parents?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you know someone followed them?”
“Not until this morning.”
“Did you know their deaths were connected to Hamilton?”
Deari hesitated.
Caitlyn's face changed.
“When?”
“After you joined the company.”
“How long after?”
“Eleven months.”
She stared.
“You've known eight months.”
“Yes.”
“You said nothing.”
“I had no proof.”
“You had enough to investigate.”
“I did.”
“What did you find?”
“Nothing conclusive.”
“So you stopped?”
Deari's silence answered.
Caitlyn backed away.
He felt panic.
Not the kind he showed.
The private kind.
“Caitlyn.”
“You decided I didn't need to know.”
“I decided accusing my dead father of murdering your parents without evidence would destroy you.”
“You don't get to decide what destroys me.”
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
She grabbed her bag.
Deari moved.
Then stopped himself.
He could prevent her from leaving.
Physically.
Through security.
Through orders.
The thought disgusted him.
“Where are you going?”
“Away from you.”
His chest tightened.
“Caitlyn.”
She turned.
Tears filled her eyes.
“I trusted you.”
Deari would rather have been shot.
“I know.”
“You let me tell you about that accident.”
“Yes.”
“You let me sit beside you in the hospital.”
“Yes.”
“You let me—”
Her voice broke.
She looked away.
Deari stood completely still.
“I was wrong.”
She laughed bitterly.
“That's it?”
“No.”
He approached carefully.
“I was afraid if I told you, you would leave.”
Caitlyn looked at him.
There.
Another ugly truth.
Deari continued.
“So I convinced myself silence protected you.”
“It protected you.”
“Yes.”
The admission hurt.
“But I swear to you, I did not know what happened that night.”
“Your father?”
“I don't know.”
“What if he ordered it?”
“Then I will prove it.”
“What if proving it destroys Hamilton?”
Deari looked at her.
A month earlier, the answer would have been complicated.
Now it was simple.
“Then Hamilton deserves to be destroyed.”
Caitlyn's eyes filled again.
She wanted to believe him.
That was the problem.
“I need space.”
Deari nodded.
“I'll arrange security outside your apartment.”
“No.”
“Caitlyn.”
“No men following me.”
“Owen is still out there.”
“I'll accept one.”
Deari almost argued.
“One.”
“Rafael.”
“Fine.”
She moved toward the door.
Then stopped.
“Don't call me.”
Deari looked as though she had struck him.
“Okay.”
“Don't send things.”
“Okay.”
“Don't change any more company policies.”
He almost smiled.
“Fine.”
She left.
Deari stood alone.
Luigi entered ten minutes later.
“She gone?”
“Yes.”
“You okay?”
Deari looked at him.
Luigi nodded.
“Stupid question.”
Deari picked up a glass.
Then put it down without drinking.
“Owen sent the files.”
“Obviously.”
“He's trying to separate you.”
“It worked.”
“For now.”
Deari looked toward the city.
“What did the detective say?”
Luigi asked.
Deari's expression hardened.
“The brake lines were cut.”
Luigi went still.
“Confirmed?”
“Original forensic photographs.”
“Charles?”
“The detective was paid to close the case.”
“By who?”
Deari turned.
“Owen Vale.”
Luigi swore.
Deari continued.
“Owen worked for my father then.”
“So maybe Charles ordered it.”
“Maybe.”
“Or Owen acted alone.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Deari placed another document on the desk.
Michael Elmore had discovered more than construction fraud.
Payments linked Owen to Moretti shell companies seven years earlier.
Owen had been stealing from both organizations for nearly a decade.
Michael planned to give records to prosecutors.
He died first.
Luigi stared.
“Caitlyn's father could have ended Owen years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And now Owen is using the murder he committed to turn her against you.”
“Possibly committed.”
“You still need proof.”
Deari nodded.
“Find it.”
That night Caitlyn sat beside Tommy at Evergreen's temporary replacement facility.
Tommy watched a documentary about trains.
“You sad.”
Caitlyn looked at him.
“What?”
“You do face.”
“What face?”
“Sad face.”
She smiled faintly.
“I'm okay.”
Tommy shook his head.
“Lie.”
Apparently every man in her life had decided to identify those now.
She rested her head against his.
“Do you remember Mom and Dad?”
“Yes.”
“What do you remember about the accident?”
Tommy's body stiffened.
Caitlyn immediately regretted asking.
“It's okay. Forget it.”
“Black car.”
Her heart stopped.
“What?”
Tommy stared at the television.
“Dad angry.”
“About the black car?”
Tommy nodded.
“Following.”
Caitlyn's hands went cold.
“Do you remember anything else?”
Tommy closed his eyes.
“Man at gas station.”
“What man?”
“Talked to Dad.”
“Who?”
Tommy's face strained.
Then he whispered:
“Owen.”
Caitlyn stopped breathing.
She took out her phone.
Her finger hovered over Deari's number.
He had respected her request.
No calls.
No messages.
Nothing.
Caitlyn pressed call.
Deari answered before the first ring finished.
“Caitlyn?”
She heard the fear beneath the calm.
“Tommy remembers Owen.”
Silence.
Then:
“Where are you?”
“Evergreen.”
“I'll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Deari.”
“Yes?”
“I told you not to call.”
“I didn't.”
May you like
Despite everything, she almost smiled.
“Hurry.”
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