Chapter 10 - The Brother No One Mentioned
Helen told them about Daniel in a conference room with the blinds closed.
Thomas had fathered a son before he married Helen.
“He paid support. He visited when he could,” Helen said. “Daniel’s mother moved away. Thomas lost contact after she remarried.”
Michael stared at the table. “And no one thought I should know?”
“Your father wanted to tell you. I asked him not to.”
“Why?”
“Because I was ashamed of a life that happened before me.”
Emily exhaled slowly.
Another family secret built from somebody deciding silence was safer.
Reese found Daniel Carter in less than an hour.
He was forty-one, a mechanic in Albany, with Michael’s eyes and Thomas’s jaw.
He denied being at the storage facility.
Then Reese showed the still image.
Daniel swore.
“That’s me.”
Michael’s voice went hard. “So you lied.”
“No. That picture is from Tuesday. I was there because Sophia called me.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at Helen. “She said Dad left me money.”
Helen whispered, “He did.”
Everyone turned.
The real trust amendment included Daniel.
Not as a trustee, but as a beneficiary.
Sophia had known.
Daniel ran both hands through his hair. “She told me Emily was hiding the documents so I’d never get anything. She wanted me angry at you.”
Emily said, “Did you help her?”
“I drove her there. That’s it.”
Reese asked, “Where did she go after?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Victor’s office.”
Police obtained a warrant.
Victor Hale’s downtown office was almost empty when they arrived.
Computers gone.
Files shredded.
Safe open.
But in a trash bin under Victor’s desk, Reese found a torn hotel receipt.
Two rooms. One night. Paid cash.
The hotel was near the airport.
Michael said, “He’s leaving.”
Reese nodded. “Maybe.”
Then her phone rang.
She listened for ten seconds.
Her expression changed.
“They found Paul Raines.”
“Where?”
“In his apartment.”
Michael waited.
Reese looked at Emily before answering.
“Dead.”
The room went silent.
“And on the wall beside him,” Reese continued, “someone wrote three words in red marker.”
Michael already knew they would be meant for him.
May you like
Reese showed the photo.
STOP LOOKING, MICHAEL.
