Chapter 7 - THE PRICE OF THE TRUTH
Daniel wanted to go.
I wanted police.
For once, I won.
Federal investigators arranged the exchange.
The drive Gregory wanted was copied and fitted with a tracker.
Daniel insisted on carrying it.
“You don't get to become heroic now,” I told him.
“This isn't about heroism.”
“What is it about?”
He looked away.
“Fixing one thing.”
At 11:58 p.m., Daniel walked into an abandoned warehouse near Pier 17.
Agents surrounded the area.
I watched through a surveillance feed from a command vehicle.
Gregory appeared.
Vanessa and Luis were alive.
“What happened to Robert?” Daniel demanded.
Gregory smiled.
“You've become sentimental.”
“What happened?”
“You know what happened.”
“No.”
Gregory looked at the drive.
“Give me that first.”
Daniel held it up.
“Tell me.”
Gregory's arrogance did what investigators hoped.
He talked.
Dad had discovered the kickback scheme.
He planned to remove Gregory and report the fraud.
Gregory met him the morning he died.
They argued.
Dad collapsed during the confrontation.
“He was alive when I left,” Gregory said.
My breath stopped.
Daniel stared at him.
“You didn't call an ambulance?”
“He told me to get out.”
“So you left him?”
Gregory shrugged.
“He was still breathing.”
Rage surged through me.
Dad might have survived with immediate medical attention.
Maybe not.
We would never know.
But Gregory had chosen himself.
Just as Daniel had chosen himself at the helicopter.
Different day.
Same cowardice.
Then Gregory said something worse.
“Robert had already discovered your little side operation, Daniel.”
Daniel stiffened.
“What side operation?”
“Don't pretend for Claire.”
My stomach dropped.
Gregory smiled toward a hidden camera he couldn't know existed.
“Tell your wife where the other money went.”
Daniel said nothing.
Gregory laughed.
“Thought so.”
Agents moved when Gregory reached for a weapon.
Everything happened quickly.
Shouting.
A crash.
Vanessa dropped sideways with the chair.
Luis crawled behind a crate.
Daniel lunged.
Gregory ran.
Agents tackled him before he reached the river exit.
It was over in seconds.
But Gregory's final words remained.
Tell your wife where the other money went.
Daniel was arrested that night.
Not for kidnapping.
For financial fraud and knowingly approving falsified safety documentation.
I visited him two days later.
There was glass between us.
He looked smaller without the suit.
“Where did the money go?” I asked.
He closed his eyes.
“Daniel.”
“I bought shares.”
“What shares?”
“Whitmore.”
I stared.
He had secretly used diverted money to purchase company interests through intermediaries.
He wasn't merely enriching himself.
He was preparing to take control.
“Why?”
“Because I spent fifteen years building that company too.”
“You married me eight years ago.”
“I worked there before we met.”
“So you thought you deserved it?”
“I thought your father would never see me as anything except the man who married his daughter.”
“You proved him right.”
His face tightened.
“I loved you.”
“Maybe.”
“I still do.”
“That doesn't undo what you did.”
He touched the glass.
“I didn't think you would die at the hotel.”
“But you were willing to risk it.”
He couldn't answer.
That was enough.
As I stood to leave, Daniel said my name.
“Claire.”
I turned.
“Vanessa wasn't the reason I left you.”
I almost laughed.
“That's supposed to help?”
“No.”
He looked broken.
“I chose the helicopter because I thought if I stayed, investigators would start asking questions while I was trapped there. I knew the building records wouldn't survive scrutiny.”
The truth was uglier than jealousy.
He hadn't chosen Vanessa over me.
He had chosen himself over everyone.
I walked away.
Outside, Ethan waited beside his truck.
He didn't ask what Daniel said.
He simply handed me coffee.
I took it.
“Thank you.”
“For coffee?”
“For not asking.”
We stood quietly.
Then my phone rang.
Marcus.
“Claire, we found another account.”
My stomach sank.
“Daniel?”
“No.”
“Gregory?”
“No.”
“Then whose?”
May you like
Marcus hesitated.
“Yours.”
