Chapter 4 - The Family Meeting Nobody Wanted
Forty-eight thousand dollars.
That was more than my mother had earned during her final year as a public school librarian.
More than I had saved in my first three years after college.
And Daniel had apparently planned to make it an annual household expense.
For Mia.
I sat in Rachel's office the following Monday, staring at the number.
"Tell me this isn't real."
Rachel adjusted her glasses.
"It's a draft. It doesn't establish that money was ever transferred or that you authorized anything."
"But he intended it."
"Someone prepared it."
"Daniel's name is on the document."
"That matters. But we need to establish who created it and why."
I looked through the attached schedule.
Housing assistance.
Vehicle maintenance.
Emergency living expenses.
Educational support.
Forty-eight thousand dollars.
Every year.
With a provision for increases.
"She's twenty-six," I whispered.
Rachel didn't answer.
"She has a job. She has a car. She takes vacations. Why does she need this?"
"That's a question for Daniel."
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I called him.
He answered immediately.
"Emma."
"Did you plan to give Mia forty-eight thousand dollars a year from our future household finances?"
Silence.
Then, "Where did you get that number?"
I closed my eyes.
Not what number?
Not that's ridiculous.
Where did you get that number?
"From the document you emailed me."
He exhaled.
"That's not what it looks like."
"Then tell me what it is."
"It's complicated."
"Make it simple."
Another silence.
Finally, he said, "Mia's situation isn't something I can discuss without her permission."
I felt something inside me go cold.
"You planned to use our money, but you can't discuss it with me?"
"Emma, please."
"No. You don't get to ask me for trust while refusing to tell me the truth."
His voice cracked.
"Can we meet tonight? My parents' house. Seven o'clock."
"Why there?"
"Because my father says it's time we all talk."
I looked at Rachel.
She shook her head slightly.
I understood.
"Send me the purpose of the meeting in writing," I said. "And I'm bringing Rachel."
Daniel sounded wounded.
"You don't trust me at all anymore?"
"That's why we're having the meeting."
At seven, I walked into the Walker house with Rachel beside me.
Diane stood in the foyer.
Her smile looked painful.
"Emma, darling."
"Hello, Diane."
She glanced at Rachel.
"Was an attorney really necessary?"
Rachel smiled pleasantly.
"Let's hope not."
We entered the dining room.
The same room where Daniel had removed bones from Mia's fish.
The same table.
The same flowers.
I wondered whether Diane had arranged it deliberately.
Richard sat at the head.
Daniel stood beside the window.
Mia was curled into a chair wearing an oversized cream sweater, looking fragile enough to be photographed for a charity campaign.
I took the chair farthest from Daniel.
Richard began.
"Thank you for coming."
Diane interrupted.
"Before we start, I want everyone to remember that this is a family."
I looked at her.
"Then everyone should be able to tell the truth."
Mia lowered her eyes.
Richard nodded.
"Agreed."
He turned toward Daniel.
"Tell Emma about the financial arrangement."
Daniel stared at his father.
"Dad."
"Tell her."
Mia whispered, "Richard, please."
He looked at her.
"Not tonight, Mia."
The firmness in his voice startled everyone.
Daniel sat down.
"After Mia's mother became ill, I promised I'd help her."
"I know that," I said.
"No, Emma. You don't know everything."
"Then tell me."
He rubbed his hands together.
"Her mother accumulated debts. Medical bills. Credit cards. Some private loans."
"How much?"
Mia began crying.
Daniel immediately turned toward her.
I watched the movement.
Automatic.
Practiced.
Richard slapped his palm against the table.
"Daniel. Answer the question."
Daniel froze.
Then he said, "About a hundred and eighty thousand."
My mouth went dry.
"How much have you already paid?"
"Some."
"Daniel."
"Seventy-two thousand."
Diane looked away.
I turned toward her.
"You knew?"
She said nothing.
Richard spoke.
"I knew Daniel was helping. I did not know the amounts until last week."
I looked at Mia.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She wiped her face.
"Because I knew you'd judge me."
"No. I would have wanted to understand why my future husband was making major financial commitments without discussing them with me."
Daniel leaned forward.
"It was my money."
"Then why did you prepare an agreement involving our future joint account?"
He didn't answer.
Rachel placed the document on the table.
"This is the proposed annual allocation."
Diane stared at it.
"Forty-eight thousand?"
Even she looked shocked.
Mia whispered, "That was never supposed to happen."
I turned toward her.
"What wasn't?"
She glanced at Daniel.
He looked away.
Richard noticed.
"What are you hiding?"
Nobody answered.
Rachel opened another document.
"We also have the ownership modification inquiry for the townhouse."
Richard's face tightened.
"Daniel."
"Dad, I can explain."
"Then do it."
Daniel stared at the table.
"Mia needed collateral."
I felt dizzy.
"For what?"
"A loan."
"How much?"
He swallowed.
"Two hundred thousand."
Diane gasped.
Richard stood so abruptly his chair scraped across the floor.
"Absolutely not."
Mia began sobbing.
Daniel reached for her hand.
Richard pointed at him.
"Let go."
Daniel looked up.
"What?"
"Stop comforting her long enough to understand what you've done."
The room fell silent.
Richard turned toward me.
"Emma, I need you to understand something. I didn't know about the house."
I believed him.
That frightened me more than if he'd been lying.
Because it meant Daniel had gone much further than even his family understood.
Mia suddenly stood.
"I can't do this."
She hurried toward the door.
Daniel rose.
"Mia—"
Richard blocked his path.
"Sit down."
"She's upset."
"She is twenty-six years old."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"You don't understand."
Richard looked at his son with an expression I had never seen before.
"Then help me understand why you've risked your fiancée's financial security for someone who keeps refusing to tell us where the money went."
Mia stopped in the doorway.
Her crying ceased.
Slowly, she turned around.
"You really want to know?"
Richard stared at her.
"Yes."
She looked at Daniel.
Then at me.
May you like
And said, "Ask Diane what happened the night my mother disappeared."
Diane's face drained of color.
