Chapter 6 - The Threat Against Their Daughter
Emma called Lily's school immediately.
The receptionist answered.
“Good afternoon, Westbridge Academy.”
“This is Emma Caldwell. I need to know whether my daughter has left the building.”
“One moment, Mrs. Caldwell.”
Emma paced beside the café window.
Daniel watched her.
“What's wrong?”
“My daughter.”
The receptionist returned.
“Lily was picked up approximately fifteen minutes ago.”
Emma's blood turned cold.
“By whom?”
“Your husband, Mr. Caldwell.”
Emma nearly dropped the phone.
“Did he show identification?”
“Yes, ma'am. He's listed as an authorized pickup contact.”
She ended the call.
Then she called Grant.
He answered immediately.
“Emma?”
“Where's Lily?”
“At home.”
“Why did you pick her up?”
“Because the school called me. They received a message saying someone was attempting to collect her without authorization.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“Is she safe?”
“Yes. She's upstairs.”
“I'm coming.”
“Emma, wait.”
She ignored him.
By the time she reached the house, Grant was standing in the driveway.
Their daughter appeared behind him, wearing her school uniform and carrying her backpack.
“Mom!”
Emma dropped her handbag and hugged her.
“Are you okay?”
Lily nodded.
“Dad said someone was trying to scare us.”
Emma looked over her daughter's shoulder at Grant.
“Did you tell her anything else?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Lily looked between them.
“Are you guys fighting?”
Emma kissed her forehead.
“No, sweetheart.”
Grant opened the front door.
“Let's get inside.”
Their home had once felt like the safest place in the world.
Now Emma noticed everything differently.
The camera above the garage.
The side entrance.
The windows overlooking the garden.
She wondered how many people knew their routines.
After Lily went upstairs, Grant closed the study door.
“Daniel Mercer contacted me.”
Emma froze.
“How do you know Daniel?”
“He called the board.”
“What did he tell them?”
“That there were suspicious transactions.”
“And?”
Grant looked at her.
“He said you were investigating them.”
Emma laughed without humor.
“I'm investigating them because someone forged my signature.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“When you stopped treating me like a suspect.”
Grant's face tightened.
“I have been trying to protect you.”
“Then stop withholding information.”
He walked to the window.
“There's something I need to tell you.”
Emma waited.
“Three months ago, Victor approached me with an offer to sell Northstar.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Daniel showed me the acquisition proposal.”
Grant turned.
“Daniel gave you that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father and Madison are working together.”
Grant sat down.
“I knew he was involved in something.”
Emma stared.
“You knew?”
“I knew he was meeting with Madison. I didn't know about the money.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought I could handle it.”
“That's what you always say.”
He rubbed his face.
“Victor threatened to expose something from the company's early years.”
“What?”
Grant hesitated.
“An old financing arrangement.”
“Tell me.”
“When Northstar was struggling, I borrowed money from a private lender.”
“Who?”
“Victor.”
Emma felt her stomach tighten.
“You told me the bank financed the first warehouse.”
“Partly.”
“And the rest?”
“My father.”
“Why did you hide that?”
“Because he wanted control.”
Grant explained that Victor had provided a substantial private loan in exchange for a convertible ownership agreement.
If Northstar failed to repay the debt under certain conditions, Victor could convert the loan into company shares.
Emma looked at him.
“So he has a claim on Northstar?”
“Potentially.”
“And the company documents?”
“That's what he's trying to manipulate.”
Emma stepped back.
“Grant, how much do you owe him?”
“More than I can pay immediately.”
The silence between them was heavy.
Then Lily's voice came from the hallway.
“Mom?”
Emma turned.
Her daughter stood in the doorway holding a small envelope.
“I found this in my school bag.”
Emma took it.
There was no return address.
Inside was a photograph of their family taken at the lake house years earlier.
On the back, someone had written:
ASK YOUR HUSBAND WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NIGHT HE ALMOST LOST YOU.
Emma looked at Grant.
He went completely still.
“What's this about?” she asked.
Grant took the photograph.
His hands trembled.
“Where did you get this?”
“Someone put it in Lily's backpack.”
He turned the picture over.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then Emma remembered.
Eleven years earlier, shortly after Northstar secured its first major contract, Grant had been involved in a car accident.
He had told her that another vehicle had struck him during a rainstorm.
He had spent two days in the hospital.
He had never discussed the details again.
“What happened that night?” Emma whispered.
Grant looked at her.
“I didn't tell you everything.”
“What didn't you tell me?”
Before he could answer, the house alarm sounded.
A sharp electronic warning echoed through the hallway.
The security system announced an unauthorized entry at the rear entrance.
Grant grabbed his phone.
“Stay here.”
He moved toward the hallway.
Emma followed.
Outside, a dark vehicle was parked beside the garden wall.
A man stepped out.
He looked directly at the house.
Then he raised one hand.
In it was a small silver key.
Emma recognized it.
It belonged to the locked storage cabinet in Grant's old office.
May you like
The one he had refused to let anyone open for eleven years.
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