Chapter 7 - The Family I Was About to Marry
Lucas didn't deny that his father had been at Holloway Home & Tool.
He looked shocked.
Then he looked sick.
"My dad?"
I nodded.
"Tessa says he took Warren's office computer."
Lucas reached for his phone.
"I'll call him."
"Wait."
He stopped.
"Do you know anything about this?"
His expression changed.
"About what?"
"Your father and my family. The trust. Nathan. Any of it."
"No."
"Are you sure?"
He stared at me.
I hated myself for asking.
But I had trusted my parents.
I had trusted Gerald.
I had trusted people who smiled while planning to destroy my child's life.
And now I couldn't afford to trust blindly.
Lucas put his phone on the table.
"You can look through it. Messages, calls, whatever you need."
"I don't want to search your phone."
"Then tell me what you need."
"The truth."
He sat beside me.
"My father knew Warren through business. That's all I know."
His father, Richard Hayes, owned a regional trucking company.
He had delivered construction materials to Holloway Home & Tool for years.
I remembered seeing him at family cookouts.
He was quiet, polite, and always seemed uncomfortable around Warren.
Lucas called him on speaker.
Richard answered after four rings.
"Son?"
"Dad, were you at the Holloway store this morning?"
Silence.
"Who told you that?"
"Does it matter?"
Richard sighed.
"Lucas, this isn't something we should discuss over the phone."
My chest tightened.
"Then come to the hospital," I said.
He went silent again.
Finally, he answered.
"I'll be there in an hour."
He arrived forty minutes later.
He looked older than I remembered.
His gray hair was uncombed.
His hands trembled as he set a small black case on the table.
"I took the computer," he admitted.
Lucas stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because Warren was going to have it destroyed."
"How did you know?"
Richard looked at me.
"Your grandfather asked me to keep an eye on the business before he died."
I frowned.
"Why you?"
"Because he didn't trust Warren."
The room fell quiet.
Richard opened the case.
Inside was an external hard drive.
"Thomas suspected money was disappearing. He thought Warren was moving funds through supplier accounts."
"Did Grandpa know about my trust?"
"Of course. He created it."
"Then why didn't he tell me?"
Richard looked ashamed.
"He planned to explain everything when you turned twenty-one. But he died before that."
I swallowed.
"And you said nothing?"
"I thought the attorney handling the estate would make sure you received what you were entitled to."
"Patricia Voss?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
I laughed bitterly.
"She notarized a fake guardianship document yesterday."
Richard lowered his eyes.
"I know that now."
Lucas leaned forward.
"What does the computer have to do with Nathan?"
Richard's face changed.
He looked toward the door.
Then he spoke quietly.
"Nathan worked for my trucking company."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"He was a mechanic. A good one."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because he asked me not to."
"Why?"
Richard rubbed his forehead.
"He found discrepancies in shipments to Millbrook. Deliveries that didn't match the invoices. Trucks supposedly carrying construction supplies when the warehouse had been closed for months."
My pulse quickened.
"Was Dad stealing?"
"I believed he was moving company money through false transactions."
"Then why didn't you report him?"
"I started gathering records."
"Started?"
Richard looked at the hard drive.
"Then Nathan was injured."
Lucas's voice sharpened.
"You knew Nathan?"
"Yes."
"And you knew he was Maisie's father?"
Richard nodded.
Lucas stood.
"You let us hire Gerald Mercer to find him?"
"I didn't know Gerald was involved until later."
"Why didn't you tell us where Nathan was?"
Richard's eyes filled.
"Because Nathan asked me to protect his location."
I stared at him.
"From Warren?"
"Yes."
The answer landed like a stone.
Richard explained that Nathan had survived the collision but suffered injuries requiring lengthy rehabilitation.
Afterward, he became convinced someone had tampered with his vehicle.
He was afraid Warren would find him.
He had tried to contact me through intermediaries, but his messages never reached me.
Richard claimed Nathan eventually decided to wait until he could safely come forward.
I wanted to believe him.
But too many people had decided what I should know.
"Did Nathan ask you to keep his daughter from him?" I demanded.
Richard shook his head.
"No."
"Then you should have told me."
He didn't argue.
"You're right."
For a moment, I saw genuine regret in his face.
Then he reached into the case and removed a second drive.
"This is why I came."
"What is it?"
"A backup of the Millbrook shipping records. Nathan gave it to me before his accident."
"What's on it?"
"Enough to prove Warren was moving money through companies that didn't actually provide goods."
Lucas looked at the drive.
"Then give it to the police."
"I intend to."
Richard hesitated.
"But there's something else you should know."
I waited.
He swallowed.
"Nathan believed Warren wasn't acting alone."
"Who helped him?"
Richard looked directly at me.
"Someone inside the trust administration."
"Patricia Voss?"
"Possibly. But Nathan identified another person."
"Who?"
Richard opened a folder.
Inside was a copy of a wire transfer authorization.
The amount was $840,000.
The receiving company was called Northbridge Logistics.
I recognized the name.
It was a subsidiary of Richard's trucking business.
Lucas stared at his father.
"Dad?"
Richard's face drained.
"I didn't authorize that transfer."
But the document bore his signature.
And beneath it was a second signature.
Nathan Cole.
I looked from one man to the other.
Richard whispered, "That's impossible."
Lucas picked up the paper.
"Why?"
May you like
Richard's voice shook.
"Because Nathan was already in the hospital when this was signed."
