Chapter 7
I stared at the photograph on Rachel's phone until the image blurred.
Me.
Emma.
The prison parking lot.
Taken from a distance.
I was holding her against my chest.
Rachel stood beside us.
Someone had been watching.
Daniel.
Almost certainly Daniel.
My first free moment with my daughter had become evidence on a table inside an abandoned cabin.
Rachel whispered, "He was there."
"Near the prison."
"Michael—"
"He watched us."
I stood.
Every instinct I had told me to move.
Check doors.
Look through windows.
Protect my family.
But prison had taught me another lesson.
Anger makes terrible plans.
I called Detective Shaw.
He answered immediately.
"You saw the message."
"Who took the photograph?"
"We don't know."
"Don't give me that."
"We don't."
"Daniel?"
"Likely."
"How did he get to Cedar Ridge without his Tahoe?"
"We're checking."
I walked toward the front window but stayed away from the glass.
"What else was in the cabin?"
"Nothing useful."
"Fingerprints?"
"Processing."
"Did he leave a note?"
"No."
"Then why leave the photo?"
Silence.
"Shaw?"
"To scare you."
Rachel closed her eyes.
That answer I believed.
"Congratulations," I said. "It worked."
"That's what he wants."
"I know."
"Don't react."
I almost laughed.
"I'm a father whose daughter was photographed by a fugitive who framed me."
"He is not officially classified as a fugitive yet."
"You're kidding."
"He hasn't been charged."
"Then charge him."
"It's moving."
Everything moved.
Except the twenty-three months I'd already lost.
"Listen," Shaw said. "I'm arranging an officer outside your mother-in-law's home tonight."
"One officer?"
"Patrol coverage."
"What does that mean?"
"Frequent drive-bys."
"So no officer."
"Michael."
He used my first name.
That irritated me less than it should have.
"Stay there. Keep the doors locked. Call if you see anything."
The line ended.
I looked at Rachel.
"Pack a bag."
"For where?"
"A hotel."
"Wouldn't that be easier to follow?"
She was right.
"Then somewhere Daniel won't expect."
"Where?"
I thought.
My mother lived three states away.
Friends would be predictable.
Then I remembered someone Daniel had never met.
Curtis's sister.
Ridiculous.
I didn't even know her last name.
I laughed once at myself.
Rachel frowned.
"What?"
"Nothing."
We stayed.
I hated it.
Every sound outside made me look at the window.
At midnight, I was still awake.
At 1:20, headlights slowed outside.
I stood immediately.
A sedan rolled past.
Police cruiser followed five minutes later.
At 2:00, Rachel came downstairs.
"You can't sleep."
"Neither can you."
She sat beside me.
We didn't turn on lights.
"I keep thinking about the trial," she said.
"Don't."
"I sat behind Daniel every day."
I said nothing.
"He hugged me when they read the verdict."
My jaw tightened.
"He told me he'd take care of us."
"Rachel."
"He paid for groceries."
I turned.
"What?"
"After you went away."
"With stolen money?"
"I don't know."
"But maybe."
She started crying.
I rubbed my face.
This was Daniel's cruelty.
Not just framing me.
Making every memory dirty afterward.
Every favor.
Every phone call.
Every Christmas gift to Emma.
Poisoned.
"I need you to tell me everything."
Rachel looked at me.
"About what?"
"Daniel."
"I have."
"No."
I shook my head.
"Everything that seemed strange after my arrest."
She thought.
"He became... involved."
"How?"
"He came by constantly."
"That sounds like him."
"More than before."
"How much more?"
"Three or four times a week."
I stared at her.
"You never told me."
"You were in prison."
"So?"
"So every phone call cost money and every visit was already hard."
That answer again.
Protecting me by keeping me ignorant.
"What did he do?"
"Fixed things. Helped with Emma. Took me to appointments."
A sour feeling entered my stomach.
"Did he ever..."
I couldn't finish.
Rachel's eyes widened.
"No."
"Never?"
"No."
Too fast?
Maybe.
Then I hated myself for thinking it.
She saw.
"Oh my God."
"I didn't say anything."
"You didn't need to."
"I'm sorry."
She stood.
"Twenty-three months and that's what you think?"
"I said I'm sorry."
"He is my brother."
"The brother who destroyed my life!"
"And you think I slept with him?"
"No!"
The words came out too loud.
We both looked upstairs.
Silence.
Emma stayed asleep.
Rachel whispered.
"Then what are you asking?"
I lowered my voice.
"Why was he coming here four times a week?"
"Because he wanted control."
That stopped me.
"What?"
She hugged herself.
"I didn't understand it then."
"Explain."
"He wanted to know everything."
"What I told you."
"What Karen was doing."
"Who I talked to."
"Whether I planned to move."
My anger cooled into fear.
"He was monitoring you."
She nodded.
"I think so."
"Did he ever ask about evidence?"
"All the time."
"Did you tell him?"
"I didn't know anything."
"Did you tell him Karen was looking for surveillance footage?"
Rachel froze.
There.
That expression.
My stomach dropped.
"When?"
She sat slowly.
"Months ago."
"What did you say?"
"Karen told me she wanted to check old server backups."
I shut my eyes.
"And you told Daniel."
"He asked how the appeal was going."
"Jesus."
"I didn't know!"
"I know."
"He was my brother!"
"I know."
"No, you don't."
She was crying harder.
"You think I'm stupid."
"I don't."
"I was stupid."
"You trusted family."
"And look what happened."
I sat beside her.
"I'm angry."
"At me."
"At him."
"Mostly him?"
I almost smiled despite everything.
"Mostly him."
She leaned into my shoulder.
We stayed that way.
At 3:11, her phone rang.
Both of us jumped.
Detective Shaw.
Rachel answered on speaker.
"We decrypted part of the laptop."
I sat straighter.
"What did you find?"
Shaw's voice sounded tense.
"Financial records."
"Of the robbery?"
"Possibly."
"Possibly?"
"Spreadsheets."
I leaned toward the phone.
"What kind?"
"Amounts, dates, initials."
Rachel whispered, "Initials?"
"One line lists seventy-eight thousand dollars on March 18."
My pulse raced.
"What initials?"
"DH."
Daniel Hayes? No.
Daniel Mercer.
"DM?"
"No."
I frowned.
"What did you say?"
"DH."
My body went cold.
Those were my initials.
Michael Hayes was MH.
Rachel's maiden name was Mercer.
Her initials were RH.
"Who's DH?" she asked.
I knew.
Before Shaw said anything.
Daniel and Rachel had a father.
David Mercer.
Dead for nine years.
So DH made no sense.
Unless—
"Daniel's middle name," I whispered.
Rachel stared.
"What?"
"Daniel Howard Mercer."
Shaw went silent.
"Yes," Rachel said. "Howard."
"Could DH be Daniel Howard?"
"Possible," Shaw replied.
"What else?"
Shaw hesitated.
"There are payments."
"To who?"
"That's what we're trying to determine."
"How many?"
"Seven."
"Amounts?"
"Between two thousand and twelve thousand."
My mind moved.
Bribes?
Debts?
Accomplices?
"Any names?"
"Initials only."
"Read them."
Shaw paused.
"Michael—"
"Read them."
"J.P., L.C., R.M., T.S."
Rachel inhaled sharply.
"What?"
I turned.
"What?"
She looked terrified.
"R.M."
"Who?"
"My mother."
I stared at her.
"Linda's maiden name is Ross."
"Rachel—"
"Rachel Mercer."
She shook her head.
"My initials before we married were R.M."
Silence.
Shaw spoke carefully.
"The payment to R.M. occurred three months before the robbery."
Rachel looked sick.
"How much?"
"Twelve thousand."
She stood.
"No."
"Rachel."
"No."
"What?"
"I never got twelve thousand dollars."
Shaw said, "Could be somebody else."
But Rachel wasn't listening.
She was staring toward the stairs.
"Mom."
"What about your mom?"
Rachel ran upstairs.
I followed.
She entered Linda's bedroom and switched on the light.
Linda woke with a gasp.
"What happened?"
Rachel stood at the foot of the bed.
"Did Daniel give you twelve thousand dollars?"
Linda's face changed.
Barely.
But I saw it.
So did Rachel.
"Mom."
Linda sat up.
"What is this?"
"Answer me."
Silence.
Rachel's voice cracked.
"Did Daniel give you twelve thousand dollars?"
Linda closed her eyes.
And whispered, "Yes."
The room seemed to shrink.
"When?"
"Years ago."
"Before Michael's arrest?"
Linda started crying.
Rachel stepped backward.
"Oh my God."
I felt something darker than anger rising.
"What was it for?"
Linda looked at me.
Then at her daughter.
"He said it was to help."
"Help with what?"
She covered her face.
"Your mortgage."
Rachel went still.
"Our mortgage?"
"I didn't use it."
"Where is it?"
Linda cried harder.
"I gave it back."
"When?"
"After Michael was arrested."
"Why?"
"Because..."
She stopped.
Rachel stepped closer.
"Because what?"
Linda lowered her hands.
May you like
And the words that came next changed the entire case.
"Because Daniel told me where the money came from."
