Chapter 8
Police surrounded the Ravenswood warehouse.
Richard arrived inside an unmarked vehicle despite Ruiz’s objections.
The building had been abandoned for six years.
Broken windows.
Rusting loading doors.
Snow gathered on the roof.
Richard remembered opening the facility twenty years earlier.
Emily had been nine.
She had cut the ceremonial ribbon while Daniel complained that he should have been allowed to do it.
That memory now felt poisoned.
Ruiz attached a wire under Richard’s coat.
“You follow instructions.”
Richard nodded.
“If Daniel has a weapon, you do not challenge him.”
“I understand.”
“If I tell you to leave, you leave.”
Richard said nothing.
Ruiz grabbed his arm.
“Mr. Bennett.”
“I understand.”
He entered through a side door.
Darkness.
Dust.
His footsteps echoed.
“Daniel?”
Nothing.
Richard walked deeper.
Then a light clicked on.
Daniel stood across the warehouse.
He looked exhausted.
His suit was gone.
His white shirt was dirty.
Gavin Cross stood behind him holding a metal case.
Richard looked around.
“No fire.”
Daniel laughed.
“Still giving orders.”
“I came.”
“You always come when it’s too late.”
Richard stopped.
Daniel’s face twisted.
“You know what the funny part is? Emily spent her whole life believing you’d save her.”
Richard swallowed.
“And you spent yours believing I loved her more.”
Daniel’s eyes flashed.
“You did.”
“No.”
“You did!”
His voice echoed.
“Every time she screwed up, you forgave her.”
“She didn’t screw up. You framed her.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Mom framed her.”
Richard looked at Gavin.
“So he admits it.”
Gavin stepped forward.
“Careful.”
Richard’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re the lawyer. You should know that confession was a bad idea.”
Gavin smiled.
“There’s nobody here except us.”
Richard hoped the wire was working.
Daniel paced.
“You know why Emily came here?”
Richard stayed silent.
“She wanted money.”
“No.”
“She always wanted something.”
“No.”
Daniel’s anger rose.
“She threatened us.”
“She was exposing you.”
“She was destroying the company!”
“You were stealing from it.”
“I built half that company!”
“With my money.”
Daniel’s jaw clenched.
Richard continued.
“You stole because you thought everything belonged to you.”
“It should have.”
The truth came out so easily that Richard almost laughed.
Daniel continued.
“I was the son.”
Richard stared at him.
“And?”
“I was supposed to inherit it.”
“You would have.”
Daniel froze.
Richard said, “Before you became a thief.”
Daniel’s face twisted.
Gavin interrupted.
“We’re wasting time.”
Richard looked at the metal case.
“What’s in there?”
“Records.”
“What records?”
“The ones your daughter hid.”
Richard looked toward the floor.
“Not all of them.”
Gavin’s eyes changed.
Richard saw it.
So Noah was right.
Something was under the floor.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Tell the police to back off.”
Richard’s heart pounded.
“You know they’re here?”
“Of course.”
“Then you know you’re not leaving.”
Daniel pulled a gun.
Richard stopped.
Outside, police would be listening.
Ruiz’s voice crackled faintly through the tiny earpiece.
“Do not move.”
Daniel pointed the gun.
“You’re going to call them.”
Richard slowly reached for his phone.
“Daniel.”
“Do it.”
“You killed your sister.”
Daniel flinched.
“I didn’t.”
“You sent the cookies.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Daniel looked at Gavin.
Only for a second.
Richard saw.
Gavin did too.
“Daniel,” Gavin warned.
Richard whispered, “It was him.”
Gavin’s face hardened.
“You have no idea what happened.”
“Tell me.”
Gavin laughed.
“Emily found accounts that went far beyond Daniel.”
Richard waited.
“Your company had been paying shell vendors for years.”
“Controlled by you?”
“Some.”
“And Margaret?”
“Some.”
“Daniel?”
“Enough.”
Richard’s stomach turned.
“How much?”
Gavin shrugged.
“Maybe twelve million.”
Daniel snapped, “Shut up.”
Gavin looked at him.
“We’re past pretending.”
Richard said, “Why Emily?”
“Because she wouldn’t stop.”
“You poisoned her.”
Gavin’s face stayed calm.
“I sent a gift.”
Daniel stared at him.
Richard felt rage explode through him.
“You murdered my daughter.”
Gavin raised one hand.
“She was supposed to get sick.”
“Liar.”
“Enough to scare her.”
“She died.”
“That was unfortunate.”
Richard lunged.
Daniel fired.
The gunshot exploded.
Richard fell.
Police stormed the warehouse.
“DROP THE WEAPON!”
Daniel screamed.
Gavin ran.
Another gunshot.
Glass shattered.
Richard looked down.
Blood.
But not much.
The bullet had grazed his upper arm.
He crawled behind a steel column.
Daniel shouted, “Dad!”
Richard looked up.
Daniel stood frozen with the gun in his hand.
Police weapons were trained on him.
“Drop it!”
Daniel looked at Richard.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Drop it!”
His hands trembled.
Gavin disappeared through a back doorway.
Daniel finally dropped the gun.
Police tackled him.
Richard pressed a hand to his arm.
Ruiz rushed over.
“Are you hit?”
“Barely.”
“Stay down.”
“No.”
“Richard.”
“The floor.”
She stared.
“What?”
“Emily hid something under the floor.”
Daniel, handcuffed nearby, went pale.
Richard saw it.
“Where?”
Daniel looked away.
Richard shouted, “WHERE?”
Daniel said nothing.
Noah had only said under the floor.
The warehouse covered nearly eighty thousand square feet.
Then Richard remembered the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The old office area.
Emily had loved hiding under the raised platform where executives gave speeches.
He stood despite Ruiz’s protest.
“East side.”
They moved toward the old administrative section.
Dust covered everything.
A raised wooden platform remained near the wall.
Richard found a loose board.
Police lifted it.
Underneath was a waterproof container.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
USB drives.
And a notebook.
Emily’s handwriting.
Richard opened it.
The first page contained dates and names.
The second contained account numbers.
The third contained a sentence.
Dad doesn’t know.
Richard closed his eyes.
His name on the list hadn’t meant he was guilty.
Emily had been tracking who knew.
Next to his name, written in tiny letters, she had added:
Not involved. Protect him if possible.
Richard broke.
He sat on the dirty floor and cried.
For ten years, he had wondered whether Emily hated him.
Now he knew.
Even after he failed her, she had tried to protect him.
Ruiz knelt beside him.
“Richard.”
He handed her the notebook.
“There’s your proof.”
She took it carefully.
From the back of the building came shouting.
“Suspect running!”
Then another officer yelled.
“We’ve got him!”
Minutes later, Gavin was dragged into the warehouse.
His face was bleeding from a fall.
Richard stood.
Gavin looked at him.
“You think this fixes anything?”
Richard stared at him.
“No.”
Gavin laughed.
“Your daughter is still dead.”
Richard’s hands clenched.
Ruiz stepped between them.
Gavin continued anyway.
“And she died because none of you listened.”
Richard closed his eyes.
He hated Gavin for saying it.
Because part of it was true.
Daniel was brought past in handcuffs.
He looked at his father.
“Dad.”
Richard turned away.
“Dad, please.”
Richard didn’t respond.
Daniel’s voice broke.
“I didn’t know Gavin was going to kill her.”
Richard turned.
“You knew he sent something.”
Daniel cried.
“I thought he was going to scare her.”
“You let him.”
“I was scared.”
“So was Emily.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I’m your son.”
Richard stared at him.
“And she was my daughter.”
Police led Daniel away.
Richard watched until the door closed.
Then his phone rang.
Thomas.
Richard answered.
“What?”
Thomas sounded shaken.
“You need to get back.”
“Why?”
“It’s Margaret.”
Richard’s stomach tightened.
May you like
“What did she do?”
“She took Lily.”
