Chapter 6 - MY FATHER'S SECRET
For several seconds, I thought Leonard Vale had confused me with someone else.
My father had been dead for eight years.
He had spent the last six months of his life in a hospital bed, apologizing to nurses for needing help.
He had taught Toby how to whistle.
He had built Lily a crooked wooden dollhouse that she refused to let me repaint because Grandpa made it that color.
Whatever else my family had hidden, I could not fit my father into the same picture as Mom and Garrick.
"My father made the tape disappear?"
Leonard exhaled.
"Not exactly."
"You just said he did."
"I said he was the reason it disappeared."
"That sounds exactly the same."
"It isn't."
I looked at Daniel.
He motioned for me to keep Leonard talking.
"Then explain it."
There was a long silence.
"Not by phone."
"I'm getting tired of people saying that."
"You should be more tired of people listening to phones."
That shut me up.
Leonard gave me an address.
A diner on the north side.
"Twenty minutes."
"No," Daniel said loudly enough for Leonard to hear.
Leonard paused.
"Who is that?"
"Someone making sure I don't walk into traps."
"Smart man."
"He'll be with me."
"Fine."
The line ended.
Renee crossed the room immediately.
"You are not going anywhere alone."
"I know."
"And not with just Daniel."
Daniel looked offended.
"I am literally a licensed investigator."
"You are also one man with a notebook."
He looked down at the notebook in his hand.
"It's a very good notebook."
For one second, the room loosened.
Then my phone buzzed with another message from Garrick.
LAST CHANCE.
I deleted it.
Twenty-eight minutes later, Daniel and I entered the diner.
Leonard Vale sat in a booth near the kitchen.
He was seventy if he was a day.
Broad shoulders gone soft with age.
Gray mustache.
A scar ran from his left temple into his hairline.
He stood when we approached.
His eyes went straight to Daniel.
"Police?"
"Former."
Leonard nodded.
"Me too."
We sat.
A waitress poured coffee without asking.
Leonard waited until she walked away.
Then he placed an old manila envelope on the table.
"Your father gave me this."
I stared at it.
"When?"
"The day after Arthur died."
"You said he made evidence disappear."
"He did."
"Why?"
Leonard looked tired.
"Because he thought he was saving you."
I hated that answer immediately.
Everyone in my family claimed to hurt me for my own protection.
"From what?"
"From prison."
I stopped breathing.
Daniel leaned forward.
"Start at the beginning."
Leonard looked at me.
"Your father, Peter Mercer, was chief financial officer of Bellamy Manufacturing."
"I know."
"Arthur discovered money missing from the company."
"The four hundred and twelve thousand?"
Leonard's eyebrows rose.
"You know about that."
"I saw Grandfather's recording."
Leonard sat back.
"Then you know more than I expected."
"Not enough."
He touched the envelope.
"Arthur initially believed your mother and Garrick were taking money."
"They were."
"Some of it."
"What does that mean?"
"The missing amount was larger."
Daniel asked, "How large?"
"A little over two million."
I stared at him.
"And Dad?"
"Your father's credentials authorized several transfers."
"He stole it?"
"That was how it looked."
"Was it true?"
Leonard shook his head.
"Peter came to me before Arthur died."
"Why?"
"He said someone had been using his access codes."
"Who?"
"He suspected your mother."
The room seemed to tilt.
"Why didn't he confront her?"
Leonard gave me a sad look.
"He did."
I remembered the shouting that year.
Dad sleeping in the guest room.
Mom telling me he was jealous of her relationship with Grandfather.
"What happened?"
"Your mother told him she had proof you were involved."
I almost laughed.
"I was twenty-one and working at a bookstore."
"That didn't matter."
"What proof could she possibly have?"
Leonard slid the envelope toward me.
Inside was a photocopy of a bank authorization form.
My name appeared on it.
My signature.
Again.
"Another forgery."
"Your father believed that too."
"Then why would he worry?"
"Because the account receiving the money was in your name."
I felt my face go numb.
"What account?"
"A custodial investment account Arthur had opened for you when you were a child."
"I never knew about it."
"Exactly."
Daniel understood before I did.
"They routed money through Clara's account."
Leonard nodded.
"Then moved it out."
I looked down at the paper.
"They were setting me up."
"Your father believed so."
"Mom was going to blame me for stealing from Grandfather?"
"If Arthur called police, yes."
The rage that moved through me was almost calm.
I finally understood the line on the video.
If you call the police, Clara loses everything.
Mom had not been making an empty threat.
She had built evidence.
"What did Dad do?"
Leonard rubbed his jaw.
"He asked me to remove the tape from the evidence room."
"Why?"
"Because the tape proved your mother and Garrick delayed calling for help."
"That makes no sense."
"He thought if your mother was prosecuted, she would retaliate by turning over the financial records implicating you."
I stared at him.
"So he protected her."
"He protected you."
"By protecting her."
Leonard did not argue.
"Did he take the tape?"
"No."
"Then who did?"
Leonard looked at his coffee.
"I did."
Daniel went completely still.
"You removed evidence from an active case?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Peter begged me."
"That is not a legal answer."
"It is the truth."
Leonard met my eyes.
"Your father was crying."
I had rarely seen Dad cry.
Once when his own mother died.
Once when Lily was born.
Once when he told me he was sick.
"He said you were pregnant and barely getting by."
Leonard continued.
"He said your mother would destroy your life before she let herself go to prison."
"She would have."
The words came out before I thought about them.
Leonard nodded.
"Peter believed the same."
"Where did the tape go?"
"I gave it to him."
"And?"
"He burned it."
I thought of Jonathan's copies.
"He didn't know Samuel had another."
"No."
Daniel crossed his arms.
"Why tell Clara now?"
Leonard's face tightened.
"Because three nights ago someone broke into my house."
My stomach dropped.
"What were they looking for?"
"This."
He tapped the envelope.
"How do you know?"
"Because everything else was untouched."
"Who knew you had it?"
"Peter."
"He's dead."
"And Marjorie."
I stared at him.
"Marjorie knew Dad came to you?"
"She drove him."
Suddenly every path led back to Marjorie.
"Where is she?"
Leonard looked surprised.
"I thought you knew."
"Daniel found her motel."
"Not anymore."
Daniel took out his phone.
"What do you mean?"
"She called me forty minutes ago."
"From where?"
"Bus station."
"Why?"
Leonard looked at me.
"She said she's leaving the state."
I stood.
"No."
"Clara—"
"She has evidence."
Daniel was already dialing.
"I'll call the station."
Leonard grabbed my wrist.
Not hard.
But enough to stop me.
"Let her go."
I pulled away.
"Why?"
"Because she is afraid for a reason."
"Of Mom?"
"No."
"Garrick?"
Leonard looked toward the diner window.
A black SUV had pulled into the parking lot.
His face changed.
"Get down."
Daniel reacted first.
He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me below the table.
The SUV door opened.
A man stepped out.
Not Garrick.
Not anyone I recognized.
He wore a dark coat and carried nothing visible.
Leonard slid from the booth.
"Kitchen exit."
"Who is he?" I whispered.
"Colin Wexler's security."
The wealth adviser.
Daniel looked at Leonard.
"How do you know?"
"Because he was in my house three nights ago."
We moved through the kitchen while the waitress shouted after us.
The cook pointed toward a metal door.
We pushed into the alley.
Cold air hit my face.
Daniel led us toward his car.
Then my phone rang.
Mom.
I answered without thinking.
"What?"
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Clara, you need to come home."
"Why?"
"Because Lily is here."
Every sound in the alley disappeared.
"What did you say?"
"Your daughter came to see me."
My legs nearly gave out.
"Put her on the phone."
Mom paused.
"Come home first."
May you like
The line went dead.
