Chapter 5 - THE DEAD MAN WITH TWO NAMES
Brooke’s baby’s father was named Luke Mercer.
At least, that was the name Brooke knew.
Police found him inside a rented SUV near Cherry Creek Reservoir.
No visible trauma.
No weapon.
No identification except a fake driver’s license.
Caroline had never heard his name.
Graham had.
That was the problem.
When Brooke said it, Graham sat down.
“You know him,” Caroline said.
Graham looked stunned.
“Luke Mercer worked for my father.”
Brooke turned.
“What?”
“He was an accountant.”
“My Luke told me he was an independent financial consultant.”
“He lied.”
Caroline almost said welcome to the club.
She stopped herself.
Brooke looked broken enough.
Police discovered the dead man’s fingerprints belonged to someone else.
Lucas Martin.
Former forensic accountant.
Former employee of Hayes Development.
Fired nine years earlier.
For stealing.
Or supposedly stealing.
Brooke started crying.
“He told me he was investigating Graham.”
Graham looked at her.
“You believed him?”
“He showed me documents.”
“Which documents?”
“The ones proving you were moving money.”
“I wasn’t.”
Brooke’s face hardened.
“I saw transfers.”
“So did Caroline. They’re forged.”
Caroline watched them.
Brother and sister.
Both manipulated.
Both lying.
Both trusting the wrong people.
It was disturbingly familiar.
Sophia arrived with police information an hour later.
“Lucas Martin filed a whistleblower complaint nine years ago.”
Graham frowned.
“Against my father?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“Fraud, bribery, and illegal land acquisition.”
Caroline looked at Graham.
“Your father fired a whistleblower and accused him of stealing.”
Graham’s jaw tightened.
“That sounds like him.”
“What happened to the complaint?”
“Withdrawn.”
“Why?”
Sophia looked at Brooke.
“Because Lucas received a settlement.”
“How much?”
“Five million dollars.”
Brooke whispered, “He told me he never had money.”
“He didn’t,” Sophia said. “The settlement disappeared.”
“Where?”
“A trust.”
Caroline’s stomach tightened.
“Whose trust?”
Sophia turned the page.
“Beneficiary unknown.”
Brooke started shaking.
“He told me my father ruined him.”
“Charles?”
“Yes.”
“He said Charles Sutton and Walter Hayes destroyed his career.”
Graham rubbed his forehead.
“So he came back for revenge.”
“Maybe.”
Caroline hated that word now.
Maybe.
The autopsy suggested Lucas had been poisoned.
Not accidentally.
Police began treating his death as homicide.
Then Brooke revealed something else.
“Lucas had a key.”
“To what?” Sophia asked.
“A storage unit.”
“Where?”
“Golden.”
Police searched it that afternoon.
Inside were boxes of Hayes Development records.
Old ledgers.
Audio tapes.
Photographs.
And a laptop.
Most files were encrypted.
One was not.
A video.
Walter Hayes.
Graham’s father.
Recorded ten years earlier.
He sat behind the same desk Graham used now.
“We need Martin gone,” Walter said.
Another man answered.
“Fired?”
Walter shook his head.
“Gone.”
Caroline felt cold.
Graham stared at the screen.
The second man was off camera.
But his voice was clear.
“You understand what you’re asking.”
Walter replied:
“I understand exactly.”
Then the video ended.
Graham whispered, “My father ordered his murder.”
Sophia shook her head.
“Lucas survived nine more years.”
“So whoever Walter hired didn’t do it.”
“Or didn’t finish it.”
Brooke looked sick.
Police processed the audio.
The off-camera voice belonged to someone recognizable.
Someone currently prominent in Denver politics.
The district attorney called Sophia directly.
She hung up and looked at Caroline.
“You’re not going to like this.”
“Who was it?”
Sophia hesitated.
“Mayor Jonathan Pierce.”
Caroline stopped breathing.
Jonathan Pierce had been one of her foundation’s earliest donors.
He had presented her with an award two years ago.
And that evening at the Alder House Hotel—
he had been the man scheduled to present her Community Builder Award.
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But there was something even worse.
Pierce was also the largest secret investor in Hayes Development.
