Chapter 9 - THE DAUGHTER WHO CARRIED THE MISSING TRUTH
Rachel had been seventeen when her father died.
She was still in high school.
She had never mentioned visiting Meridian's security office.
And now Harold Price was telling me she had been there the morning Daniel collapsed.
I stared at my phone.
“Harold, are you certain?”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“What was she doing?”
“I don't know. Charles brought her in. She looked upset.”
I ended the call and sat motionless.
Margaret watched me.
“Evelyn?”
I shook my head.
“I need to talk to Rachel.”
I found her upstairs in her childhood bedroom.
She sat on the edge of the bed, holding Daniel's old bracelet.
I'd left the gift box on the kitchen table the night before.
She looked up.
“Mom?”
I sat beside her.
“Rachel, I need you to tell me something.”
Her expression changed.
“What?”
“Were you at Meridian the morning your father died?”
All the color drained from her face.
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
Then tears filled her eyes.
“I was.”
My heart broke.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
She covered her mouth.
“Because Charles told me you'd blame yourself.”
I stared at her.
“Explain.”
Rachel began crying.
“Dad called me the night before. He said he needed to talk about something important.”
“What did he say?”
“He said someone at Meridian had been stealing money. He was afraid it could hurt you.”
I squeezed her hand.
“Go on.”
“The next morning, Charles called me. He said Dad had become upset and asked me to come to the office.”
“Did you see your father?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“When I arrived, Charles told me Dad had already been taken to the hospital.”
I felt sick.
“Then why did you go to the security office?”
“Charles said he needed help finding Dad's notes.”
My heart pounded.
“Did you help him?”
Rachel nodded.
“He asked me to identify Dad's handwriting on a blue folder.”
The room seemed to spin.
“The blue file?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to it?”
“Charles took it.”
I swallowed.
“Rachel, why didn't you tell me?”
She sobbed.
“Because after Dad died, Charles said the file contained proof that Dad had made financial mistakes. He said if anyone saw it, Meridian could collapse and we'd lose everything.”
I stared at my daughter.
“You believed him?”
“I was seventeen, Mom.”
Her voice cracked.
“I'd just lost Dad. And Charles told me you were already suffering enough.”
I pulled her into my arms.
For years, someone had used my daughter's grief to keep her silent.
I kissed her hair.
“You were a child.”
She cried harder.
Then she whispered something that made my stomach drop.
“Mom, there's one thing Charles doesn't know.”
I pulled back.
“What?”
“Before he took the blue folder, I removed one page.”
I stared at her.
“Where is it?”
Rachel looked toward the closet.
“I kept it.”
She reached behind an old shoebox and removed a folded sheet of paper.
Daniel's handwriting covered the page.
At the bottom was a warning.
Charles is not acting alone.
May you like
Beneath it, my husband had written a second name.
Grant Whitmore.
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