Chapter 13 - THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN STANDING BESIDE HER
Curtis Miller did not run.
That almost made it worse.
He simply sat down at Table 14 and stared at the ledger.
Emily stood across from him.
“Explain.”
Curtis swallowed.
“The payment wasn’t for Laura.”
“Then what was it for?”
“My silence.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“About what?”
Curtis looked at Emily.
“Your mother.”
Susan stiffened.
“What about me?”
Curtis took a breath.
“Nine years ago, Marcus found Susan.”
Emily’s mother went pale.
“Where?”
“Louisville.”
Susan looked shocked.
“I moved before anyone came.”
“Because I warned you.”
Susan stared.
“You?”
Curtis nodded.
“I sent the anonymous note.”
Emily remembered her mother’s story.
She had spent years believing Curtis was nothing more than a mean restaurant manager.
But apparently everyone in her life had another face.
“Why help her?”
Curtis laughed bitterly.
“Because I grew up listening to my father explain why bad things were necessary.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Eventually you realize necessary is the word cowards use when they want to sleep at night.”
Emily said nothing.
Curtis continued.
“Marcus paid me to tell him where Susan was. I took the money.”
Emily’s jaw tightened.
“Then warned her?”
“Yes.”
“You kept the money?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was twenty-eight and stupid.”
Emily almost laughed.
“That’s your defense?”
“No.”
Curtis looked at her.
“That’s my confession.”
Daniel opened the ledger again.
“This payment was routed through Richard Vale.”
Curtis nodded.
“Richard has handled Marcus’s money for years.”
Susan looked toward the window.
“So Richard knows his father is alive.”
“Yes.”
“And where he is?”
“Yes.”
Emily asked, “Do you?”
Curtis hesitated.
“Maybe.”
Everyone stared.
“There’s an old Halpern property across the river. An abandoned church converted into offices.”
Daniel pulled out his phone.
“We call the FBI.”
Curtis shook his head.
“Marcus will disappear.”
“He won’t have time.”
“He always has time.”
Emily looked at Daniel.
“What would make him stay?”
Daniel stared at the ledger.
“This.”
Emily understood.
“No.”
Daniel smiled slightly.
“I wasn’t going to suggest you carry it.”
“Good.”
“We make a copy.”
An hour later, federal agents were briefed.
A controlled meeting was arranged.
Curtis contacted Richard and claimed Emily wanted to negotiate.
By noon, Richard replied.
Bring the ledger.
Come alone.
St. Matthew Annex.
6 p.m.
At 5:58, Emily walked through the church doors with a fake ledger inside her bag and a wire beneath her sweater.
Daniel hated the plan.
Susan hated it more.
But Emily refused to hide again.
Inside, candles flickered along the walls.
Richard waited near the altar.
And beside him stood an older man.
Marcus Halpern.
Seventy-six.
Thin.
Elegant.
Very much alive.
He smiled.
“Robert’s daughter.”
Emily’s hands curled.
“You killed my father.”
“No.”
“You let him die.”
Marcus considered this.
“Closer.”
Richard looked uncomfortable.
Emily noticed.
Father and son were not united.
Good.
She opened her bag.
“You want the ledger?”
Marcus’s eyes sharpened.
“Yes.”
“Why now?”
“Because Daniel Reeves built an empire using opportunities my money created.”
Emily laughed.
“You mean money you stole.”
“History belongs to whoever can afford the lawyers.”
Emily thought of her father.
Her mother.
Laura.
Nineteen years.
“No,” she said. “History belongs to whoever survives long enough to tell the truth.”
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
Richard stepped forward.
“Give us the book.”
Emily held it tighter.
Then Richard turned suddenly.
And pointed a gun at Marcus.
Everyone froze.
Marcus stared at his son.
“What are you doing?”
Richard’s hand shook.
“Ending this.”
Emily’s heart raced.
Marcus laughed softly.
“You don’t have the courage.”
Richard swallowed.
“No.”
Then looked at Emily.
“But she does.”
Outside, sirens began screaming.
Marcus’s face changed.
Richard lowered the gun.
“I called them.”
Emily stared.
Richard had betrayed his father.
But before the federal agents entered, Marcus leaned close to Emily.
“You think Robert was your father’s only secret?”
Emily froze.
May you like
Marcus smiled.
“Ask Susan who Tyler’s biological father is.”
