Chapter 6 - THE NIGHT HIS FATHER DIED
Damon Bianchi had spent eighteen years believing his father was murdered by a rival crime family.
Now a dead woman's letter was telling him everything he'd been taught was a lie.
"Read the rest," he said.
Delaney looked down.
Her mother's handwriting trembled across the aging paper.
Damon's father discovered that someone close to him was stealing money from the family companies.
He planned to confront the person at a private dinner.
He never survived the night.
Damon gripped the edge of the table.
Frank's face had gone pale.
Delaney continued.
The official report claimed he was shot during an attempted robbery.
That was false.
I examined his body before it was transferred. He had been drugged before the shooting.
Damon closed his eyes.
His father.
The man who had taught him to ride a bicycle, tie a necktie, and never betray family.
Murdered from within.
"Who did it?" Damon asked.
Delaney unfolded another page.
I suspected someone. But I had no proof strong enough to survive what would come next.
Evelyn and I collected documents, photographs, and financial records.
We placed them in the trust to protect our children.
A second envelope contained a small digital storage device.
Frank examined it.
"May I?"
Damon nodded.
They moved into the bank's private conference room.
Frank connected the device to an isolated computer.
Several folders appeared.
Financial transactions.
Photographs.
Scanned letters.
A video file.
Damon clicked it.
The screen showed a much younger Margaret Whitfield sitting in a dimly lit office.
Her expression was frightened.
"If anything happens to me, this recording must reach Evelyn Bianchi."
She swallowed.
"The man who arranged Thomas Bianchi's murder was never arrested."
The camera shifted.
A folder opened on the desk.
Inside was a photograph of a younger Frank standing beside Thomas Bianchi.
Delaney glanced at Frank.
He stared at the screen without moving.
Margaret continued.
"I don't know who ordered the murder, but I know who altered the medical report."
A name appeared on a document.
Dr. Richard Mercer.
Damon's expression hardened.
"Mercer?"
Frank whispered something under his breath.
Delaney looked between them.
"Who is he?"
Damon answered slowly.
"My mother's personal physician."
The same doctor who had been treating Evelyn's memory problems for nearly three years.
The same doctor who insisted her confusion was worsening.
The same doctor who had personally recommended that Evelyn stop leaving the mansion without supervision.
Damon immediately called his head of security.
"Nobody gives my mother medication until I return."
A pause.
Then his expression changed.
"What do you mean she's gone?"
Delaney felt her stomach drop.
Damon listened.
His knuckles whitened around the phone.
Then he spoke three words.
"Find Victoria. Now."
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Because Evelyn Bianchi had disappeared again.
And the security cameras showed her leaving with Dr. Mercer.
