As they headed toward the garage, Daniel’s phone bust. A text from Catherine. Forgot my wallet. Coming back for it. Give me 10 minutes, then I’ll head to the store. 10 minutes. Whatever they had planned was supposed to happen in the next 10 minutes. Daniel strapped Emma into her car’s seat and backed out of the garage, his mind already shifting into the cold, calculating mode that had made him successful in business.
As they drove toward the police station, he called his lawyer, his accountant, and his head of security, a former marine named Rick Sullivan, who’d been helping with site security for Daniel’s construction projects. Rick, I need you to meet me at the police station. Bring the surveillance equipment we’ve been testing for the job sites. All of it.
Damn, what’s my wife and my business partner are trying to kill me. I need evidence, and I need it tonight. The police took Daniel’s report seriously, especially when Emma repeated what she’d heard with startling clarity. Detective Linda Reyes, a sharp woman in her 40s, seemed particularly interested in the timeline.
Your wife thinks you’re still at home?” she asked. As far as she knows, yes. She texted that she’d be back in 10 minutes. That was 40 minutes ago. Detective Reyes nodded to her partner. “Let’s send a unit to do a wellness check.” While they waited, Rick arrived with enough surveillance equipment to stock a small electronic store.
A former military intelligence officer, Rick had been Daniel’s most trusted employee for 3 years. He was also the only person Daniel had ever told about his father’s murder when Daniel was 16. A crime that had never been solved, but which Daniel had spent 20 years quietly investigating and planning retribution for. “Boss, talk to me,” Rick said, setting up a laptop in the police station conference room.
Daniel explained a situation while Emma colored quietly in the corner, wearing noiseancelling headphones the child psychologist had provided. “I think they’ve been planning this for months. Maybe longer. What’s your play? Daniel’s smile was cold. We give them exactly what they think they want. But first, I need to know everything.
Every meeting, every phone call, every text message. I want to know when this started and how deep it goes. The wellness check revealed an empty house with signs of hasty departure. Catherine’s purse was gone along with a suitcase that had been in their bedroom closet. More telling was what Daniel’s security system had recorded.
Trevor’s car in the driveway at 300 p.m. 2 hours before Catherine claimed she was going to the store. Over the next three days, while staying in a secure hotel with Emma, Daniel began to understand the scope of the betrayal. Rick’s investigation revealed that Catherine and Trevor had been planning not just his murder, but the theft of his entire company.
They’ve been slowly moving assets, creating shell companies, and positioning themselves to claim everything after his accidental death. The insurance policy Catherine had convinced him to increase 6 months ago suddenly made sense. So did Trevor’s insistence on restructuring their business partnership to include a succession clause that would transfer Daniel’s shares to the surviving partner in case of death.
But Daniel’s rayal breakthrough came from an unexpected source. Emma herself. Daddy, she said on Thursday morning as they had breakfast in their hotel room, I remembered something else. What’s that, sweetheart? When Uncle Trevor was talking to mommy, he said something about Grandpa Danny, Daniel’s father, the man who’d been killed in what police had ruled a construction accident.
A beam that fell at just the wrong moment, crushing Daniel Morrison, Senior, while he was inspecting a job site. What did Uncle Trevor say about Grandpa Danny? He said it worked once, it would work again. The room seemed to tilt. Daniel had always suspected his father’s death wasn’t an accident, but he never had proof.
Now, suddenly, he realized that Trevor Higgins, who’d been a junior safety inspector 22 years ago, had been involved. Rick looked up from his laptop. Boss, you need to see this. I’ve been digging into Trevor’s background like you asked. The screen showed a series of connections. Daniel had never noticed.
Trevor hadn’t just happened into Daniel’s life five years ago. He’d specifically targeted him, befriending him, positioning himself to become a business partner, even encouraging Daniel’s relationship with Catherine, whom Trevor had dated briefly in college. “It’s been a long con,” Rick said quietly. “Everything, your marriage, the business partnership, all of it.