Chapter 4 - THOMAS HALE
Thomas Hale refused to discuss details over the phone.
“I want an attorney present.”
Naomi took the phone from me.
“This is Naomi Grant.”
There was a pause.
“I know who you are.”
“Good.”
“Then you know I’m not meeting at the Collins house.”
“I wasn’t going to suggest it.”
“I’m not going to the police station tonight either.”
Naomi’s eyes narrowed.
“Mr. Hale, if you have evidence concerning financial crimes or the falsification of a DNA record, this is not a negotiation.”
“I know.”
“Then where?”
Thomas named a twenty-four-hour diner across town.
Naomi looked at me.
“No.”
“What?”
“You stay here.”
“I’m coming.”
“Your daughter is in a hospital.”
“She’s asleep.”
“And she will wake up looking for you.”
I hated that Naomi was right.
Daniel said:
“I’ll go.”
Naomi shook her head.
“No beneficiaries.”
Mark laughed bitterly.
“That eliminates half the city.”
Naomi ignored him.
“I’ll meet Hale.”
“I want to know immediately.”
“You will.”
I returned to Lily’s room.
She was sleeping under a blanket decorated with clouds.
Her birthday dress had been placed in a hospital bag.
A nurse had found soft pajamas for her.
I sat beside the bed.
Daniel entered quietly.
He stood by the door.
“Can I stay?”
I almost said no.
Then Lily shifted.
Her hand moved across the blanket, searching.
“Daddy?”
Daniel’s entire face changed.
He came to the bed.
“I’m here.”
Her eyes stayed closed.
“Don’t let Grandma take me outside.”
Daniel knelt so quickly the chair nearly tipped.
“She won’t.”
“Promise?”
His voice broke.
“I promise.”
Lily fell back asleep.
Daniel stayed kneeling.
I watched him.
For all my anger, I knew he loved her.
That made his failure worse, not better.
Love was supposed to make people move.
Not freeze.
After several minutes, he whispered:
“I don’t deserve you to forgive me.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
He nodded.
“I’m going to fix what I can anyway.”
“That’s what a father is supposed to do.”
“I know.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“I don’t think you did.”
He said nothing.
“At that party, you were still Daniel Collins first.”
“Your mother’s son.”
“Your family’s heir.”
“Your last name.”
“Your reputation.”
“And somewhere after all of that, you were Lily’s father.”
He closed his eyes.
“You’re right.”
“I need that order to change.”
“It already has.”
“You don’t get to say that.”
His eyes opened.
“You get to prove it.”
My phone buzzed.
Naomi.
I answered immediately.
“What happened?”
“I met Hale.”
“And?”
“He brought documents.”
“What documents?”
“Bank records.”
“How old?”
“Some from 1987.”
I stood.
Daniel looked at me.
“What do they show?”
Naomi’s voice was controlled.
“Payments from a Collins family account to Thomas Hale.”
“For what?”
“He says silence.”
I stared at the wall.
“Blackmail?”
“He calls it an agreement.”
“What was he being paid to stay silent about?”
Naomi paused.
“Mark.”
I looked at Daniel.
“He’s Mark’s biological father.”
Daniel turned away.
Even though we had expected it, hearing confirmation seemed to wound him.
Naomi continued.
“But that isn’t the most important part.”
“What is?”
“The account making the payments was never Richard’s personal account.”
I frowned.
“What was it?”
“The trust.”
I sat down.
“William’s trust?”
“Yes.”
“How could Margaret use trust money thirty-nine years ago?”
“She couldn’t.”
“Not legally.”
“Then who paid him?”
“Richard.”
That surprised me.
Naomi continued.
“Hale says Richard authorized the payments.”
“Why?”
“To keep Margaret’s affair private.”
I looked toward sleeping Lily.
“So Richard used trust money to hide Mark’s paternity.”
“That appears to be what happened initially.”
“Initially?”
“The payments were supposed to stop after five years.”
“They didn’t?”
“No.”
“How long?”
“Thirty-nine years.”
I felt cold.
“Richard died six years ago.”
“Yes.”
“So who continued them?”
“Margaret.”
“Using trust funds.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Not ninety million.”
“I’m not asking about the whole trust.”
“I know.”
Naomi exhaled.
“Based on the records Hale brought, approximately two-point-one million dollars over thirty-nine years.”
I almost laughed at the insanity.
“Two million dollars to keep a paternity secret?”
“Some payments increased.”
“Why?”
“Hale says Margaret became afraid the truth would affect Mark’s status.”
“But Richard knew.”
“Richard did.”
“William?”
“We don’t know.”
That was the key.
If William Collins had known Mark wasn’t biologically Richard’s son, maybe the trust had already been altered.
“Naomi.”
“Yes?”
“Find out whether William knew.”
“I intend to.”
The next morning, Lily was discharged.
We did not return to the birthday house.
That house belonged to Margaret.
Instead, I took Lily home.
Daniel drove separately.
When we arrived, a locksmith was already there.
Daniel had hired him at seven in the morning.
He changed every exterior lock.
The gate code.
Garage keypad.
Security system.
Then Daniel stood in the foyer holding the old brass key his mother had used for years.
He placed it on the counter.
“I should have done this months ago.”
“Yes.”
He didn’t argue.
At noon, Naomi arrived with an investigator named Elena Ruiz.
Elena was a former financial-crimes detective.
She was compact, quiet, and seemed to notice everything without appearing to look at anything.
She asked me to tell the story from the beginning.
Not the birthday party.
The beginning.
“When did Margaret first question Lily’s paternity?”
“Six months ago.”
“Anything happen around that time?”
I thought.
“No.”
“Think financially.”
I looked at Daniel.
His face changed.
“What?”
I asked.
He answered slowly.
“Six months ago was when Mom first asked me to sign the trust waiver.”
Elena wrote it down.
“When did Jessica arrange Mark’s DNA test?”
Mark, who had joined us by video call, answered.
“About five and a half months ago.”
Elena looked up.
“So within two weeks, Margaret did three things.”
She held up one finger.
“She asked Daniel to extend her trust control.”
Second.
“She had Mark secretly tested for biological eligibility.”
Third.
“She began suggesting Daniel’s daughter might not be his.”
Nobody spoke.
Elena lowered her hand.
“That’s planning.”
Naomi nodded.
“Exactly.”
Then Mark said something from the screen.
“There’s more.”
He looked exhausted.
“I went through my old emails.”
“And?”
“I found a message from Mom sent the week before she asked Jessica to arrange my test.”
He forwarded it.
Daniel opened it.
It contained a single sentence.
If Mark is ineligible, then everything depends on Lily.
No greeting.
No explanation.
No ambiguity.
Naomi leaned back.
“That’s very helpful.”
My phone rang.
This time I recognized the number.
Margaret.
I stared at it.
Daniel said:
“Don’t answer.”
Naomi shook her head.
“Answer.”
I put it on speaker.
“Jennifer.”
Margaret sounded calm.
Too calm.
“What do you want?”
“I want to speak to my son.”
Daniel remained silent.
“He can hear you.”
A pause.
“Daniel.”
Nothing.
“Your wife is destroying this family.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
I almost laughed.
Margaret continued.
“I made a mistake yesterday.”
“A mistake?”
Daniel finally said.
“You chained my daughter to a post.”
“She was never in danger.”
“Stop saying that.”
“You don’t understand the pressure I’m under.”
“What pressure justifies that?”
“You think this is about money.”
“It is.”
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“It is about what happens if the trust opens.”
Naomi’s eyes moved to me.
I leaned toward the phone.
“What happens?”
Margaret went quiet.
I waited.
“Margaret.”
“If the forensic audit begins, it won’t stop with me.”
Daniel frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means your father won’t survive it.”
Daniel’s face went rigid.
“My father is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then explain.”
Margaret inhaled shakily.
“When Richard died, you thought he left you a clean name.”
“He didn’t.”
Mark’s voice came through the laptop.
“What did Dad do?”
Margaret heard him.
She almost whispered his name.
“Mark.”
“Tell us.”
“I protected both of you.”
“From what?”
“From learning what your father really did.”
Daniel slammed his palm against the table.
“Then tell us!”
Margaret’s voice dropped.
“Your father stole from the trust before I ever did.”
Silence.
Then she added:
May you like
“And William Collins knew.”
The call ended.
