Chapter 8 - NATALIE'S SECRET
Natalie sat at my kitchen table for twenty minutes before speaking.
“I was there.”
My throat tightened.
“When Dad took the pill?”
She nodded.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I didn’t know it mattered.”
“What happened?”
“Mom gave Dad a glass of water. Grant was there. Thomas was there.”
“All four of them?”
“Yes.”
“What did Dad say?”
“He was angry.”
“About what?”
“The trust.”
Emma’s trust.
Natalie continued.
“Dad said he was removing Grant and Mom as trustees.”
That explained the urgency.
“When did he take the pill?”
“After they argued. Grant told Mom Dad’s heart was acting up.”
“Then?”
“Mom gave it to him.”
“What did Grant do?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“He watched.”
My skin prickled.
“What about Thomas?”
Natalie went pale.
“He left.”
“When?”
“Right before Dad collapsed.”
That mattered.
Maybe more than anything else.
Thomas knew what was coming.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“Mom told me Dad had a normal heart attack.”
“And after Laura died?”
Natalie started crying.
“I wanted to ask questions.”
“But?”
“Mom said if I destroyed the family, your daughter would grow up without anyone.”
I stared at her.
“Laura was already dead.”
“I know.”
“You let me think her death was my fault.”
Natalie flinched.
“I was scared.”
“So was everybody.”
“Daniel—”
“No. Fear doesn’t erase choices.”
I walked out before I said something I couldn’t take back.
Ortiz found me on the porch.
“We have another problem.”
I almost laughed.
“What now?”
“Thomas disappeared.”
“Of course he did.”
“His office was emptied overnight.”
“Where’s Grant?”
“Still here.”
“That means Thomas is afraid of him.”
“Or protecting him.”
I looked toward the street.
“Thomas told me Grant didn’t kill Dad.”
Ortiz nodded slowly.
“Maybe that’s why he ran.”
Then she handed me a copy of an email.
Sent from my father to Thomas six hours before his death.
You will meet me tomorrow at 9. Bring every trust document. If you refuse, I go to the authorities.
There had never been a tomorrow.
That changed Thomas from witness to suspect.
By evening, federal agents froze part of the Mercer accounts.
But Emma’s trust remained vulnerable.
Grant’s emergency petition claimed the trust assets needed restructuring because criminal proceedings threatened company solvency.
If approved, assets could move beyond immediate jurisdiction.
The hearing was scheduled in two days.
For the first time, the mystery became a clock.
May you like
We had forty-eight hours.
And the person who knew how to stop it had vanished.
