Chapter 6 - Lucas Cole Was Never LucasThe next morning, Evelyn found the truth.
Lucas Cole did not exist.
Not under that name.
Not under that address.
Not under the identity records Daniel had used for payments.
The man's real name was Thomas Reed.
He had been using three identities for nearly a decade.
One of them had crossed paths with Carter Construction Group twelve years earlier.
I stared at the dossier.
“Why did Daniel call him Lucas?”
“Because Vanessa knew him that way.”
“And Vanessa?”
“We are still trying to locate her.”
The report contained photographs.
Thomas Reed in a government office.
Thomas Reed at a private dinner.
Thomas Reed beside Marcus Vale.
Thomas Reed with Richard Mercer.
Then one photograph stopped me.
Thomas stood beside my father.
The date was eleven years earlier.
The year I married Daniel.
“Why was my father meeting him?”
Evelyn turned the page.
“Because Thomas wasn't working for Daniel.”
“He was working for my father.”
“Apparently.”
I felt the room close in.
Everything I thought I understood was dissolving.
My father wasn't merely the victim.
He had been investigating something.
Maybe preparing for it.
Maybe even manipulating the people around him.
Then we discovered the phone.
Hidden in the safe.
Old.
Black.
No SIM card.
One contact.
Dad.
I almost laughed.
“Of course.”
Evelyn found the password.
It wasn't a number.
It was a phrase.
One my father used whenever he teased me.
Numbers don't lie. People do.
The phone unlocked.
There were hundreds of messages.
The newest was six months old.
From my father to Thomas.
The transfer is complete. She knows nothing.
I stared.
“She?”
Evelyn scrolled.
More messages.
Daniel is moving too fast.
Richard thinks he controls the pipeline. He doesn't.
Do not let Claire know until I confirm the second ledger exists.
My hands trembled.
“What transfer?”
Evelyn read the attached document.
A trust account.
Four million dollars.
The beneficiary was Noah.
I stared at my son's name.
“What is this?”
“A protection trust.”
“For Noah?”
“Yes.”
My father had secretly moved four million dollars into a trust for my son.
But one more document was attached.
It named me as successor trustee.
And Daniel as excluded beneficiary.
I sat back.
My father had planned for this.
Not just for divorce.
For collapse.
I looked at the timestamps.
The final message was sent three days before his death.
If I die, Richard will make Daniel believe the money is his. Let him.
I read it twice.
Then:
Claire will know when she finds the yellow envelope.
I froze.
The yellow envelope.
It suddenly meant more than divorce papers.
There was another file attached.
Encrypted.
Evelyn tried to open it.
Password required.
“What password?”
“I don't know.”
I stared at the screen.
Something clicked.
The navy suit.
Our tenth anniversary.
Daniel had worn it on the day my father warned me not to trust him.
I entered the date.
The file opened.
A spreadsheet appeared.
Not company finances.
Personal finances.
Daniel's.
Luxury gifts.
Private apartments.
Jewelry.
Cash payments.
And one recurring expense.
MERCER CONSULTING
Every month.
For eight years.
I looked at Evelyn.
“Richard never left the company.”
“He did.”
“Then why was Daniel paying him?”
“Because Richard was controlling something.”
“What?”
She scrolled.
At the bottom of the spreadsheet was one line.
PROJECT ORION
No amount.
No recipient.
Just a code.
“What is Project Orion?”
Evelyn didn't know.
Then Noah walked into the room.
He looked at the screen.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“That's the man from Grandpa's house.”
He pointed to the photograph of Richard.
“You're sure?”
Noah nodded.
“He gave Dad a box.”
“What box?”
“A long black box.”
“Did you see inside?”
“No.”
“Where did Dad take it?”
Noah looked at me.
“Into Grandpa's office.”
My heart raced.
“My father's office?”
“At Grandpa's funeral house.”
I stared at him.
He had seen more than we realized.
“What happened next?”
Noah hesitated.
“Dad and Uncle Richard were arguing.”
“What did they say?”
“I don't remember everything.”
“Anything?”
He looked at the floor.
“Dad said, ‘She was supposed to stay blind.’”
My blood turned cold.
“Who was he talking about?”
“You.”
I closed my eyes.
“And Richard said something.”
“What?”
Noah swallowed.
“He said, ‘If Claire sees the second account, we're finished.’”
Evelyn went still.
“The second account.”
I looked at her.
“The second ledger.”
“Yes.”
My phone buzzed.
A video had arrived.
No sender.
I played it.
It showed Daniel in a parking garage.
He was talking to Richard.
Then Vanessa entered the frame.
Then Thomas Reed.
Richard handed Daniel a package.
Daniel opened it.
Inside was a passport.
Then Richard said:
“You need to leave tonight.”
Daniel looked startled.
“Leave where?”
“Anywhere.”
“And Claire?”
Richard smiled.
“Claire won't be your problem.”
Then the video ended.
A second message arrived.
Ask Daniel why he bought Vanessa a house.
I stared at the screen.
“Where is the house?”
Evelyn answered quietly.
“That's what we're about to find out.”
Then the investigator called.
He had located Vanessa.
She wasn't hiding.
She had been waiting.
May you like
And she had one demand before speaking to us.
She wanted protection from Daniel.
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