Chapter 5: The Night Nathan Vanished
"The night Nathan Cole disappeared, Claire was with him.""
Emily's words seemed to hang in my father's office.
I looked down at the letter again.
My father's handwriting continued beneath the sentence that had stopped me cold.
Claire told me Nathan threatened to expose everything. She believed he wanted money. I believed her. That was my first mistake.
I read the next paragraph twice.
Nathan Cole had not been some stranger who drifted briefly through Claire's life.
He had worked for my father's company.
More specifically, he had worked in the accounting department of Bennett Development, the real-estate business my father built before I took control of it.
Nathan had discovered something.
Something serious enough to frighten Claire.
"What did he find?"" I asked.
Emily shook her head.
"Dad never told me.""
The letter did.
Three weeks before Ava's birth, Nathan brought me copies of financial records. He claimed money was being moved through construction companies that did not exist.
I lowered the page.
"Shell companies.""
Emily stared at me.
"You know about them?""
"No.""
But I knew someone who might.
At 8:10 the next morning, I walked into Bennett Development's archive room with Marcus beside me.
His arm was bandaged from Daniel's attack.
"You should be resting," I said.
Marcus gave me a look.
"So should you.""
Fair enough.
Our records manager, Janet Ellis, met us near the filing cabinets.
She had worked for my father for twenty-seven years.
When I mentioned Nathan Cole, the folder in her hand slipped.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
But I noticed.
"You knew him.""
Janet adjusted her glasses.
"I knew everyone back then.""
"Tell me about Nathan.""
"He was young. Smart.""
"Anything else?""
She hesitated.
"Persistent.""
Marcus folded his arms.
"Persistent about what?""
Janet looked toward the door.
Then she lowered her voice.
"Missing money.""
My pulse jumped.
"How much?""
"Millions.""
I stared at her.
"Why was I never told?""
"Because your father shut down the internal review.""
That didn't sound like him.
"Why?""
"I never understood.""
Janet walked toward an old cabinet and unlocked it.
From the back, she removed a thin file.
"I kept this.""
Inside were copies of invoices.
Construction projects.
Payments.
Company names I didn't recognize.
Then one name appeared repeatedly.
Mercer Holdings.
Daniel's family company.
My stomach tightened.
"Daniel?""
Janet nodded.
"His father owned it then.""
Marcus leaned closer.
"So Nathan was investigating the Mercer family?""
"Among others.""
I remembered Daniel standing over Ava in that video.
Claire defending him.
Suddenly their marriage felt less accidental.
"When did Nathan disappear?""
"October nineteenth.""
Three days before Ava was born.
I looked at Janet.
"What happened that night?""
She took a breath.
"Nathan called me.""
"What did he say?""
"He said he had proof.""
"Proof of what?""
"That somebody inside Bennett Development was helping Mercer Holdings steal from your father's company.""
"Who?""
"He wouldn't say over the phone.""
Janet's eyes moved toward the folder.
"He said he was meeting Claire.""
The room went quiet.
"Why Claire?""
"Because she worked here.""
I stared at her.
Claire had told me she met my father through me.
Apparently, that was another lie.
"What was her job?""
"Executive records.""
Which meant access.
Contracts.
Payments.
Internal signatures.
Everything Nathan had been investigating.
Marcus asked, "Did police question her?""
Janet gave a humorless laugh.
"There was no police investigation.""
"What?""
"Nathan wasn't reported missing.""
I felt cold.
"How does a man disappear without anyone reporting him?""
"His resignation arrived the next morning.""
Janet pulled out another document.
I recognized the signature immediately.
Nathan Cole.
Except now I knew what forged paperwork looked like.
"Was this verified?""
"No.""
"Why not?""
"Your father ordered everyone to let it go.""
I stepped back.
My father hadn't merely known about Nathan.
He had helped make Nathan disappear on paper.
My phone rang.
Detective Brooks.
I answered immediately.
"Liam, we finished the preliminary review of the second tablet.""
I glanced at Marcus.
"What did you find?""
"Most of the recent recordings involve Ava. But there are older files.""
"How old?""
"Nearly eleven years.""
My throat tightened.
"That's impossible. Ava's tablet isn't that old.""
"They were transferred onto it from another device.""
"What files?""
Brooks paused.
"Audio recordings.""
"Of who?""
"Claire. Your father. And someone identified as Nathan.""
I gripped the phone.
"Play them.""
"Not over the phone.""
"Detective—"
"You need to come here.""
Something in her tone silenced me.
Thirty minutes later, I sat inside an evidence room wearing headphones.
Brooks clicked the first recording.
Static.
Then Claire's younger voice.
"You said nobody would get hurt.""
A man's voice answered.
Nathan.
"That was before I saw the accounts.""
"You don't understand what you're doing.""
"I understand perfectly.""
Then another voice.
My father.
"Nathan, give me the files.""
"No.""
"Think carefully.""
"I already have.""
There was movement.
A door.
Then Nathan said something that made me lean toward the speaker.
"If anything happens to me, Liam gets everything.""
The recording ended.
I pulled off the headphones.
"What happened next?""
Brooks looked troubled.
"We have another file.""
She played it.
This recording began inside a car.
Claire was crying.
My father said, "Where is Nathan?""
"I don't know.""
"Claire.""
"I swear.""
"Then explain the blood on your sleeve.""
My stomach turned.
Claire's voice broke.
"He came to the house. Daniel was there.""
Daniel.
Even then.
My father cursed.
"What did Daniel do?""
Claire whispered something too softly to hear.
Brooks increased the volume.
The words became clear.
"He took Nathan away.""
The recording stopped.
I stared through the glass wall.
"Daniel knew Nathan.""
"Apparently.""
"And Claire married him anyway.""
Brooks nodded slowly.
"Years later.""
My phone vibrated.
A message from Emily.
LIAM. COME HOME NOW.
Underneath was a photograph.
Ava was standing beside an open storage box.
In her hands was an old picture.
Three people stood together in it.
Claire.
Nathan.
And Daniel.
On the back, someone had written:
*To Claire and Daniel—thank you for keeping my brother's secret. —N*
May you like
Nathan wasn't Daniel's enemy.
He was his brother.
