Chapter 4 — The Person Behind The Murder Was Closer Than Daniel Realized
Chapter 4 — The Person Behind The Murder Was Closer Than Daniel Realized
The lights went out.
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Then someone screamed.
A chair scraped violently across the floor.
I heard glass shatter.
“Stay where you are!” Robert shouted.
But nobody listened.
I reached into my pocket for my phone and turned on the flashlight.
The beam cut through the darkness.
Lauren was standing beside the table.
Evelyn was pressed against the wall.
Michael had disappeared.
And the chair where he had been sitting was empty.
“Michael!”
No answer.
Victor rushed toward the door.
“It’s locked.”
Robert looked at him.
“From the inside?”
Victor checked the handle.
“Yes.”
I felt a strange calm settle over me.
Someone had planned this.
The blackout.
The locked door.
Michael’s disappearance.
Everything.
Then I heard a sound behind me.
A soft click.
I turned.
The gray-haired man who had been sitting silently at the end of the table was holding a small device.
The driver’s face.
The man from the photograph.
He looked at me.
“Daniel, you need to listen carefully.”
Robert immediately stepped between us.
“Put that down.”
The man didn’t move.
“My name is Thomas Reed.”
I stared at him.
“You were my father’s driver.”
“For six months.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because your father ordered me not to.”
“Why?”
Thomas looked toward Lauren.
“Because he didn’t trust anyone.”
Lauren whispered:
“Not even me.”
Thomas didn’t answer.
Instead, he placed the device on the table.
“I recorded everything your father told me during his final month.”
He pressed a button.
My father’s voice filled the room.
“If anything happens to me, Daniel cannot know the truth until he is ready.”
I closed my eyes.
Hearing his voice again almost broke me.
Then he continued.
“Richard knows about the accounts.”
Robert looked at me.
“Richard?”
My father continued.
“But Richard isn’t the one I’m afraid of.”
The recording crackled.
Then another voice appeared.
A woman.
I recognized it immediately.
Evelyn.
My head snapped toward her.
She went completely still.
My father’s voice continued.
“She knows what Michael is doing.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
“No…”
The recording played on.
Evelyn’s younger voice said:
“You can’t expose him. He’s my son.”
My father’s voice answered:
“Your son is going to destroy everything.”
Then another voice entered.
A man’s.
Older.
Calm.
Familiar.
I couldn’t place it.
“Arthur, you’re making a mistake.”
My father responded:
“Stay away from my family.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Evelyn.
“What did my father know about you?”
She shook her head.
“I didn’t kill him.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
She looked at the floor.
“I knew Michael was stealing.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I swear.”
Robert stepped forward.
“Then tell us everything.”
Evelyn finally sat down.
Her shoulders collapsed.
“Your father discovered Michael was using your company to move money into accounts overseas.”
I already knew that.
“What I didn’t know was that Michael had someone inside your father’s company.”
“Who?”
Evelyn looked at Lauren.
Lauren’s eyes widened.
“No.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Lauren.”
I turned toward my wife.
She immediately shook her head.
“I didn’t know.”
“You signed the documents,” Evelyn said.
“I thought they were legitimate.”
“You knew enough.”
Lauren’s voice broke.
“I knew there were financial transfers. I didn’t know anyone was going to die.”
I stepped away from her.
“Then who was the person inside my father’s company?”
Nobody answered.
Thomas finally spoke.
“Your father’s chief financial officer.”
I frowned.
“James Miller?”
Thomas nodded.
James Miller had worked for my father for twelve years.
He had attended my wedding.
He had given the speech at my rehearsal dinner.
And six years ago, he had stood beside me at my father’s funeral.
I felt sick.
“Where is he now?”
Robert pulled out his phone.
“Let me check.”
Before he could do anything, the hotel room door suddenly opened.
Michael stood there.
His shirt was torn.
Blood covered one side of his forehead.
Victor rushed toward him.
“What happened?”
Michael pushed him away.
“He’s here.”
“Who?”
Michael looked directly at me.
“James.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
Michael pointed toward the hallway.
“Room 608.”
We ran.
The hallway was empty.
Room 608’s door was slightly open.
Victor entered first.
Then Robert.
Then me.
The room was dark.
A laptop sat open on the desk.
Beside it was a stack of documents.
And on the wall was a photograph.
My father.
James.
Evelyn.
Michael.
And Lauren.
All five standing together at a company event six years before.
I stared at the photograph.
Lauren walked in behind me.
She gasped.
“I’ve never seen this.”
I looked at her.
“You were there.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“You’re in the photograph.”
“I know, but I don’t remember this event.”
Thomas stepped closer.
“Because it wasn’t a company event.”
I turned.
“What was it?”
“A private meeting.”
“When?”
Thomas looked at the photograph.
“Two days before your father died.”
I looked at Lauren.
Her face had gone white.
“What did we discuss?”
Thomas didn’t answer.
Instead, he pointed toward the laptop.
A video was paused on the screen.
I pressed play.
My father’s office appeared.
He was sitting behind his desk.
Across from him sat James.
And Lauren.
I stared at the screen.
My father looked exhausted.
“You promised me Daniel would be safe.”
James replied:
“He will be.”
My father shook his head.
“You’ve already involved Lauren.”
Lauren’s younger self looked terrified.
“I didn’t know what this was.”
James said:
“You know now.”
My father stood.
“Get out.”
James smiled.
“You don’t understand the situation.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“You can’t protect your son.”
My father reached for the phone.
James stood.
“Call the police, and Daniel dies before they arrive.”
The video stopped.
I stared at the screen.
Lauren was crying.
“I didn’t know.”
I believed her.
For the first time in months, I believed her.
Then I noticed something in the corner of the video.
A clock.
11:47 p.m.
The date was October 18.
The night before my father’s accident.
I turned toward Thomas.
“This was recorded the night before.”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened afterward?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Your father gave me the USB.”
“The one Lauren kept?”
Thomas nodded.
“He told me to take it to the police if he didn’t call me by midnight.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“Because someone came to my house.”
“Who?”
“James.”
I felt my blood run cold.
“He threatened you?”
“He showed me photographs of my daughter.”
Silence.
“He told me that if I went to the police, she would disappear.”
Robert’s expression hardened.
“And you stayed silent.”
“I was afraid.”
I looked at Thomas.
“I understand.”
He looked surprised.
Then I heard footsteps behind us.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Someone was walking down the hallway.
Everyone turned.
A man appeared at the far end.
James Miller.
He stopped when he saw us.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then James smiled.
“Daniel.”
I stepped forward.
“You killed my father.”
James shook his head.
“No.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
He looked at Lauren.
Then Michael.
Then Evelyn.
Finally, he looked at me.
“Your father wasn’t supposed to die that night.”
I froze.
“What?”
James lowered his voice.
“The accident wasn’t planned.”
Michael shouted:
“Don’t listen to him!”
James ignored him.
“Your father was supposed to disappear.”
“Why?”
“Because he discovered something.”
“What?”
James looked directly at Lauren.
“Your marriage.”
Lauren stepped backward.
“What about it?”
James smiled.
“Your father discovered that Lauren wasn’t supposed to marry you.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
James took a step closer.
“She was supposed to marry someone else.”
The hallway became silent.
Lauren stared at him.
“Who?”
James’s smile disappeared.
“Me.”
Lauren’s face went completely blank.
And then James said something that made me realize the affair had been only the smallest part of the lie.
“Because six years ago, before you ever met Daniel, Lauren and I were already engaged.”