Chapter 6 - My Stepmother Came Back With a DealDetective Reed arrested Richard before sunset.
Not for my mother’s death.
Not yet.
He was arrested for obstruction related to Daniel’s investigation and held for questioning while prosecutors reviewed everything else.
Evan disappeared.
His apartment was empty.
His office computer had been wiped.
His company phone was found in a trash can near the airport.
By then, Mercer Holdings had become a crime scene wrapped inside a corporation.
Board meetings happened with attorneys present.
Accounts were frozen.
Employees whispered.
Journalists camped outside the headquarters.
And somehow, I became acting chairwoman because Daniel’s voting shares had transferred to me.
I had a premature newborn.
I hadn’t slept more than three hours at a time.
I had no interest in becoming a corporate executive.
Yet on Monday morning I sat at the head of Daniel’s conference table.
His chair.
I almost couldn’t do it.
Thirty-two executives watched me.
Some with sympathy.
Some with doubt.
One with open annoyance.
His name was Charles Weller, a board member in his sixties.
“With respect, Mrs. Mercer,” he said, “this company requires experienced leadership.”
“I agree.”
His expression softened slightly.
“That is why the board should consider appointing—”
“I hired one.”
He stopped.
I nodded toward the door.
A woman entered.
Dana Mitchell had spent twenty-three years restructuring technology and logistics companies.
She was fifty-one, sharp-eyed, and had rejected three CEO offers that year.
Daniel had tried to hire her twice.
I had hired her in one phone call.
“Ms. Mitchell will serve as interim chief executive,” I said.
Charles stared.
“You had authority to do this?”
Mr. Bennett, seated against the wall, answered.
“She does.”
That moment changed how the room looked at me.
They had expected a grieving widow.
They got one.
They simply hadn’t understood that grieving women could still read contracts.
After the meeting, Dana walked beside me through Daniel’s office.
“You don’t want this job,” she said.
“Not even slightly.”
“Good.”
I looked at her.
“That’s usually a strange qualification.”
“People who desperately want power make dangerous trustees.”
I ran my fingers over Daniel’s desk.
“Save the company.”
“I can stabilize it.”
“Protect the employees.”
“I’ll try.”
“And find every dollar Evan stole.”
Dana smiled without humor.
“That part I’m going to enjoy.”
When I returned home, Kelsey was waiting outside.
She stood beside a rented sedan wearing sunglasses large enough to hide half her face.
My security guard, Aaron, blocked the gate.
“Mrs. Mercer, she says she has information.”
Kelsey removed the sunglasses.
For once, she looked twenty-four.
Not polished.
Not superior.
Just scared.
“I need to talk to you.”
“No.”
“Please.”
That word sounded unnatural coming from her.
I kept walking.
“Emily, I know where Evan is.”
I stopped.
Ten minutes later we sat on opposite sides of my porch.
I refused to let her inside.
Kelsey wrapped both hands around a paper coffee cup.
“I left Richard because Evan contacted me.”
“When?”
“Three nights ago.”
“What did he say?”
“That Richard had talked.”
“Anything else?”
“He told me to leave Columbus.”
“Why?”
She looked away.
“Because I knew things.”
“What things?”
“Kelsey.”
“I helped move money.”
I already suspected that.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Maybe six hundred thousand?”
“Maya found more.”
Her face changed.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
She looked toward the yard.
“I didn’t know someone could go to prison for those transfers.”
I almost laughed.
“You thought corporations gave out secret six-figure gifts?”
“Richard said they were consulting payments.”
“What consulting?”
“I posted marketing content.”
“For a construction company?”
“I have followers.”
I stared at her.
Some people lied intelligently.
Kelsey relied on confidence.
“Where’s Evan?”
She lowered her voice.
“He has a cabin.”
“Where?”
“West Virginia.”
“Address?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then you’re wasting my time.”
“I know who might.”
“Who?”
“His sister.”
I leaned forward.
“Name.”
“Rachel Cross.”
“Where?”
“Pittsburgh.”
I stood.
Kelsey grabbed my wrist.
Aaron moved instantly.
She released me.
“Wait.”
I looked down at her.
“What do you want?”
Her lips trembled.
“Immunity.”
I almost admired the audacity.
“You’re negotiating with the wrong person.”
“You control the company.”
“Not the prosecutors.”
“You can tell them I cooperated.”
“If you cooperate.”
“I will.”
“Then start with the truth.”
Her eyes filled.
“I didn’t know Richard had hurt you.”
“You watched him drag me.”
“I mean before that.”
“What difference does that make?”
“I thought he was going to scare you.”
I felt my anger sharpen.
“You laughed when my water broke.”
She flinched.
“I panicked.”
“No. You laughed.”
“I know.”
“And then you posted online that I attacked him.”
“I was protecting Richard.”
“No. You were protecting your lifestyle.”
Her face hardened.
For a second, the old Kelsey returned.
“You think you’re so much better than me?”
“No.”
I surprised both of us.
“I think I had a husband who loved me enough to protect me. And instead of learning from that, you married a man you could use.”
She looked away.
That one landed.
Kelsey eventually gave Detective Reed everything she had.
Phones.
Messages.
Bank information.
A storage locker key.
The locker contained designer clothes, cash, and documents Richard had apparently asked her to hide.
But no information about Daniel.
Rachel Cross became the next lead.
Detective Reed found her in Pittsburgh.
She hadn’t spoken with Evan in three years.
But she remembered the cabin.
Their father owned it when they were children.
A remote property outside Davis, West Virginia.
Police moved quickly.
The cabin was empty.
Still warm.
Food on the table.
A laptop burning in the fireplace.
Evan had left minutes earlier.
State police found tire tracks leading toward a mountain road.
No vehicle.
No body.
Nothing.
For the next four days, America seemed capable of hiding one man effortlessly.
Meanwhile, the old surveillance tape from my mother’s crash resurfaced.
Kelsey’s storage locker contained a safe deposit key.
The box belonged to Richard.
Inside was the original VHS tape Evan had used to blackmail him.
Police restored the footage.
I chose not to watch.
Detective Reed did.
He confirmed enough.
Evan driving.
Richard beside him.
My mother’s car entering the intersection.
Impact.
Two young men getting out.
Then leaving.
I sat in the police station holding Daniel’s wedding ring on a chain around my neck.
“You don’t need the details,” Detective Reed said.
“Good.”
“Richard has agreed to cooperate fully.”
“Now?”
“He knows the evidence is overwhelming.”
I felt no satisfaction.
“That should’ve happened twenty-two years ago.”
“Yes.”
“What does he face?”
“That will depend on prosecutors, statutes, and his current cooperation.”
I nodded.
“What about Daniel?”
Reed’s expression changed.
“We found something in the recovered laptop.”
My body went rigid.
“What?”
“A deleted draft email from Evan.”
“To whom?”
“Richard.”
“What did it say?”
Detective Reed slid a printout across the table.
The message had never been sent.
He confronted me. He knows about Laura. He knows about the accounts. If he goes to the police, we’re both finished. I’ll handle him.
Timestamp:
Six hours before Daniel’s death.
I covered my mouth.
Detective Reed continued.
“We also found purchase records.”
“For what?”
“Automotive equipment.”
“What kind?”
“Tools consistent with tampering with a vehicle’s brake system.”
The room blurred.
“No.”
“We haven’t proven he used them.”
“Daniel said the brakes felt strange.”
I remembered suddenly.
Two days before he died.
We had been driving to dinner.
Daniel pressed the pedal at a light and frowned.
That’s weird.
I asked what.
He said the brakes felt soft.
He promised to take the car to the mechanic.
He never did.
I began shaking.
Detective Reed reached toward me, then stopped.
“We’re having the wrecked vehicle reexamined.”
“Where is it?”
“Insurance storage.”
The car still existed.
Evidence still existed.
Daniel might have been murdered.
I went home and sat beside Sophie’s crib for three hours.
At midnight, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered because fear was no longer enough to stop me.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then Evan Cross spoke.
“You should have accepted the accident.”
Every muscle in my body froze.
“Where are you?”
“You’ve destroyed enough.”
“You killed Daniel.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“You killed my husband.”
“Daniel made choices.”
“So did you.”
Silence.
Then he laughed softly.
“You think Bennett protects you? You think police can watch you forever?”
I looked toward the security camera.
“You called because you’re scared.”
His breathing changed.
“You were always the weak part of Daniel.”
“No.”
I looked at Sophie.
“I was the reason he was strong.”
“You have something I need.”
“What?”
“The Hale tape.”
“Police have it.”
“Copies exist.”
“Then your problem isn’t me.”
He went silent.
I heard something in the background.
A train horn.
Then church bells.
Detective Reed had instructed me to keep unknown callers talking.
So I did.
“Evan.”
“What?”
“My mother was dying in the street. Did you even look back?”
His voice sharpened.
“I was nineteen.”
“And Daniel?”
Silence.
“You were forty-one.”
He hung up.
But he had stayed on the line seventy-three seconds.
Long enough.
Police traced the call to Pennsylvania.
And the combination of train schedules and church bells narrowed the location to a small town outside Harrisburg.
By sunrise, federal marshals were moving in.
They found Evan’s motel room.
They found his bag.
They found cash.
They found another burner phone.
But Evan wasn’t there.
On the bathroom mirror, written with soap, was a message.
May you like
YOU’RE STILL TOO LATE.
At that exact moment, the alarm at my house began screaming.
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