Chapter 6 - The Woman in the Back Seat.
David reached the front steps just as the sedan began to move.
"Stop that car," he told Owen.
The security gate closed before the driver reached the circular drive.
Guests entering beneath the portico turned to watch.
David ignored them.
He crossed the marble steps and opened the rear passenger door himself.
The older woman inside looked up at him without surprise.
For one impossible second, David saw Emily in her face.
The same gray-green eyes.
The same strong cheekbones.
The same habit of pressing her lips together when she was angry.
"Evelyn Mercer?" David asked.
The woman looked toward the mansion.
"You should not have stopped the car."
"You should not have entered my house without speaking to me."
"I did not come to see you."
"You came to see Natalie."
Evelyn finally met his eyes.
"Take your hand off the door and let me leave."
David stepped back but did not close it.
"Emily told me you were dead."
Pain crossed Evelyn's face.
"No, she didn't."
David felt the ground tilt beneath him.
"What?"
"Emily never told you I was dead."
"Hale did."
"Then you believed Hale."
The sentence was not cruel, but it landed like one.
David looked toward the ballroom windows glowing behind him.
"Why did Emily let me believe it?"
"Because by then she no longer knew who was listening to her."
David reached for the door frame to steady himself.
"Get out of the car."
Evelyn shook her head.
"Not here."
"Then where?"
"Somewhere Natalie cannot see us."
David looked toward Owen.
"Take us to the west garage."
Five minutes later, they were inside a small security office beneath the garage with Rachel joining them by a private corridor.
Evelyn refused water.
She refused coffee.
She kept her coat on as though she expected to leave at any second.
Rachel placed the trust photograph on the desk.
Evelyn looked at it and closed her eyes.
"Where did you find that?"
"Emily's backup system," David said.
Evelyn opened her eyes again.
"Then she left you more than I thought."
"Start talking."
Evelyn studied him.
"Emily discovered irregular transfers from a family trust three years ago."
"What transfers?"
"Money moved through holding companies that did not exist when the trust was created."
Rachel leaned forward.
"Who controlled them?"
"Jonathan Hale created the paperwork."
David thought of the man who had sat beside him at Christmas dinners and signed cards to Lucy.
"And Grant?"
Evelyn's eyes sharpened.
"So you know about Grant."
"I saw him with Hale in Emily's office."
"Then you know enough to stop trusting your company."
David's hands curled into fists.
"Why is Natalie involved?"
For the first time, Evelyn hesitated.
"Because she is family."
David stared at her.
"Whose family?"
Evelyn looked down.
"Mine."
Rachel spoke first.
"Natalie is your daughter?"
"No."
Evelyn's answer came quickly.
"My niece."
David's anger sharpened.
"Emily's cousin?"
"Half cousin."
"Why have I never heard of her?"
"Because my brother disappeared from our lives when Natalie was a child."
"And Hale knew this?"
"Hale knows everything that can be turned into leverage."
David thought of Natalie entering Emily's office eight months before their first supposed meeting.
"Did Emily know Natalie?"
Evelyn nodded.
"She met her twice."
"Then why didn't Emily warn me?"
"She planned to."
Silence filled the small office.
David hated what he was about to ask.
"Did Emily die because of this?"
Evelyn's face changed.
"I don't know."
"That's not good enough."
"It's the truth."
"Her car went off a wet road."
"Yes."
"Was it an accident?"
Evelyn looked at him for a long moment.
"Emily called me forty minutes before it happened."
David could hear his own heartbeat.
"What did she say?"
"She said she had proof."
"Proof of what?"
"That Hale had rewritten part of the trust."
Rachel pointed to the photograph.
"Schedule C?"
Evelyn nodded.
"The original Schedule C did not transfer the house to Natalie, Grant, Hale, or anyone they could control."
"Then who?"
"That is the wrong question."
David leaned forward.
"What is the right question?"
Evelyn looked straight at him.
"What did Hale replace it with?"
David's phone vibrated.
It was a call from Maria.
He answered immediately.
"What happened?"
Maria was whispering.
"Mr. Walker, Lucy is awake."
David stood.
"Is she okay?"
"Yes, but someone tried the study door."
"Who?"
"I couldn't see."
David looked at Owen.
Owen was already reaching for his radio.
Maria's voice became quieter.
"And the pink bunny is gone."
David's eyes moved to Evelyn.
The older woman went completely still.
"What?" David asked.
Evelyn stood so quickly that her chair struck the wall.
"Find that rabbit," she said.
"Why?"
Evelyn's answer was barely a whisper.
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"Because Emily gave it to Lucy the morning she died."
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