Chapter 10 - Rachel’s Letter
Nathan,
If you are reading this, I finally became brave enough to give it to you.
Or something happened before I could.
My hands began to shake.
The letter was dated three weeks before Rachel died.
I forced myself to continue.
I think Daniel is moving money through the company.
I do not have proof yet.
I stared at the sentence until the words blurred.
Rachel had worked as our company’s general counsel before Maya was born.
After becoming a mother, she stepped away from daily operations.
But she still understood our financial structure better than almost anyone.
The letter continued.
He asked me to approve a consulting agreement that made no commercial sense.
When I refused, he told me I was interfering in something Nathan had already approved.
I knew that was untrue.
Rachel had written several company names beneath the paragraph.
Two matched the shell companies funding Isabella.
I stopped breathing.
Five years.
Daniel’s scheme had not begun with Isabella.
It had begun before Rachel died.
I called Laura immediately.
She arrived before sunrise.
Marcus came with her.
We placed the letter inside an evidence sleeve.
Laura read it silently.
“This changes the timeline.”
“Could Daniel have caused the accident?”
She looked at me carefully.
“We do not know that.”
“He threatened her.”
“The letter does not say that.”
“He lied to her.”
“Yes.”
“Then three weeks later she died.”
“Nathan.”
I stood.
“I want the accident reopened.”
“We can ask authorities to review it.”
“I want every phone record.”
“Five years is a long time.”
“Every record.”
Marcus spoke quietly.
“I already started.”
I looked at him.
He placed his laptop on the desk.
“Rachel’s old cloud backups still exist.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
“You asked me not to delete anything after she died.”
I had forgotten.
Grief had made decisions for me.
Some wise.
Some terrible.
Marcus opened an archive.
Emails.
Calendar entries.
Draft documents.
Then he opened a note created the day before Rachel died.
MEETING WITH D.M. — 6:30 P.M. — PARKING GARAGE B.
Laura leaned closer.
“D.M.”
“Daniel Mercer.”
Marcus checked access records from our headquarters.
Rachel entered the underground garage at 6:22 p.m.
Daniel’s badge registered at 6:24.
Rachel left at 7:03.
Daniel left twelve minutes later.
The next morning, Rachel died.
I could hear my heartbeat.
Laura placed her hand on the table.
“We still have no evidence connecting him to the crash.”
“I know.”
But now I also knew Daniel had lied for five years.
He told me the last time he saw Rachel was at a board dinner two weeks earlier.
He had stood beside her coffin and lied.
A small sound came from the doorway.
Maya.
She stood barefoot in her pajamas.
I immediately closed the laptop.
“What are you doing awake?”
She held Rachel’s photograph against her chest.
“I heard Mommy’s name.”
I walked toward her.
“We found a letter she wrote.”
“To me?”
“No.”
Maya looked disappointed.
Then thoughtful.
“Was she scared?”
I hesitated.
“A little.”
Maya nodded as if she understood fear better than any child should.
“Did nobody believe her either?”
The question landed with painful precision.
I crouched in front of her.
“We didn’t know she was asking to be believed.”
Maya looked toward the evidence sleeve.
“Maybe she left it because she knew you’d find it.”
I wanted that to be true.
I wanted to believe Rachel had trusted me enough to finish what she started.
Then Maya said something else.
“Isabella used to search Mommy’s room.”
Every adult in the room went silent.
“When?”
“When you traveled.”
“What was she looking for?”
Maya shrugged.
“She always said the same thing.”
“What?”
May you like
Maya looked directly at me.
“Where did Rachel hide it?”
