Chapter 12 - The Man In The Lobby
Paul stepped backward.
“That’s him.”
Rebecca turned.
The man outside was not Daniel.
He was tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Late forties.
He stood near the reception desk pretending to check his phone.
Caroline immediately called building security.
“Who is he?”
Rebecca asked.
Paul whispered.
“His name is Eric Sloan.”
“What does he do?”
“Whatever Daniel pays him to do.”
Security approached Eric.
He smiled politely.
Then left without resistance.
Caroline watched through the glass.
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
Paul nodded.
“I know.”
“But he used to follow people for Daniel.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“People?”
“Employees.”
“Competitors.”
“Sometimes you.”
Rebecca’s face became still.
“Me?”
Paul looked ashamed.
“Daniel wanted to know where you went.”
“Who you met.”
“Whether you were speaking with lawyers.”
Adam’s anger exploded.
“He had Mom followed?”
Rebecca raised a hand.
“Adam.”
“No.”
Adam looked toward Paul.
“How long?”
Paul hesitated.
“Years.”
Rebecca felt sick.
She remembered unexplained moments.
Daniel knowing she had visited Caroline before she mentioned it.
Daniel asking oddly specific questions about lunches.
Daniel appearing unexpectedly at places he claimed were coincidences.
It had never been coincidence.
Caroline turned toward Paul.
“Did Sloan ever intimidate anyone?”
“Yes.”
“Physically?”
Paul looked down.
“Yes.”
Rebecca’s phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
STOP DIGGING.
She stared at it.
Another followed.
YOU HAVE YOUR MONEY.
WALK AWAY.
Adam saw the screen.
“That’s Dad.”
“We don’t know that.”
Rebecca said.
A photograph arrived next.
Rebecca’s blood turned cold.
It showed Adam leaving her apartment that morning.
The picture had been taken from across the street.
Caroline immediately called the police.
Rebecca looked at Adam.
“You’re staying somewhere secure tonight.”
“No.”
“That isn’t a discussion.”
“I’m not leaving you alone.”
“I won’t be alone.”
Adam’s jaw tightened.
Neither of them noticed Paul moving toward the door.
Rebecca looked over.
“Where are you going?”
“I shouldn’t have come.”
Caroline stopped him.
“If Daniel knows you have evidence, leaving alone is the worst thing you can do.”
Paul looked terrified.
“He can destroy my life.”
Rebecca stepped closer.
“He tried to destroy mine.”
Paul looked at her.
“And I’m still standing.”
Caroline arranged private security for Paul and Adam.
Rebecca refused to hide.
Instead, she returned to Carter Development the next morning.
Dozens of reporters waited outside.
Questions flew toward her.
“Rebecca, did you seize control to punish your husband?”
“Is divorce imminent?”
“Did Daniel misuse company funds?”
Rebecca stopped.
Cameras lifted.
For years, Daniel had spoken for both of them.
Rebecca decided that ended now.
“My marriage is a private matter.”
She paused.
“But Carter Development employs more than eleven hundred people.”
“I will not allow their livelihoods to be used as collateral for anyone’s personal ambition.”
A reporter shouted.
“Are you accusing your husband?”
Rebecca looked directly into the cameras.
“I’m saying the truth will survive an audit.”
She entered the building.
Minutes later, Daniel watched the interview from another hotel room.
His face was expressionless.
Eric Sloan stood near the window.
“She isn’t scared.”
Eric said.
Daniel turned off the television.
“Everyone gets scared.”
Eric looked at him.
“What do you want me to do?”
Daniel stared at Rebecca’s frozen image on the dark screen.
May you like
For the first time in his life, he was losing control of the woman he had underestimated most.
And instead of accepting that loss, he made the decision that would finally destroy him.
