Chapter 7 - The Man Who Had Been at Every Family FuneralMartin Shaw had attended Chase’s first birthday.
His high school graduation.
His wedding.
Jonathan’s funeral.
He had stood beside Evelyn when Chase lay unconscious after the car accident.
He had been the person who told Chase, at twenty-three, that adulthood was mostly learning which disasters deserved your panic.
He was seventy-two now.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
A man who still wore cuff links to breakfast meetings.
When Chase entered Martin’s office the following morning, he carried no accusation.
Only coffee.
“Early,” Martin said.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“Board problems?”
“Always.”
Martin smiled.
“Your father used to say the company only behaved when nobody was looking.”
Chase sat.
The office contained photographs.
Jonathan and Martin fishing.
Jonathan and Martin at construction sites.
Jonathan and Martin shaking hands with governors.
Thirty-five years of friendship displayed in polished frames.
Chase looked at one.
“Do you remember Samuel Mercer?”
Martin did not react.
That was reaction enough.
“Of course.”
“What do you remember?”
“A terrible accident.”
“Anything else?”
Martin leaned back.
“What is this?”
“Curiosity.”
“You’ve never been curious about Samuel Mercer before.”
“I am now.”
Martin studied him.
“Did Daniel contact you?”
There.
Too fast.
Chase smiled faintly.
“I didn’t say Daniel.”
Martin’s face changed almost imperceptibly.
“Samuel’s brother is the obvious source.”
“Is he?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting.”
“Chase.”
“Did you know Rebecca Vale?”
Martin’s hand stopped beside his coffee.
Only for a second.
Then continued.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She worked for your father.”
“Anything else?”
Martin’s expression hardened.
“You should ask your mother.”
“I’m asking you.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother wasn’t named in Rebecca’s letter.”
Martin stared at him.
Chase placed a photocopy on the desk.
Not the original.
Never the original.
Martin read it.
He did not deny anything.
That frightened Chase.
“You’ve been digging where your father chose to bury things.”
“Did you threaten Samuel?”
“No.”
“Did Arthur Vale?”
“Yes.”
“Did you work for Arthur?”
“No.”
“Did my father?”
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
Martin stood and walked toward the window.
“Your father was twenty-six when he met Arthur. Ambitious. Broke. Terrified of becoming ordinary.”
“That sounds like an excuse.”
“It’s context.”
“People use context when the truth makes them uncomfortable.”
Martin glanced back.
“You sound like Maya.”
“Best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I know.”
Something in Martin’s tone bothered him.
“You knew Arthur before Dad?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He was my client.”
Chase stared.
“You were Arthur Vale’s lawyer?”
“For four years.”
“Organized crime?”
“I represented his legitimate businesses.”
“Convenient distinction.”
“A legally important one.”
“Did you introduce him to Dad?”
Martin said nothing.
“You did.”
“Yes.”
Chase stood.
“My father’s company started with money from your criminal client.”
“Yes.”
“And Samuel found out.”
“Yes.”
“Did you threaten him?”
“No.”
“Did Arthur?”
“Yes.”
“Did Dad know?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know the crane was unsafe?”
Martin looked at him.
“No.”
Chase believed him.
He wished he did not.
“What happened after Samuel died?”
“Chaos.”
“Rebecca disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Pregnant with Dad’s child.”
Martin’s face tightened.
“So you know about Adam.”
The room went still.
Chase felt cold.
“You know his name.”
Martin closed his eyes.
“Of course I know his name.”
“How long?”
“Since he was born.”
Chase walked around the desk.
“Dad knew?”
“Yes.”
“Mom?”
“No.”
“Did Dad see him?”
“Once.”
“I know.”
Martin looked surprised.
“He told you?”
“Adam did.”
Martin sat.
“He should never have been involved.”
“He is involved. He was born involved.”
“That is exactly what Rebecca feared.”
“What did she fear?”
Martin rubbed his forehead.
“Arthur.”
“Her father.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Rebecca stole from him.”
Chase frowned.
“What?”
“Not money.”
“Then what?”
“Records.”
Martin looked toward the door.
“Close it.”
Chase did.
“Arthur ran money through construction companies. Not just yours. Dozens.”
“Laundering.”
“Yes.”
“Rebecca kept copies.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
“Against her own father?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know.”
“Someone thinks Adam does.”
“Yes.”
“Is that why his house was searched?”
“Probably.”
“Why now? Arthur is dead.”
Martin looked at him.
“Arthur is not dead.”
Chase stopped.
“He would be nearly ninety.”
“Eighty-eight.”
“Where is he?”
“No one knows.”
“Rebecca?”
“Didn’t know.”
“Martin.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she write that people should look at you if something happened?”
Martin looked old suddenly.
Not polished.
Old.
“Because I helped Jonathan hide what happened.”
Chase’s stomach turned.
“How?”
“I altered the legal record.”
“What legal record?”
“The safety report.”
There it was.
Not murder.
Something more ordinary.
Cowardice with stationery.
“You destroyed it?”
“I replaced it.”
“With one blaming equipment failure.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep the company alive.”
“Samuel was dead.”
“I know.”
“His wife deserved the truth.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel deserved the truth.”
“Yes.”
“My mother deserved the truth.”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
Martin’s voice broke.
“Because I was thirty-seven years old and believed I was saving my best friend.”
Chase stared.
“You saved his company.”
“I know that now.”
“Did Dad ask you?”
“Yes.”
“And you did it.”
“Yes.”
Chase looked around at the photographs.
Every holiday.
Every funeral.
Every piece of advice.
“You let me believe he was something he wasn’t.”
Martin’s eyes filled.
“No.”
Chase turned.
“No?”
“I let you believe he was only the best parts of himself.”
“That is the same thing.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Martin stood.
“Your father was not a monster.”
“I didn’t say he was.”
“He made one terrible decision.”
“One?”
“Several.”
“Thank you.”
“But he spent thirty-five years trying to become a man who would never make them again.”
Chase’s anger faltered.
Martin continued.
“He paid Daniel because he owed him.”
“He bought silence.”
“Both are true.”
“He funded worker safety.”
“Because Samuel died.”
“He built hospitals.”
“Because guilt kept him awake.”
“He helped Adam.”
“Because he loved him.”
Chase looked away.
Martin’s voice softened.
“People want remorse to be clean. Confession. Punishment. Forgiveness.”
He shook his head.
“Your father’s remorse was ugly. Secretive. Cowardly. Generous. Selfish. All at once.”
Chase thought of Maya.
All things can be true.
He hated that sentence again.
“Who is trying to buy the records?”
Martin’s face closed.
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Who knew Daniel had them?”
“Several people.”
“Names.”
“Me. Your father. Rebecca. Arthur.”
“Anyone on the board?”
“Possibly.”
“Who?”
Martin hesitated.
Chase saw it.
“Who?”
“Charles Vane.”
Chase knew the name.
Current vice chairman.
Sixty-one.
Popular with investors.
The man most likely to succeed Chase if he ever stepped down.
“What did Vane know?”
“His father worked for Arthur.”
“Doing what?”
“Financial management.”
Chase felt ill.
“So Whitmore Group still has people connected to Arthur?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop saying you don’t know.”
“I am not your enemy.”
“I don’t know that anymore.”
The sentence hurt Martin.
Chase saw it.
He did not take it back.
His phone rang.
Maya.
He answered.
“Hey.”
Her breathing sounded wrong.
“Maya?”
“Don’t come to the clinic.”
He stood.
“What happened?”
“Nothing yet.”
“What does that mean?”
“A package arrived.”
“What package?”
“Addressed to me.”
“Do not open it.”
“Already did.”
“Maya.”
“There’s no bomb.”
“That is an absurdly low standard.”
“Chase.”
“What’s inside?”
“A medical file.”
“Whose?”
Silence.
“Maya?”
“Rebecca Vale’s.”
Martin heard.
His face changed.
Chase put the phone on speaker.
“What’s in it?”
“Prenatal records. Delivery notes.”
Adam’s birth.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
Maya’s voice became quiet.
“A second delivery record.”
Chase stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Rebecca had twins.”
Martin sat down.
“No.”
Maya continued.
“One male. One female.”
Chase gripped the desk.
“Where is the girl?”
“I don’t know.”
“Name?”
“The file lists Baby Girl Vale.”
“Adoption?”
“There’s a discharge note.”
“To whom?”
Maya hesitated.
“Private guardianship.”
“Name.”
“Chase…”
“Name.”
“Evelyn Whitmore.”
The world went silent.
Martin whispered, “Oh God.”
Chase could not speak.
Maya said his name.
Once.
Twice.
“Chase.”
“I’m here.”
“You need to talk to your mother.”
He looked at Martin.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Did Dad?”
“I don’t know.”
Chase ended the call.
Martin stood.
“Chase.”
He walked toward the door.
“Chase, wait.”
He stopped.
Martin looked terrified.
“If Evelyn took Rebecca’s daughter, there is something you need to understand.”
“What?”
“She wouldn’t have done it for Jonathan.”
“Then why?”
Martin swallowed.
“She would have done it to keep the child away from Arthur.”
Chase stared.
“Who is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know everything else.”
“No.”
Martin shook his head.
“I swear.”
Chase left.
He drove directly to Evelyn’s house.
Maya arrived five minutes later.
Adam and Rachel came separately.
Evelyn opened the door.
She saw their faces.
Then the medical file in Maya’s hand.
And knew.
“No,” Evelyn whispered.
Chase walked inside.
“Who is she?”
Evelyn closed the door.
“Chase.”
“Rebecca had twins.”
“Yes.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You took the girl.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Evelyn looked at Maya.
Then at Chase.
“You know her.”
Every person in the room became still.
Chase’s voice was almost inaudible.
“Who?”
Evelyn sat down.
For the first time in Maya’s memory, the older woman looked unable to carry her own body.
“She was three days old.”
“Who?”
“Rebecca was terrified Arthur would find the babies.”
“Mom.”
“She separated them.”
“Who is she?”
“Adam went with Rebecca.”
Adam stared.
“And my sister?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Rebecca asked me to protect her.”
Adam stepped forward.
“You raised my sister?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Evelyn looked at Maya.
And Maya understood one second before everyone else.
“No.”
Evelyn began crying.
Maya backed away.
“No.”
Chase looked between them.
“Maya?”
Evelyn whispered, “Her name was changed.”
Maya shook her head.
“No.”
“I arranged the guardianship.”
“No.”
“To a family who had recently lost a child.”
Maya could not breathe.
“My father…”
Evelyn nodded.
“Thomas Bennett.”
Maya’s knees nearly failed.
Chase caught her.
“No.”
She pushed him away.
“My father was my father.”
“Yes,” Evelyn said immediately. “He was.”
“My mother—”
“Lorraine knew you were adopted.”
Maya stared.
“No.”
“She promised never to tell you.”
“No.”
Adam had gone white.
Rachel covered her mouth.
Chase looked as though the room had tilted beneath him.
Maya walked toward Evelyn.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“All these years.”
“Yes.”
“You investigated me before you offered me money.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“And you knew?”
“Yes.”
Maya’s voice broke.
“You knew I was Rebecca’s daughter when you tried to destroy my career?”
Evelyn began to cry harder.
“Yes.”
The slap came before Maya knew she had moved.
The sound cracked through the room.
Evelyn did not defend herself.
Maya stared at her own hand.
Then at the woman before her.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“And you still did that to me.”
“Yes.”
Maya stepped backward.
Chase reached for her.
She moved away from him too.
“Maya.”
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I know.”
“Then let me—”
“No.”
She could not breathe.
Could not think.
Adam stood across the room.
Her brother.
Her biological brother.
A stranger.
Chase.
Her husband.
Jonathan’s son.
Adam and Maya shared a mother.
Chase and Adam shared a father.
Which meant—
Maya looked at Chase.
Not related.
No.
But connected in a way so twisted that nausea rose in her throat.
Evelyn whispered, “Maya.”
She turned.
“You don’t get to say my name.”
The words belonged to Rachel.
Now they belonged to Maya.
Evelyn lowered her head.
Maya walked out.
Chase followed.
She turned on the porch.
“No.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No.”
“You shouldn’t be alone.”
“I need to be.”
“Maya.”
“For once, Chase, do not stand beside me.”
His face broke.
She swallowed.
May you like
“I need to know I can still stand at all.”
Then she left.
