Chapter 4
I wanted to hit Edwin Coleman.
For one terrible second, I imagined knocking that smug smile off his face.
But then I saw the guests watching us.
The police officers.
The employees standing near the lobby.
And I remembered my father's words.
“Anger is expensive, Marcus. Don't let anyone make you pay for theirs.”
I stepped backward.
“If you have something to say, say it through my attorney.”
Edwin chuckled.
“Still hiding behind other people?”
“No. I'm protecting what belongs to my family.”
His smile disappeared.
“Careful. Ownership is a complicated thing.”
Vanessa stepped beside him.
“Daddy, he humiliated me.”
Edwin placed an arm around her shoulders.
“I know, sweetheart.”
“He pretended to be an employee.”
“I heard.”
I looked at her.
“I was carrying towels.”
“You deliberately tricked me!”
“I never told you I worked here.”
“You knew what I thought!”
“And you believed that gave you permission to mistreat me.”
Her face reddened.
Edwin raised one hand.
“Enough. We're here to discuss business.”
He removed a folded document from his jacket.
“My attorneys will be contacting yours.”
“I've already received the notice.”
“Excellent.”
He looked toward the ocean.
“In that case, perhaps we can settle this quickly.”
“I'm listening.”
“Transfer controlling ownership of the resort to my development group.”
I almost laughed.
“Absolutely not.”
“And I won't pursue the disputed contracts.”
“There's nothing to dispute.”
Edwin's eyes hardened.
“Then we can let the courts decide.”
He turned toward the police officers.
“And naturally, my daughter's accusations will proceed separately.”
I understood the plan.
Pressure from every direction.
Financial.
Legal.
Public.
He wanted me frightened enough to surrender.
But Edwin didn't understand something.
I had already lost everything once.
I knew how to survive without money.
What I refused to lose was my father's name.
“You can file whatever you want,” I told him.
“But you won't buy my silence.”
Edwin studied me.
Then his expression changed.
For the first time, he seemed genuinely irritated.
“You have no idea what you're walking into.”
“Then enlighten me.”
He leaned closer.
“Ask Angela Reed what happened when she tried to be brave.”
My stomach tightened.
“You know she's alive.”
His eyes flickered.
Only briefly.
But I saw it.
He hadn't expected me to know.
“Who?” he asked.
I smiled without humor.
“That's what I thought.”
I walked past him.
Behind me, Vanessa shouted something.
I didn't turn around.
Inside my office, Rachel was waiting with Malik.
She had flown in from Atlanta after receiving my call.
She placed three folders on my desk.
“We have a problem,” she said.
“Only one?”
“Several.”
I sat down.
Rachel opened the first folder.
“Edwin filed an emergency motion claiming your father pledged future resort development rights as collateral.”
“That resort didn't exist twenty years ago.”
“Exactly. But the documents refer to a portfolio of proposed coastal properties.”
“My father's business plan.”
“Yes.”
I stared at the pages.
They had stolen his ideas.
Destroyed his reputation.
And now they were trying to use his own dreams against his son.
Rachel opened the second folder.
“Daniel resigned this morning.”
I froze.
“He what?”
“An email was sent to human resources at 9:17.”
“From his account?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“Unknown.”
Malik stepped forward.
“We found his car near a marina.”
“Was he alone?”
“Security footage shows two men escorting him toward a private vessel.”
I looked up sharply.
“Escorting?”
“He didn't appear restrained. But he didn't look comfortable either.”
A terrible possibility entered my mind.
“What if Daniel didn't steal those documents?”
Rachel frowned.
“Explain.”
“What if someone forced him?”
Malik nodded slowly.
“We're examining that possibility.”
I thought about Daniel's wife.
Their daughter.
The little girl who called me Uncle Marcus.
If Edwin was using family members as leverage, Daniel would have been an easy target.
“Find his family,” I ordered.
Malik hesitated.
“They've already left their house.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“When?”
“Early this morning.”
I stood.
“Someone is threatening them.”
“We don't know yet.”
“Then we need to know.”
Rachel touched my arm.
“Marcus, listen carefully. We cannot make accusations without proof.”
“I understand.”
“Good. Because there's something else.”
She opened the third folder.
A bank statement.
A series of transfers.
Millions of dollars moving through companies I'd never heard of.
And one familiar name appeared repeatedly.
Claire Williams.
I stared at it.
“No.”
Rachel said nothing.
“Claire has worked for me for nine years.”
“The transfers began eighteen months ago.”
“Maybe they're legitimate.”
“That's what we're investigating.”
I rubbed my forehead.
Claire had been nervous when she approached me at the pool.
She had brought the black folder directly to me.
If she were helping Edwin, why would she warn me?
Unless she wanted me distracted.
Or unless she was being threatened too.
I looked at Malik.
“Bring Claire here.”
He left.
Ten minutes later, Claire entered my office.
Her posture was stiff.
Her eyes were swollen.
I pointed toward the chair.
“Sit.”
She remained standing.
“Marcus, I need to explain.”
I slid the bank records across my desk.
“Then explain these.”
She stared at them.
Her face crumpled.
“Oh, God.”
“Did you help Edwin Coleman?”
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
“Yes.”
The word felt like a slap.
I looked away.
“How long?”
“Eighteen months.”
“Why?”
She covered her mouth.
“Because he has my son.”
I went completely still.
“What?”
“My son, Jordan. He was working in Edwin's overseas development company.”
Claire struggled to breathe.
“He discovered something illegal. Edwin threatened to have him arrested unless I cooperated.”
I looked at the records again.
“What did you do?”
“I approved false vendor payments. I copied internal schedules.”
“And the safe?”
She shook her head violently.
“No. I didn't know Daniel was going to open it.”
“Where's Jordan?”
“I don't know.”
She began sobbing.
“I haven't spoken to him in four days.”
I walked around the desk.
Claire looked up.
“I know I deserve to lose my job.”
“This is bigger than your job.”
“I know.”
“Do you have evidence?”
She wiped her face.
“I kept copies.”
Rachel immediately leaned forward.
“Copies of what?”
“Everything Edwin told me to do.”
Claire reached into her handbag.
She removed a small encrypted drive.
“I was going to give this to you at the meeting.”
I took it.
My hands felt cold.
“What else?”
Claire hesitated.
Then she whispered something that made my heart stop.
“Edwin isn't just trying to steal the resort.”
I looked at her.
“What does he want?”
She glanced toward the office door.
“He wants the evidence your father hid before he died.”
I could barely breathe.
“What evidence?”
Claire looked directly at me.
“Marcus, your father left something beneath the old hotel.”
May you like
Then she added:
“And someone has already started digging.”
