Chapter 3
My mother’s face changed.
Not dramatically.
That was what scared me.
She simply became very still.
“Daniel?”
Dad looked at the woman.
“Not here.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
“Elliot is standing right here.”
“So is my son.”
Caleb clung to her coat.
I moved closer to my mother.
Dad looked toward me.
“Elliot, go upstairs with your mother.”
“No.”
“Elliot.”
“I found Caleb.”
“This is adult business.”
“That’s what adults always say when they don’t want kids to hear the truth.”
Mom looked at me sharply.
Dad stared.
I surprised myself too.
The woman almost smiled.
Then Caleb whispered, “Mom, can we go?”
Her expression softened immediately.
“Yes.”
Dad stepped aside.
My mother said, “Wait.”
The woman stopped.
“What is your name?”
A pause.
“Rachel Mercer.”
Mom repeated it.
“Rachel Mercer.”
Something about the name meant something to her.
She looked at Dad.
“I know that name.”
Dad’s shoulders lowered.
I had never seen my father look nervous before.
Not once.
Mom’s voice became quieter.
“You worked here.”
Rachel laughed.
“For eight years.”
I looked at Dad.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered.
Rachel pulled Caleb closer.
Dad finally said, “Rachel was in finance.”
“Was?”
Mom’s eyes narrowed.
“She left the company.”
Rachel shook her head.
“I was fired.”
I felt Caleb’s fingers grab my sleeve.
He had moved beside me without me noticing.
Mom said, “Why?”
Rachel looked at Dad.
“Tell her.”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
“Rachel was accused of misappropriating company funds.”
“Accused?”
“I didn’t steal anything,” Rachel snapped.
Several people in the lobby turned.
Dad lowered his voice.
“Not here.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“You always say that when the truth gets uncomfortable.”
Caleb pressed against me.
I hated the way his body shook.
“Stop,” I said.
All three adults looked at me.
“You’re scaring him.”
Rachel’s anger vanished.
She crouched beside Caleb.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
He whispered, “Are we in trouble?”
“No.”
“Police?”
“No.”
Dad said nothing.
That worried me.
Mom looked toward a small conference room beside the lobby.
“Inside.”
Rachel hesitated.
“You can leave whenever you want.”
Dad looked at Mom.
She ignored him.
Rachel finally nodded.
We all went inside.
Dad closed the glass door.
I sat beside Caleb.
Someone brought food.
Turkey sandwiches.
Soup.
Fruit.
Caleb stared at everything.
Rachel whispered, “Eat.”
He did.
While he ate, Mom faced Rachel.
“Start from the beginning.”
Dad interrupted.
“Claire.”
“No.”
Mom’s voice was calm.
“I want to hear her.”
Rachel looked at Dad for several seconds.
Then she spoke.
“I worked for Hart Group for eight years.”
Mom nodded.
“I remember seeing your name.”
“I managed vendor accounts.”
“What happened?”
“Three years ago, I found payments going to companies that didn’t exist.”
Dad exhaled.
Rachel continued.
“I reported them.”
“To Daniel?”
“No. To my supervisor.”
“Who?”
“Martin Voss.”
Dad closed his eyes.
Mom noticed.
“So you know this.”
“Claire—”
“What happened after she reported it?”
Rachel answered.
“Two weeks later, I was accused of stealing seventy thousand dollars.”
My stomach tightened.
“That’s a lot.”
Nobody corrected me.
“I didn’t do it,” Rachel said.
Caleb stopped chewing.
“I know, Mom.”
She touched his hair.
“I know you know.”
Dad said, “The evidence pointed to her credentials.”
Rachel glared at him.
“Because someone used them.”
“You couldn’t prove that.”
“You never let me.”
“That’s not true.”
“You fired me before the internal audit finished.”
Mom looked at Dad.
“Did you?”
Dad was silent.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
My mother leaned back.
“Why?”
“The board wanted immediate action.”
“You own controlling interest.”
“It wasn’t that simple.”
“It sounds simple.”
I watched Dad’s face.
For the first time in my life, he looked smaller.
Rachel continued.
“After I was fired, Martin told every company in the industry that I was dishonest.”
Dad looked at her sharply.
“I didn’t know that.”
“You didn’t ask.”
“What happened to the money?”
“Apparently nobody cared once I was gone.”
Mom folded her arms.
“Rachel, why is Caleb homeless?”
Rachel’s anger disappeared.
Shame replaced it.
She stared at the table.
“I lost everything slowly.”
Her voice cracked.
“At first I had savings.”
Caleb leaned against her.
“Then legal fees.”
She swallowed.
“I hired an attorney to clear my name. That lasted five months.”
“What about family?”
“My parents are dead.”
“Caleb’s father?”
Rachel looked toward her son.
“He left when Caleb was a baby.”
Caleb kept eating.
Too calmly.
Like he had heard this before.
Rachel continued.
“I found another job outside finance.”
“What happened?”
“My background check showed the allegations.”
“You were never charged,” Dad said.
“No.”
“So why—”
“People don’t need convictions to decide you’re dangerous.”
Dad looked away.
Rachel’s voice hardened.
“You should know that. Your company taught them.”
Mom closed her eyes.
I looked at my father.
I loved him.
That had never been complicated before.
Now something strange was happening inside me.
I still loved him.
But I was angry.
“Did you know she had a kid?”
I asked.
Dad looked at me.
“No.”
“Would it have mattered?”
Silence.
That answer hurt more than a no.
Rachel looked at me gently.
“It wasn’t your father’s job to take care of me.”
“But he hurt you.”
“Elliot.”
Dad’s voice carried warning.
I turned toward him.
“Did you?”
He looked at Rachel.
Then me.
“I made a decision with the information I had.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
My mother stared at me.
I had never challenged him like that.
Maybe I had changed in three days.
Dad finally said, “Yes.”
The room became quiet.
“I hurt her.”
Rachel’s eyes filled but she looked away.
Dad continued.
“I believed evidence that may have been incomplete.”
“May have?”
She laughed once.
“You still can’t say it.”
My father stood.
“I will reopen the investigation.”
Rachel shook her head.
“I don’t need your investigation.”
“What do you need?”
“A home.”
Her voice cracked.
“A job.”
She looked at Caleb.
“A life where my son doesn’t sleep beside dumpsters while I beg shelters to make room.”
I looked at her.
“You were at shelters?”
“For three nights.”
“Then why was Caleb here?”
Rachel pressed both hands over her face.
“I made a mistake.”
Caleb stopped eating.
She looked at him.
“I thought I had found a job.”
Her eyes filled.
“A cleaning company offered me overnight work. They told me I could bring Caleb until I found child care.”
“What happened?”
“The manager changed his mind when we arrived.”
Dad frowned.
“And you left him?”
Rachel immediately looked ashamed.
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds like you abandoned him.”
“No!”
Caleb jumped.
Rachel lowered her voice.
“I left him for two hours. I told him to stay near the Hart building because there were cameras and guards.”
Dad looked horrified.
“Rachel.”
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“No.”
She stood suddenly.
“People with money always say that.”
Dad fell silent.
“I needed forty dollars to keep our motel room.”
Her voice broke.
“I cleaned offices all night.”
Caleb whispered, “You said you’d come back.”
She crouched.
“I tried.”
“Monday.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Rachel started crying.
“My phone was stolen.”
“That doesn’t explain three days,” Mom said gently.
Rachel looked destroyed.
“The police picked me up.”
Dad frowned.
“For what?”
“Shoplifting.”
Caleb stared at her.
“You stole?”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Medicine.”
“What medicine?”
“For you.”
Caleb’s face changed.
Rachel touched his forehead.
“You had that cough.”
I remembered hearing him cough by the vent.
“I had no money.”
Her voice became almost inaudible.
“I took children’s fever medicine.”
Mom covered her mouth.
“They released me this morning.”
Rachel looked toward the glass doors.
“I came straight here.”
Caleb put down his sandwich.
Then he crawled into her arms.
“I knew you’d come.”
Rachel broke.
She hugged him.
“I’m sorry.”
Dad turned away.
I saw tears in his eyes.
I had never seen my father cry.
Not even when Grandpa died.
Then the conference room door opened.
One of Dad’s security officers stepped inside.
“Mr. Hart?”
Dad wiped his face quickly.
“What?”
“There’s a man downstairs asking for Ms. Mercer.”
Rachel froze.
“Who?”
The officer checked his phone.
“Martin Voss.”
My father’s expression changed instantly.
Rachel went pale.
May you like
And Caleb whispered one word.
“No.”
