Chapter 5 - THE MAN MY GRANDFATHER TRUSTED HAD BEEN WAITING FOR YEARS
Daniel Cross answered my call immediately.
“Mabel.”
His voice sounded warm.
Concerned.
Exactly as always.
“I heard what happened. My God. Are you all right?”
I stared at the hospital wall.
Selina sat across from me.
Rachel was beside the door.
Detective Ruiz listened through an authorized recording setup.
“I’m alive.”
“Thank God.”
“And Rose is alive.”
“I’m so relieved.”
He sounded genuine.
That was the frightening part.
I had known Daniel since I was twelve.
He attended Christmas dinners.
My college graduation.
My grandfather’s funeral.
When I became CEO of the property company at thirty-one, several older executives doubted me.
Daniel publicly defended me.
“Mabel grew up around these assets,” he said. “Give her room to lead.”
Had that all been strategy?
“I need to ask you something.”
“Anything.”
“Did Flynn ever talk to you about taking a larger role in Mercer Commercial?”
A pause.
Tiny.
But real.
“He mentioned ambition.”
“How much ambition?”
“Mabel, you’ve just been through something traumatic.”
“Answer me.”
Another pause.
“He talked about wanting to support you.”
I nearly laughed.
“Support me by selling Jefferson Tower?”
Silence.
There.
I had him.
I continued.
“Because he drafted a letter of intent.”
“I had no knowledge of that.”
“Interesting.”
“Mabel—”
“What about D.C.?”
Silence again.
Longer.
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither did I.”
Rachel shook her head slightly, reminding me not to reveal too much.
I changed direction.
“Did my grandfather ever discuss Flynn with you?”
“Flynn didn’t know your grandfather.”
True.
My grandfather died three years before I met Flynn.
I said, “I need you at an emergency board meeting tomorrow.”
“Of course.”
“In person.”
“I’ll be there.”
When the call ended, Detective Ruiz exhaled.
“He’s careful.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think he knows?”
“No.”
Rachel disagreed.
“He suspects.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because smart people always assume other people eventually become smart too.”
The next day, I was discharged from the hospital earlier than expected.
Rose remained for observation.
I refused to go home.
Instead, Arthur arranged a private apartment near the hospital with security.
Selina returned to her own place under police advice.
She and I were not friends.
Let me be clear.
A woman does not sleep with your husband, become pregnant, and magically become your best friend because he turns out to be worse than both of you understood.
But our hatred had changed shape.
I no longer saw her as the central betrayal.
Flynn was.
And now Daniel might be even worse.
The emergency board meeting began at 10:00 a.m.
I joined by secure video.
Daniel sat near the end of the table.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Calm.
Martin Keene reviewed the criminal allegations against Flynn.
Then Rachel presented the unauthorized property documents.
Several directors looked stunned.
Daniel frowned appropriately.
“This is appalling.”
He was good.
Very good.
Then I said:
“Daniel, did you ever discuss Jefferson Tower with Flynn?”
He looked directly into the camera.
“Not beyond general conversation.”
“Did you ever tell him the board could move quickly after my death?”
The room froze.
Daniel leaned back.
“Mabel, I’m not sure where that question is coming from.”
“Answer it.”
“No.”
“Did you advise Flynn regarding control of Rose’s trust?”
“No.”
“Did you discuss my estate?”
“Not in any improper way.”
Not in any improper way.
Lawyer language from a man who wasn’t a lawyer.
I continued.
“Did you ever refer to me as ‘the girl’?”
He smiled faintly.
“I’ve known you since you were a child.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“Mabel, what exactly are you accusing me of?”
I looked at Rachel.
She nodded.
Then I played one recording.
Not Flynn.
Not Vance.
Selina.
She had agreed to record a follow-up call with Daniel the night before.
Selina told him Flynn had been arrested and asked what she should do.
Daniel replied:
Say nothing about our meetings. Flynn made a reckless choice. Do not let his panic become your problem.
Then Selina asked:
What about the board plan?
Daniel said:
There is no board plan anymore. Forget everything you heard.
The room erupted.
Daniel stood.
“This is absurd.”
I raised my voice.
“Sit down.”
Everyone stopped.
Even Daniel.
I had never spoken to him that way.
He stared at the screen.
I continued.
“You are suspended from all committee access pending investigation.”
“You cannot do that unilaterally.”
“No.”
Martin Keene spoke.
“But the board can.”
A vote followed.
Eleven to one.
Daniel was removed temporarily.
His own vote was the one.
He left the room without another word.
Two hours later, investigators searched his office.
The evidence was not as dramatic as Flynn’s.
Daniel was smarter.
He did not keep murder plans in a drawer.
But financial records revealed something else.
Over seven years, consulting entities connected to Daniel had quietly acquired interests in properties adjacent to Mercer Commercial assets.
If Mercer sold certain buildings, Daniel’s holdings increased dramatically in value.
Jefferson Tower was one of them.
If Flynn gained control and sold it quickly, Daniel stood to make millions.
Now the partnership made sense.
Flynn wanted my trust.
Daniel wanted my properties moved.
Each thought he was using the other.
Neither cared whether I lived.
Then the investigation went deeper.
My grandfather had once considered removing Daniel from the board.
I had never known.
Rachel found a sealed letter among old estate files.
Written eleven years earlier.
Addressed to me.
Never delivered.
The letter said:
Mabel, Daniel has become too comfortable treating this company as though proximity equals ownership. If I am not here when you take control, trust his advice only when it survives independent review.
I read it three times.
My grandfather had seen something.
Why had I never received the letter?
Because Daniel had been one of the executors responsible for distributing certain personal files after his death.
Arthur stared at me.
“He hid it.”
“We can’t prove that.”
“No.”
But we both knew.
That night, my anger shifted again.
Flynn had betrayed seven years.
Daniel had betrayed twenty.
I sat beside Rose in the NICU.
Her tiny chest rose and fell.
I whispered:
“You are going to grow up with people who have to earn trust.”
No inherited titles.
No grandfather’s friends.
No charming husbands.
Trust would not be permanent.
It would be maintained.
The next morning brought unexpected news.
Flynn wanted to speak with me.
Through his attorney.
He had been denied immediate release because prosecutors argued he posed a risk of obstruction.
Now he wanted a meeting.
Rachel said no.
I said yes.
Arthur said absolutely not.
I overruled both of them.
The meeting took place by secure video.
Flynn appeared on the screen wearing detention clothing.
For the first time since I met him, he looked ordinary.
No tailored suit.
No expensive watch.
No carefully styled hair.
Just a man.
“Mabel.”
I said nothing.
His eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
Still nothing.
“I know you don’t believe me.”
“Correct.”
“Daniel pushed me.”
There it was.
Not remorse.
Blame.
“He told me you would eventually leave me.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“He said the trust would always come before our marriage.”
“You tried to kill me.”
His face crumpled.
“I panicked.”
I stared at him.
“People panic and forget anniversaries. They panic and crash cars. They do not accidentally negotiate a half-million-dollar murder.”
He closed his eyes.
“I never meant for it to go this far.”
“When did you want it to stop?”
He had no answer.
Then I asked the question that mattered.
“Did you ever love me?”
He looked at me.
For several seconds, I saw the man I married.
Maybe even the truth.
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
His answer was devastating because it was so small.
“I got tired of being your husband.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Every room we entered, you were Mabel Mercer and I was Mabel Mercer’s husband.”
“So?”
“So I wanted something that was mine.”
“You could have built something.”
“I tried!”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You tried to take mine.”
He looked away.
Then he whispered:
“Selina made me feel important.”
And there it was.
Not money.
Not love.
Importance.
His ego had turned my success into an insult.
Selina’s admiration into oxygen.
Daniel’s promises into opportunity.
And eventually, my death into a business strategy.
“I hope it was worth it.”
“It wasn’t.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“It wasn’t.”
I ended the call.
Then Rachel entered the room holding a document.
“What now?”
She looked stunned.
“Daniel Cross has offered to cooperate.”
“With prosecutors?”
“Yes.”
“Against Flynn?”
“Against Flynn and someone else.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
Rachel sat down.
“The person who originally introduced Flynn to Dr. Vance.”
I stared at her.
“There’s another person?”
“Yes.”
May you like
And this one worked inside the hospital.
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