Chapter 8 - THE DEAD MAN'S FILE
The room became very quiet.
Natalie stared at Victor.
“What exactly did they say?”
Victor opened the recording transcript.
“Harrington said, ‘If Dominic finds Michael Mercer, we lose everything.’”
Natalie shook her head.
“That could mean anything.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Yes.”
“But we’re going to find out.”
Brooke was brought into the library.
The moment she saw Natalie holding Michael’s photograph, her confidence slipped.
Only for a second.
Dominic noticed.
“Do you know what the Michael Mercer file is?”
Brooke blinked.
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
“I don’t.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Your father apparently does.”
Brooke looked at Victor.
“You’re recording private calls now?”
Victor remained silent.
Dominic answered.
“My security system flagged communication from a restricted estate line.”
Brooke’s jaw tightened.
Dominic continued.
“Your father called Gerald Pike.”
“They discussed destroying a file named after my dead brother-in-law.”
Brooke said nothing.
Natalie moved toward her.
“What did Michael find?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he find?”
“I said I don’t know.”
Natalie’s voice broke.
“My husband died.”
Brooke’s eyes flickered.
Dominic saw fear there.
Real fear.
Not grief.
Not surprise.
Fear.
Dominic stepped between them.
“Victor.”
“Yes?”
“Search Catherine’s cottage again.”
“Every wall.”
“Every floorboard.”
“Every locked drawer.”
Brooke laughed nervously.
“You think there’s some secret file hidden in an old cottage?”
Dominic looked at her.
“I think my mother trusted Michael.”
“And I think Michael knew you wanted that trust.”
Brooke’s mouth tightened.
Dominic leaned closer.
“So yes.”
“I think he may have hidden something.”
Three hours passed.
Nothing.
Then Emma remembered Catherine’s piano.
The old Steinway had a loose pedal compartment Catherine used to hide Christmas gifts when Dominic and Natalie were children.
Victor opened it.
Inside was an envelope wrapped in plastic.
Natalie recognized Michael’s handwriting immediately.
DOMINIC ONLY.
Her knees nearly gave way.
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a USB drive.
A handwritten note was folded around it.
Dom,
If you are reading this, something happened before I could speak to you.
Brooke has been asking Gerald Pike how to dissolve the protective restrictions around Catherine’s trust.
I also discovered payments from Harrington Coastal to someone inside your estate security department.
I do not yet know what they are buying.
Do not confront Brooke until you know who is compromised.
Protect Natalie and Noah first.
Michael.
Dominic read the note twice.
Victor looked devastated.
“One of my people?”
Dominic nodded.
“Apparently.”
Brooke backed toward the door.
Dominic noticed.
“Where are you going?”
“I need air.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
Dominic held up the USB.
“You wanted this destroyed.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
Brooke’s face hardened.
“I’m not.”
Dominic inserted the USB into Samuel’s secured laptop.
A password prompt appeared.
Underneath it was a clue.
THE DAY NOAH SAVED US.
Natalie suddenly covered her mouth.
“I know it.”
Dominic looked at her.
She whispered the date.
The file opened.
May you like
And the first photograph on the screen showed Brooke Harrington meeting privately with Gerald Pike six months before Michael died.
---
