The Man Everyone Trusted
Chapter 03 - The Man Everyone Trusted
Daniel nearly turned back, but Laura called from a hidden number. Mia was safe inside the apartment, she assured him. The photograph had been taken through the window to frighten them. Julian wanted Daniel desperate enough to make a mistake.
Instead, Daniel went to Union Station.
Box 417 had been forced open, but the thief had missed a narrow envelope taped beneath the metal shelf. Inside was a train ticket, a storage receipt, and a handwritten name: Detective Elena Brooks. Daniel recognized her as the officer who had first responded to Emily’s crash. She agreed to meet at a crowded diner.
Elena confessed that the crash report had bothered her. The brake system showed signs of deliberate damage, but a senior official ordered the detail removed before the case was closed. Emily had promised documents proving who accessed the car and hid them in a bus-terminal locker.
The locker held security footage from the company garage. On the screen, Julian entered after midnight wearing a maintenance jacket. He opened the hood of Emily’s car and remained there for eleven minutes. A second camera showed Marcus Hale watching from behind a concrete pillar.
Marcus was alive.
Using the storage receipt, Elena traced him to a roadside motel outside the city. They found him preparing to leave. Marcus admitted he had helped Emily copy the financial records. He had also seen Julian near the car, but Julian threatened his family and forced him into hiding. Marcus agreed to testify only after Daniel promised police protection.
Before they could leave, Julian appeared on television. At an emergency press conference, he accused Daniel of stealing foundation money, threatening employees, and fleeing an investigation. Reporters surrounded Daniel’s home, the board removed him, and child services arrived at Laura’s apartment after an anonymous report.
Julian had turned every institution against them.
Laura made a choice. She took Mia through the building’s laundry exit and drove to Elena’s precinct. There, Mia remembered something her mother had said: “The red book has the real names.”
Daniel knew exactly what she meant. Emily kept a red guest book at their lakeside cabin, where company executives signed in during private retreats. If Julian had used the cabin to meet the shell-company owners, the book could connect every payment to a real person.
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But when Daniel called the cabin’s caretaker, a cold voice answered.
Julian said, “Come alone, or the red book burns with the rest.”
