Chapter 2 - The Man in the Photograph
Mara spent the next twenty minutes refusing to sit down.
Daniel spent those same twenty minutes becoming increasingly irritated by it.
“Sit.”
“I’m comfortable.”
“You're pacing.”
“I pace when armed strangers start investigating my dead father’s bakery.”
Daniel glanced toward his security chief, Lucas Reed.
“Leave us.”
Lucas hesitated.
“Daniel—”
“Outside.”
The guards left.
Mara immediately pointed at the door.
“Great. Now explain.”
Daniel leaned against his desk.
“Martin Voss worked for my father.”
Mara stared.
“My father knew him from high school.”
“Both things can be true.”
“What kind of work?”
Daniel was silent.
Mara nodded.
“Right. The kind newspapers write about carefully.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“My father controlled several legitimate companies. Voss handled financial records.”
“And the illegitimate ones?”
Daniel's gaze sharpened.
“You ask dangerous questions.”
“I fell into your chair wearing your glasses this morning. My sense of self-preservation is obviously defective.”
That earned another faint twitch of his mouth.
Then Daniel became serious.
“Nine years ago, my father was murdered.”
Mara stopped joking.
“I'm sorry.”
“Three days afterward, Martin Voss disappeared. A burned vehicle was found near Lake Michigan. Dental records supposedly identified him.”
“Supposedly?”
“We eventually learned those records were falsified.”
Mara slowly sat.
Daniel continued.
“My father discovered someone was stealing money from businesses connected to our organization. Millions disappeared through shell companies.”
“And you think Martin did it?”
“I think Martin knew who did.”
Mara remembered the bakery.
Her father's locked office.
Arguments behind closed doors.
The strange red ledger he refused to explain.
“My father hated Martin toward the end.”
“Why?”
“He never told me.”
Daniel pushed the photograph toward her.
“Eight months ago. What exactly happened?”
“Martin walked into the bakery before closing.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked for Dad.”
“Your father had already passed?”
“Two years earlier.”
Mara's voice tightened.
“He acted surprised. Then he asked whether Dad had left papers behind.”
“The ledger.”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I didn't know what he was talking about.”
“Was that true?”
Mara looked away.
Daniel noticed.
“No.”
She sighed.
“I knew about the red book. I just didn't know where it was.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Did Martin believe you?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because three weeks later our problems suddenly got worse.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
Mara counted on her fingers.
“Our industrial oven failed. Insurance denied the claim. Our landlord refused to renew the lease unless we accepted triple rent. Then a bank loan Dad had refinanced years earlier suddenly became due.”
“Which bank?”
“Lakeview Community.”
Daniel reached for his phone.
“Lucas.”
The security chief entered almost immediately.
“Pull everything involving O’Leary Bakery, Lakeview Community Bank and Martin Voss.”
Lucas nodded.
Mara stood.
“Wait.”
Both men looked at her.
“Are you saying Martin destroyed my family’s business because he thought we had that ledger?”
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
That frightened her more than if he had.
“Possibly.”
Mara grabbed her purse.
“Then I'm going home.”
“No.”
She turned.
“That wasn't a request.”
“Neither was my answer.”
Mara stared at him.
Daniel's voice remained calm.
“If Voss thinks you know something, leaving this estate could be dangerous.”
“You don't control me.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then stop giving orders.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Mara, somebody powerful spent years pretending Martin Voss was dead. You just became the first witness I’ve found who can prove otherwise.”
“And?”
“And if I found you…”
He paused.
“Someone else can too.”
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Mara stared at the screen.
Daniel saw it.
“Don't answer.”
She answered.
“Mara O’Leary?”
A man's voice.
“Yes?”
“I'm calling regarding the remaining property from O’Leary Family Bakery.”
Mara's face changed.
“What property?”
“We purchased the storage unit after delinquency.”
Daniel extended his hand for the phone.
Mara ignored him.
“What do you want?”
“There was an item among your father's belongings that belongs to my employer.”
Daniel moved closer.
“Who is your employer?” Mara asked.
The caller laughed softly.
“Tell Mr. Carter he should have stopped digging nine years ago.”
The call ended.
Mara slowly lowered the phone.
Daniel's face had turned cold.
“You're staying here.”
Mara looked at him.
“For how long?”
“Until I find Voss.”
“And if I say no?”
Daniel studied her.
Then, unexpectedly, he stepped back.
“I'll put security outside wherever you choose to stay.”
Mara blinked.
“You're giving me a choice?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His answer came quietly.
“Because protecting someone doesn't give me ownership of them.”
For the first time, Mara looked at him differently.
Then Lucas entered carrying a tablet.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“We found the storage unit.”
Mara's heart jumped.
Lucas looked directly at her.
May you like
“It was emptied yesterday.”
---
