Chapter 4 - One Call Before Sunrise
“What does that mean?” Lorraine demanded.
Caleb didn't answer.
Daniel did.
“It means Evelyn told you the truth.”
“About what?”
“I restore old houses.”
Lorraine stared at him.
“Then why is Caleb looking at you like that?”
Daniel turned to Gabriel.
“Tell her.”
Gabriel removed his gloves.
“Mrs. Voss, Daniel spent years acquiring distressed property and companies along the Gulf Coast.”
“I know that.”
“No.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“You know the version he told his wife.”
Daniel glanced at him.
“Gabriel.”
“She deserves context.”
Lorraine's face hardened.
“Context for what?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“For understanding why your family's phones are ringing.”
Years earlier, Daniel had built a network spanning ports, hospitality companies, commercial property, freight operations, private lenders and investment groups.
Some partners were legitimate.
Some were not.
Daniel had learned quickly that power didn't require shouting.
Sometimes it required owning the building beneath someone's business.
Or purchasing their debt.
Or knowing the person financing their competitor.
Daniel had eventually become a name discussed carefully from Louisiana to Florida.
Then he'd met Evelyn.
She hadn't been impressed.
On their third date, she'd told him:
“You're surrounded by people who are afraid to tell you no.”
Daniel smiled.
“You aren't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you need the practice.”
He fell in love with her almost immediately.
When Evelyn discovered the darker side of his business world, she gave him no ultimatum.
She simply asked:
“Is this who you want to be forever?”
Daniel hadn't known.
Then she asked:
“Who are you when nobody is afraid of you?”
That question changed him.
He stepped away.
They bought a house.
Daniel started restoring historic properties because he genuinely enjoyed the work.
Sunday breakfast replaced midnight meetings.
He built furniture.
Evelyn planted tomatoes he routinely forgot to water.
Then she became pregnant.
Rose was supposed to complete the new life Daniel had chosen.
Lorraine mistook that choice for weakness.
“You're him?” she whispered.
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
The cousins backed away.
Nobody threatened them.
Gabriel's men didn't even move.
That somehow made the hallway feel more dangerous.
Lorraine swallowed.
“What happens now?”
“Nothing from me.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“The police investigate the fire.”
Gabriel placed a thick folder on a table.
“And federal and state investigators may find this interesting.”
Lorraine looked at the folder.
“What is it?”
“Your family's finances.”
Caleb stepped forward.
“You can't just investigate private businesses.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Most of this came from public filings and people who were surprisingly eager to answer their phones.”
He opened the folder.
“Insurance discrepancies.”
Another page.
“Questionable property transfers.”
Another.
“Potential tax violations.”
Lorraine looked toward Daniel.
“You planned this?”
Daniel almost laughed.
“My wife has been in surgery. When exactly would I have planned it?”
Gabriel added:
“And investigators will probably be interested in seven people attending a meeting near a farmhouse shortly before a pregnant woman was discovered locked inside.”
Wade turned pale.
“We didn't lock her inside.”
The hallway became silent.
Daniel slowly looked at him.
Lorraine closed her eyes.
Caleb whispered:
“Idiot.”
Wade realized what he'd done.
Daniel stepped closer.
“I never said all seven of you were there.”
Wade backed away.
“I heard—”
“From whom?”
“Nobody.”
Gabriel quietly closed the folder.
“Detective Cole will enjoy that conversation.”
Then movement behind the ICU glass caught Daniel's attention.
Evelyn's fingers twitched.
A nurse leaned over her.
May you like
Daniel forgot everyone else.
“She’s waking up.”
