Chapter 4 - The Man Across the Street
Thomas Wade arrived at the hospital just after midnight.
Daniel always called him “the fossil.”
Sixty nine.
Retired Indianapolis detective.
Widower.
Lived across from us for seven years.
He watered his lawn at exactly 6:15 every morning and knew the license plate of every car on our street.
Daniel hated that.
I had loved it quietly.
Tom came into my room carrying a manila envelope.
Dad stood.
“You knew?”
Tom looked at him.
“She asked me not to tell you.”
“You could have called.”
“She is twenty six.”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
Tom continued:
“She needed one man in her life to follow instructions instead of deciding for her.”
That ended the argument.
Then Tom placed the envelope on the table.
Copies of Daniel’s documents.
Mara put on gloves and reviewed.
“What is this?”
Tom pointed.
“Loan application.”
“Already saw photos.”
“No. Look at date.”
The application was filed five months earlier.
I found it three months later.
Then another document.
Lender due diligence memo.
Midwest Commonwealth had questioned whether my shares could legally be pledged.
Daniel’s attorney responded with a shareholder consent.
Signed:
Jack Bennett.
Dad stared.
“I never signed that.”
Another forgery.
Then company secretary approval.
Signed by Bennett Precision corporate secretary:
Linda Carver.
Dad shook his head.
“She retired two years ago.”
Forgery again.
Someone had built an entire paper version of my family.
A cooperative Emily.
A supportive Jack.
An active secretary.
All willing to risk millions for Daniel.
Then Tom pulled another page.
“Hale Restoration’s debt schedule.”
The $640,000 loan was not for growth.
It refinanced:
$190,000 unpaid payroll taxes.
$118,000 equipment debt.
$74,000 subcontractor judgment.
$92,000 credit line.
And nearly $140,000 owed to a private lender.
Who?
Victor Mercer Holdings.
Dad stopped breathing.
Tom noticed.
“What?”
Dad took the page.
His face drained of color.
“Where did you get this?”
“Same folder.”
I looked at him.
“Who is Victor Mercer?”
Dad did not answer.
Tom did.
“Daniel’s father.”
“No.”
Daniel’s father was dead.
His name was Victor Hale.
At least that was what Daniel told me.
Dad whispered:
“Victor Mercer changed his name after prison.”
The room went silent.
“What prison?”
Dad sat.
Mara watched him carefully.
He looked at me.
“Twenty four years ago, Victor Mercer was financial controller at Bennett Precision.”
My skin went cold.
Before I was old enough to remember.
Before Mom died.
“What did he do?”
Dad swallowed.
“He stole from the company.”
“How much?”
“Nearly nine hundred thousand dollars.”
“Did you catch him?”
“Your mother did.”
My heart stopped.
Mom.
Laura Bennett.
She had been chief financial officer before cancer took her at forty seven.
Dad continued:
“Laura found altered vendor payments. Victor was convicted.”
“How long?”
“Four years.”
“Daniel knows?”
“I don’t know.”
Tom looked at the loan sheet.
“He knows enough to be borrowing from a company carrying Victor’s original surname.”
Then Mara searched public corporate filings.
Victor Mercer Holdings had been incorporated by:
Margaret Hale.
Daniel’s mother.
Victor’s widow.
So the private lender was Daniel’s family.
They had loaned his company $140,000.
Why hide?
Dad stared at me.
“When did Daniel first meet you?”
“Six years ago.”
“Where?”
“A charity fundraiser.”
“Which one?”
I told him.
Bennett Precision sponsored it.
Dad closed his eyes.
Daniel had always said we met by accident.
Maybe we did.
Maybe not.
Then Tom pulled one final page from the envelope.
A printed background report.
Subject:
Emily Bennett.
Date:
May you like
Eight months before I met Daniel.
He had researched me before our first conversation.
