Chương 8
“No what?”
“I don’t want him looking.”
Arthur immediately pulled the privacy curtain across the glass.
Michael’s voice came from outside.
“Arthur.”
Arthur ignored him.
“Arthur, listen to me.”
Daniel covered his ears.
Arthur opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
Morales turned sharply.
“I told you not to confront him.”
“I’m not.”
Michael stared at Arthur.
His eyes were red.
Whether from fear, lack of sleep, or genuine emotion, Arthur could not tell.
“Is he okay?”
Arthur shut the door behind him.
“You don’t get to ask.”
Michael looked toward the covered glass.
“Arthur.”
“You knew.”
Michael’s mouth tightened.
Morales stepped closer.
“Mr. Hale, anything you say may become relevant to an investigation.”
Michael looked at her.
“I’m trying to talk to my brother.”
Morales said, “And I’m making sure you understand the circumstances.”
Michael looked back at Arthur.
“I knew he was alive.”
Arthur felt the hallway narrow.
Morales said nothing.
Arthur said, “How long?”
Michael rubbed a hand across his face.
“Arthur.”
“How long?”
Michael looked at the floor.
“From the beginning.”
Arthur moved before he realized he had decided to.
Morales caught his arm.
The uniformed officer stepped in.
Arthur stopped himself.
Michael did not retreat.
That made Arthur angrier.
“You stood beside me at the memorial.”
“I know.”
“You carried his picture.”
“I know.”
“You gave a eulogy.”
Michael’s face twisted.
“I know what I did.”
“No, you know what you’re saying now.”
Michael glanced toward Morales.
Then he looked at Arthur.
“I thought he was going to be returned.”
Arthur laughed once.
A harsh, empty sound.
“Returned.”
“That was the arrangement.”
“The arrangement.”
“Listen to the whole thing.”
“There is no whole thing.”
“There is.”
Arthur stepped forward again.
Morales kept one hand near his arm.
Michael said, “It wasn’t supposed to become this.”
Arthur stared at him.
Michael’s composure cracked.
“He was supposed to disappear for forty-eight hours.”
The words hung between them.
Arthur stopped moving.
Morales’s eyes changed.
“Why?”
Michael looked at her.
Then back at Arthur.
“Because Dad was dying.”
Arthur said nothing.
Michael swallowed.
“He had decided to change the succession structure.”
Arthur felt his stomach drop.
Their father had died two months after Daniel vanished.
Michael continued.
“He was going to put the voting trust under your control.”
Arthur stared at him.
“You kidnapped my son over shares.”
“No.”
Michael shook his head hard.
“No, not like that.”
Morales said, “Then explain what ‘like that’ means.”
Michael looked at her as if he had forgotten she was there.
He lowered his voice.
“The idea was pressure.”
Arthur felt sick.
“What pressure?”
“To make Arthur unavailable.”
“For what?”
“The board vote.”
Arthur said, “You could have asked me to abstain.”
Michael looked at him.
“You never would have.”
“So you took my child.”
Michael’s eyes filled.
“I arranged for someone to keep him off-site for two days.”
Arthur’s hand curled into a fist.
Michael noticed.
“So where did six years come from?”
Michael looked toward Daniel’s room.
“Victoria changed it.”
Arthur stared at him.
Morales said, “Changed what?”
“The plan.”
Michael’s mouth had gone dry.
He swallowed.
“She said Daniel saw her face.”
Arthur felt something inside him become very still.
Michael continued.
“She panicked.”
“And you didn’t?”
“I did.”
“You look remarkably functional.”
Michael flinched.
Arthur said, “What did she do?”
Michael looked away.
“She moved him.”
“To the room?”
“Not at first.”
Arthur frowned.
“Where?”
Michael rubbed his forehead.
“A rental property.”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
Morales said, “Address.”
Michael gave it.
She immediately signaled to the second detective.
Arthur heard the address.
It was less than twenty miles from his old house.
Michael saw the recognition.
“I didn’t know she kept him there.”
Arthur stared at him.
“You owned it.”
“I owned six rental properties then.”
“You expect me to believe you never checked?”
Michael’s voice rose.
“I was trying not to know.”
The answer silenced everyone.
Michael closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the performance was gone.
Arthur saw his brother.
Not a mastermind.
Not a monster from some story.
A coward.
A frightened, ambitious man who had spent six years building his life around the hope that not looking closely could count as innocence.
Arthur almost hated that more.
Michael said, “I sent money.”
Arthur’s face tightened.
“You sent money.”
“To Victoria.”
“For Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“How generous.”
“Arthur, I thought she had found someone to care for him.”
“Did you ever ask where?”
Michael said nothing.
“Did you ever ask if he was safe?”
Silence.
“Did you ever ask if he knew I was alive?”
Michael’s mouth trembled.
“No.”
Arthur nodded slowly.
“That’s the first thing you’ve said that sounds true.”
Michael looked down.
Morales said, “Why did Victoria keep him alive?”
Michael’s eyes moved toward the covered glass again.
“Because once Dad died, Daniel became more valuable alive than dead.”
Arthur felt cold.
Morales said, “Explain.”
Michael hesitated.
Arthur stepped closer.
“Explain.”
Michael looked at him.
“Your father changed the trust before he died.”
Arthur frowned.
“He couldn’t.”
“He did.”
Michael shook his head.
“He didn’t give control to you.”
Arthur’s pulse quickened.
“Then who?”
Michael looked toward Daniel’s room.
Arthur followed his gaze.
The answer came before Michael spoke.
“No.”
Michael’s voice was almost a whisper.
“Daniel.”
Arthur stared through the covered glass as though he could somehow see Daniel through the curtain.
Michael spoke again.
“Dad amended the trust three weeks before Daniel disappeared.”
Arthur turned back.
“You told me he was too sick to sign anything.”
“He was too sick to run the company.”
“That is not what I said.”
Michael looked toward Morales.
“He was lucid.”
Arthur laughed without humor.
“Convenient.”
“It’s documented.”
“By whom?”
“The estate attorneys.”
Arthur’s jaw tightened.
“Which one?”
Michael hesitated.
“That matters?”
“Yes.”
“David Mercer.”
Arthur knew the name.
He also knew Mercer had retired two years after their father died and moved to Arizona.
Morales took out her phone and typed something.
May you like
Arthur said, “What did the amendment do?”
Michael looked tired now.
