Chương 9
Then stopped.
I could see the decision happening.
Not whether to tell us.
Which lie to choose next.
I spoke quietly.
“If I have to discover this from somebody else, there is nothing left for you to repair with me.”
His eyes met mine.
For the first time that morning, he looked frightened in a way that had nothing to do with money.
He pulled out a stool and sat.
“The contractor’s name was Daniel Reyes.”
Darcy took out her notebook again.
“Was Daniel the person you paid?”
“No.”
“Who did you pay?”
Julian pressed both hands together between his knees.
“His brother.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel didn’t survive.”
Eleanor made a small sound.
I stared at Julian.
“You told your mother he recovered.”
“I told her insurance handled it.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“I didn’t want her involved.”
Eleanor’s face crumpled with anger.
“You used money that passed through my account.”
“That was later.”
“Then where did the twenty-five thousand go?”
Julian looked at me.
“Daniel had been drinking.”
Darcy’s pen stopped.
“What does that have to do with your payment?”
“Everything.”
“He was intoxicated at the time of the fall?”
“Yes.”
“Was that documented?”
Julian hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Then why pay his brother?”
His breathing changed.
Shorter.
He looked toward the front window.
“The platform railing was broken.”
No one spoke.
Julian continued before anyone could stop him.
“We had reported it.”
“To whom?”
“Our maintenance vendor.”
“And?”
“They hadn’t fixed it.”
Darcy’s eyes narrowed.
“Did your company know the railing was unsafe before Daniel fell?”
“Yes.”
The word was barely audible.
I felt cold spread across my arms.
“Did you close the platform?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“We were behind.”
“Behind on what?”
“Orders.”
Eleanor stood abruptly.
“You let people work there?”
Julian looked at her.
“It wasn’t supposed to fail completely.”
Her face twisted.
“That is what you are going with?”
“I didn’t know he’d climb up there after drinking.”
Darcy’s tone sharpened for the first time.
“Careful.”
Julian looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because you are drifting from explaining facts into blaming a dead man.”
The words landed hard.
Julian’s face went gray.
He looked down.
I thought of twelve employees.
Payroll.
Vendors.
Taxes.
All the words he had used for years to describe himself as a man trying to save something.
Now there was another man inside that story.
A man named Daniel Reyes who had fallen twelve feet from a platform everyone knew was unsafe.
“What did you pay his brother for?” I asked.
Julian’s mouth tightened.
“Silence.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
Darcy did not move.
I heard my own pulse in my ears.
“What silence?”
Julian stared at the countertop.
“Daniel had sent pictures of the broken railing to his brother the day before the accident.”
The front doorbell rang.
All four of us jumped.
Nobody moved.
It rang again.
Then a man’s voice called through the door.
“Julian Mercer?”
Julian’s head snapped up.
The color drained from his face.
Darcy looked toward the hallway.
“Are you expecting someone?”
“No.”
The man outside knocked three times.
“Mr. Mercer, my name is Graham Vale.”
Julian stood so fast the stool scraped backward.
And for the first time since Darcy had arrived, she looked genuinely alarmed.
Darcy moved before Julian did.
“Do not open that door yet.”
Julian stared at her.
“What?”
“Do you know him?”
“Yes.”
“Is he the Graham who introduced you to Crescent Bridge?”
Julian’s face tightened.
“Yes.”
The man knocked again.
“Mr. Mercer?”
Eleanor whispered, “Why is he here?”
Julian pulled out his phone.
“No idea.”
His screen lit with three missed calls from a number I did not recognize.
Darcy saw them.
“Is that him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t recognize his number?”
“I never saved it.”
“That seems unlikely.”
“Believe whatever you want.”
The doorbell rang a third time.
I walked toward the foyer.
Darcy caught my arm gently.
“Sloan.”
“It’s my house.”
“That does not make every person on the porch your problem.”
The sentence stopped me.
Julian was already typing something on his phone.
I watched his expression.
“Who are you messaging?”
“No one.”
“Julian.”
He shoved the phone into his pocket.
Darcy stepped between him and the door.
“I’m going to ask this once.”
He glared at her.
“Is there any reason Sloan should be afraid of the man outside?”
“No.”
“Any reason Eleanor should?”
“No.”
“Any reason I should call the police before we open the door?”
His jaw shifted.
“No.”
Darcy looked at me.
I nodded.
She opened the door but kept herself partly behind it.
The man outside looked nothing like the kind of person my imagination had constructed.
He was maybe forty-five, average height, thinning brown hair, wire-frame glasses, pale blue shirt with the sleeves rolled neatly to his forearms.
He carried a leather portfolio and looked irritated more than threatening.
His eyes moved first to Darcy, then to me, then over her shoulder.
When he saw Julian, his expression hardened.
“There you are.”
Julian pushed past us into the foyer.
“What are you doing here?”
Graham Vale did not answer immediately.
Instead, he held up his phone.
“You locked me out.”
“I locked you out?”
“Crescent’s portal.”
“I don’t control your portal.”
“You changed the authorization credential this morning.”
Julian’s face went blank.
Darcy turned toward him.
“Did you?”
“No.”
Graham gave a short laugh.
“Don’t.”
Julian’s shoulders stiffened.
“Do not come to my house and accuse me of things.”
Graham looked around the foyer.
“I thought this wasn’t your house.”
Nobody spoke.
The silence lasted half a second too long.
His eyes shifted to me.
“So you’re Sloan.”
Julian stepped forward.
“Leave her out of it.”
Graham looked almost amused.
“You’ve been leaving her out of everything for years.”
Darcy moved closer to the open doorway.
“Mr. Vale, I’m Darcy Levin, counsel for Sloan Mercer.”
Graham’s expression changed.
He looked at Julian.
“You brought a lawyer into this?”
Julian’s mouth tightened.
“She was already here.”
“Good.”
May you like
The answer surprised everyone.
Graham lifted the leather portfolio.
