Part 10
Evan took one step forward.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel’s expression remained flat.
“That can’t be the first thing.”
“I don’t know what the first thing is.”
“The truth might be ambitious.”
Evan glanced at Claire.
Daniel saw it.
“You called her.”
“I needed help.”
“You always do.”
The anger Claire had expected in the library finally reached Daniel’s voice, but it did not make him louder. It made each word exact.
“When your company missed payroll, you called me. When you got arrested in Albany, you called me. When your mother needed a specialist, you called me. I answered every time.”
“I know.”
“You sent me a photograph of snow while you were hiding inside my house.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
Evan’s shoulders tightened.
Daniel stepped closer.
“How long?”
“Since June.”
Daniel looked toward the diner windows, where their reflections floated over people eating breakfast.
“June,” he repeated.
“My father got sick in May.”
Evan said nothing.
“You sat in the hospital cafeteria with me. You told me Vivian understood why I had to be there.”
“She did understand.”
“Was that before or after you went home with her?”
Claire moved between them without deciding to.
Daniel looked at her, startled, as though he had forgotten she was present.
“I’m not going to hit him,” he said.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
That stopped him.
He pressed both hands against his face. When he lowered them, one tear had escaped. He wiped it away almost impatiently.
Evan’s eyes filled.
Daniel turned on him.
“You don’t get to cry because I did.”
Evan looked down.
Daniel reached into his coat pocket and removed the wedding ring.
“I took this off last night because I wanted one clean action. Something I could point to and say, there, that was the moment my life changed.”
He held the ring between them.
“But it changed before I knew. That is the part I can’t stand. I was walking around inside a life that had already ended.”
Evan whispered, “I never wanted to take your life.”
“You wanted Vivian.”
“Yes.”
“She was my life.”
“No,” Evan said, and immediately looked afraid of the answer.
Daniel went still.
Evan continued because stopping would have been another form of cowardice.
“She was part of it. Your father was part of it. Work was part of it. Being needed by everyone was part of it. She said she could disappear from your life and you wouldn’t notice until a calendar reminder told you.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
Claire expected him to deny it.
He did not.
“That is something she should have said to me.”
“Yes.”
“She chose you instead.”
“Yes.”
Daniel closed his fist around the ring.
“You are going to give the foundation everything. Every message, invoice, receipt, account. You will not protect her by blaming her, and you will not protect yourself by calling this loneliness.”
“I will.”
“You don’t get to make promises to me anymore.”
Daniel opened his car door.
“Claire, can you come back to the estate?”
“Bernard told me not to.”
“I need to speak to Eleanor, and I don’t want to arrive alone.”
Evan said, “The drive—”
“Bernard is handling it,” Claire told him.
Daniel looked at his former friend one last time.
“You were afraid to meet my eyes in the library,” he said. “Keep some of that fear. It may be the only honest thing you have left.”
He got into the car.
Claire followed in hers.
Eleanor consented to the search before Bernard finished explaining the purpose.
By early afternoon, the library contained Eleanor, Bernard, the foundation’s attorney, a forensic accountant, Daniel, Claire, Miriam, and a locksmith who had been called in case the compartment lining required removal.
Vivian was not invited.
She arrived anyway.
She entered through the main doors wearing a camel coat over black trousers. Her hair remained in its smooth low bun. She had changed her lipstick to a softer shade, as if the day required less color.
“What is this?” she asked.
Bernard introduced the attorney.
“I know who she is.”
“Then introductions will be brief.”
Vivian looked at Eleanor. “You permitted strangers to search the house?”
“I permitted a lawyer, an accountant, and a man named Pete to examine a bench.”
The locksmith lifted one hand.
“Pete,” he confirmed.
“This is my home too,” Vivian said.
“Legally, no,” Eleanor replied. “You and Daniel occupy the east wing under a family agreement you have never signed because you considered paperwork insulting.”
Daniel stood near the library table. The wedding ring was not on his hand.
Vivian saw.
Her face tightened, then smoothed.
“Daniel, may we speak?”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
She looked around the room, aware of every witness.
“Evan has made allegations to protect himself.”
“He gave Bernard access to his business accounts,” Claire said.
Vivian’s eyes moved to her.
“You were told not to contact him.”
“I didn’t contact him.”
“You met him.”
“Yes.”
“After being instructed not to.”
“By Bernard, not by you.”
Bernard cleared his throat. “This distinction does not improve your decision, Ms. Mercer.”
“Thank you.”
“It was not praise.”
The attorney asked everyone except Eleanor, Bernard, the accountant, and Pete to step away from the window seat.
Pete removed the cushions and lifted the lid. The compartment was empty except for folded event linens and a cedar block.
He examined the rear panel with a flashlight.
“There’s a gap here.”
Using a thin inspection tool, he reached behind the lining and drew out a black flash drive no longer than his thumb.
Vivian made no visible movement.
Daniel did.
His hand closed around the back of a chair.
The attorney placed the drive in an evidence envelope, sealed it, and signed across the flap. Bernard and the accountant added their signatures as witnesses.
Claire watched Vivian watch the envelope.
There was no surprise in her aunt’s face.
May you like
Only calculation.
The attorney said the device would be copied and reviewed. No one should discuss its potential contents. The board would meet the following afternoon. Vivian’s administrative access to foundation systems would be suspended during the preliminary review.
