Chapter 6 - A Tag That Shouldn’t ExistDetective Ortiz stood inside the Mercer Ridge equipment facility wearing gloves.
Grant stood several feet behind the evidence boundary.
The building smelled of canvas, rubber, cold metal, and industrial cleaner.
Rows of climbing gear, rescue equipment, snow gear, and specialized aerial equipment lined the walls.
The cliff parachute had been brought there originally because Mercer Ridge occasionally hosted licensed film and stunt crews.
Children were never allowed to use it.
Not once.
The operations manager, Felix Monroe, looked sick.
“I would have stopped it.”
Ortiz looked at him.
“If you’d seen Sadie wearing this?”
“I would’ve called Grant myself.”
Grant turned.
“Was Corinne here yesterday?”
Felix checked the electronic log.
“Her access card entered the west door at six twelve in the morning.”
Grant stared at the screen.
“She has an access card?”
“Executive family credential.”
Grant had forgotten approving it.
Another failure.
Ortiz pointed toward the facility log.
“Who else entered?”
Felix scrolled.
“Reid Calder at five forty-eight.”
Grant’s expression changed.
“Reid?”
Felix nodded.
“His card exited at six twenty-nine.”
Corinne arrived while Reid was inside.
Ortiz wrote down both times.
“Any cameras?”
“Three.”
Felix’s mouth tightened.
“But the internal recording server was offline from five thirty to seven.”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“Convenient.”
Felix looked embarrassed.
“That never happens.”
Ortiz walked toward the inspection table.
The parachute equipment tag was sealed inside an evidence bag.
Printed across it:
INSPECTED — J. HARPER — 08/26
Felix pointed.
“Jared Harper hasn’t worked here in nine months.”
“Where is he?”
“Montana.”
Ortiz had already contacted him.
“He says he didn’t inspect it.”
Grant looked at the pack.
“Could someone here have made that tag?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Anyone with access to the old maintenance templates.”
Ortiz looked at Felix.
“How many people?”
He hesitated.
“Six.”
“Names.”
Felix provided them.
Reid was one.
Grant watched Ortiz carefully.
“What was altered?”
She shook her head.
“The technical report isn’t complete.”
“Would it have prevented the parachute from working?”
“It appears the equipment had been intentionally compromised.”
Grant’s jaw tightened.
Sadie had not merely been pushed.
Someone had intended to make sure she could not survive.
Ortiz continued.
“Something unexpected happened during the fall. The canopy deployed partially, then caught on a rock formation and vegetation. That reduced her speed enough to leave her on the ledge.”
Grant swallowed.
“Luck.”
“Extraordinary luck.”
Felix walked away, visibly shaken.
Ortiz lowered her voice.
“Mr. Mercer, there’s something else.”
“What?”
“The gear pack was checked out in the system at six oh-two.”
“By whom?”
“The user field was deleted.”
Grant stared at her.
“But you recovered something?”
“A partial backup.”
Ortiz turned her tablet.
A string of letters remained.
RCAL—
Grant felt his stomach drop.
“Reid Calder.”
“We’re obtaining the full logs.”
Grant immediately took out his phone.
Ortiz stopped him.
“Do not call him.”
“He’s my CFO.”
“He may also be part of an attempted-murder investigation.”
Grant stared at her.
“Reid has known Sadie since she was born.”
“So did Corinne know where you kept your trust documents?”
Grant went silent.
Ortiz continued.
“People compartmentalize. You know Reid in one context.”
Grant looked toward the rows of equipment.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Let us investigate.”
“My company may have been used to kill my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And I’m supposed to go home?”
“No.”
Ortiz’s eyes hardened.
“You’re supposed to go back to the hospital and be her father.”
Grant looked at her.
The words landed.
For years, every crisis had sent him toward the company.
A broken contract.
A failed property inspection.
A lawsuit.
A staff problem.
His instinct was always to fix.
Control.
Solve.
Sadie did not need him to solve everything tonight.
She needed him to stay.
When Grant returned to St. Catherine’s, Sadie was sitting up.
A hospital volunteer had brought her a small sketchbook.
She was drawing the cliff.
Grant stopped in the doorway.
The drawing showed a black line at the edge.
A tiny figure falling.
Another figure standing above.
Sadie noticed him.
“I keep seeing it.”
Grant sat beside her.
“The cliff?”
“Her face.”
He said nothing.
“She smiled.”
“When?”
“After.”
Sadie looked down.
“I saw her for a second while I was falling.”
Grant’s eyes filled.
“She was looking down at me.”
Sadie’s pencil stopped.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Why did she want me dead?”
Grant had spent hours avoiding that exact question.
Now he refused to lie.
“I don’t know everything yet.”
“But you know something.”
He nodded.
“There’s money involved.”
Sadie frowned.
“My money?”
“Some of it.”
Her face changed.
She understood more than he wanted her to.
“Would you get it?”
Grant’s throat tightened.
“If you died, part of your trust would come to me.”
Sadie stared at him.
For three long seconds, neither spoke.
Then she asked the question Grant would remember for the rest of his life.
“Did Corinne think you wanted that?”
“No.”
His answer came instantly.
“No, Sadie. Never.”
“But she told me you wanted me to jump.”
Grant took her hand.
“She lied.”
Sadie looked at him.
Grant continued.
“And I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure you never have to wonder whether I chose money, a company, or anyone else over you.”
Sadie’s eyes filled.
Before she could answer, Grant’s phone buzzed.
A message from Mara.
We found something in the Northcove file. Call me privately.
Grant stepped into the hall.
Mara answered immediately.
“What?”
Her voice was tense.
“The original purchase agreement has a side letter.”
“Meaning?”
“Northcove wasn’t buying Granite Crown for itself.”
Grant waited.
Mara said, “The beneficial owner is a shell company.”
“Whose?”
“We’re still tracing it.”
Grant looked through the glass at Sadie.
May you like
Then Mara added:
“But one of its managing members is connected to Reid Calder.”
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