Chapter 14 - What David’s Father Took From the EllisonsThomas Mercer had not built his fortune alone.
That was the family myth.
The truth was less flattering.
In 1987, Thomas partnered with Richard Ellison on a small packaging company.
Richard handled manufacturing.
Thomas handled sales.
For almost fifteen years, they built the business together.
Then came a lawsuit.
Missing funds.
Accusations.
Richard was blamed.
Thomas bought his share for almost nothing.
Within two years, the company became enormously profitable.
David stared at his mother.
“You knew?”
“Not then.”
“When did you find out?”
“After your father got sick.”
Thomas confessed.
Richard had not stolen the money.
Another executive had.
Thomas discovered the truth before buying Richard’s shares but kept silent.
He allowed his partner to be destroyed because the scandal gave him control of the company.
Mark stood near the fireplace listening.
His face had become unreadable.
“My father lost everything.”
Margaret nodded tearfully.
“He left his family.”
“My mother told me he was dead.”
“I’m sorry.”
Mark turned away.
David suddenly understood why Thomas later named Richard an alternate trustee.
Guilt.
A private attempt to repair something without publicly confessing.
“What happened to Richard?”
Margaret shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“He died in 2008,” Mark said.
Everyone looked at him.
“I found the record this morning.”
“Where?”
“Nevada.”
Andrew had been there too.
That explained the connection.
Perhaps Andrew was Richard’s son from another relationship.
Perhaps he grew up hearing exactly what Thomas Mercer had done.
And now he was inside David’s family.
David felt the story changing again.
Vanessa’s greed was real.
Her affair was real.
Her cruelty toward Margaret was real.
But perhaps Andrew’s motive was different.
Revenge.
Mark looked at Margaret.
“Did Thomas ever contact my father?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Near the end.”
“Did he apologize?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Not enough.”
Mark laughed bitterly.
That night, Officer Brooks called with news.
Gloria, the woman who impersonated Margaret at Dr. Harlan’s office, had been located.
She agreed to speak.
Vanessa paid her eight thousand dollars.
But Gloria insisted Vanessa had not invented the plan.
“A man told her what to do,” Brooks said.
“Andrew?”
“That’s who we believe.”
Gloria had met him twice.
He provided Margaret’s medical history.
He selected clothing.
He coached answers.
He even knew personal details about Thomas.
Details Vanessa herself did not know.
David looked at Margaret.
Andrew had been studying them.
For how long?
Brooks continued.
“There’s something else.”
David braced himself.
“Gloria says Vanessa was afraid of him.”
“Afraid?”
“Yes.”
“She said Vanessa wanted out.”
David frowned.
“Out of what?”
“The arrangement.”
According to Gloria, Vanessa initially believed the scheme involved gaining control over Margaret’s trust.
But Andrew gradually demanded more.
He wanted documents.
Access to Thomas’s records.
The house.
“He didn’t care about Vanessa taking money?”
“Apparently not.”
“Then what did he want?”
Brooks paused.
“A ledger.”
Margaret gasped.
David turned.
“What?”
Margaret stood so quickly her chair nearly fell.
“No.”
“Mom?”
She rushed toward Thomas’s old study.
David followed.
The room had remained largely untouched since his father died.
Shelves of business books.
Old awards.
A massive oak desk.
Margaret pulled open a bottom drawer.
Locked.
She searched inside a vase for a small key.
The drawer opened.
Empty.
Margaret stared.
“It was here.”
“What?”
“Thomas’s ledger.”
David’s pulse accelerated.
“What was in it?”
“Everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“Payments. Deals. Names.”
She turned toward him.
“Your father kept records of the things he regretted.”
Mark entered behind them.
“My father?”
Margaret nodded.
“There were pages about Richard.”
“Proof he was innocent?”
“Yes.”
Mark gripped the doorway.
For decades, his family believed Richard was a thief.
The ledger could clear his name.
David understood Andrew’s obsession.
“Why didn’t Dad make it public?”
“Cowardice.”
Margaret said it quietly.
“He planned to. Then he became sick. He kept delaying.”
“Where is it now?”
“I don’t know.”
David thought about the night Margaret saw a man enter carrying a black case.
Andrew.
He had probably taken the ledger then.
But if he already had it, why continue?
Why manipulate the trust?
Why help Vanessa remove Margaret?
Then David remembered the anonymous message.
Ask what Thomas Mercer did to his father.
Someone wanted them to know.
Someone inside the scheme was leaking information.
Mark’s phone buzzed.
He looked down.
Another unknown message.
This one contained an address.
An abandoned warehouse on the industrial edge of town.
Below it:
If you want the ledger, come at 9.
David immediately said, “We call Brooks.”
Mark nodded.
Then another message arrived.
Come alone, Mark.
Mark stared at it.
David looked at him.
“This is about your father.”
Mark’s face tightened.
“No.”
“What?”
“It’s about my brother.”
David frowned.
Mark showed him the bottom of the message.
May you like
A final sentence had appeared.
You deserve to know why he chose Andrew instead of you.
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