Chapter 4 - The Night Audrey Disappeared
Gideon Shaw did not return Declan’s calls.
That fact alone was alarming.
In nineteen years, Gideon had ignored Declan exactly twice.
Once during his wife’s funeral.
Once while undergoing emergency heart surgery.
This time there was no explanation.
By midnight, his phone went directly to voicemail.
Declan stood in the center of his office with the transfer sheet spread across his desk.
Audrey had gone home.
Or so he thought.
The page showed eleven transfers made during the six months following Thomas Collins’s stroke.
Each transfer originated from payroll deductions attached to Audrey’s employment agreement.
Each ended inside an internal Mercer trust.
Authorization:
GIDEON SHAW.
Declan could not reconcile it.
Gideon had been his father’s closest friend.
Mentor.
Advisor.
The man who taught Declan how to read balance sheets at sixteen.
The man who sat beside him at the funeral after Declan’s parents died in a plane crash.
The man who spent two decades cleaning up Mercer family disasters.
Why would Gideon steal Audrey’s money?
Declan looked toward her empty desk.
Then he called again.
Voicemail.
He grabbed his coat.
Across town, Audrey entered her apartment at 12:18 a.m.
The space was tiny.
One bedroom.
Secondhand couch.
Small kitchen.
Almost nothing on the walls.
Four years of living as cheaply as possible had made possessions feel irresponsible.
She placed the envelope of documents on the table.
Then locked the door.
Deadbolt.
Chain.
She stood in silence.
The day had been impossible.
Freedom.
Daniel.
The false debt.
Declan’s apology.
Gideon’s signature.
Audrey poured a glass of water.
Her hands were still shaking.
She should sleep.
Instead, she opened her laptop.
If Gideon authorized the transfers, there had to be a reason.
Audrey knew Mercer’s accounting systems better than most employees.
She connected remotely.
Her credentials still worked.
She searched the trust name.
MERCER CONTINGENCY TRUST VII.
Restricted.
Audrey frowned.
She tried an archived database.
Denied.
Then an old reporting portal.
Access granted.
Audrey stared.
Someone had forgotten to remove legacy permissions.
She opened the account history.
The payroll money went into the trust.
Then left.
But not to Gideon.
Not to Daniel.
Audrey leaned closer.
The final recipient was listed only as:
T.C. CARE HOLDINGS.
She stopped.
T.C.
Thomas Collins?
Audrey opened another transfer.
Same destination.
Another.
Same.
Her heartbeat increased.
She searched the company.
T.C. Care Holdings was registered in Delaware.
It owned one asset.
The assisted-care facility where her father lived.
Audrey stared at the screen.
That made no sense.
Then she opened the expense ledger.
Room fees.
Therapy.
Specialized nursing.
Medical equipment.
Private neurologists.
All connected to Thomas Collins.
Audrey covered her mouth.
The money had not been stolen.
It had been paying for her father.
But Audrey already paid the care facility every month from her remaining salary.
She quickly opened her personal records.
Her payments covered roughly thirty percent of Thomas’s actual care.
Someone else had covered the rest.
For four years.
She whispered:
“Who?”
A knock sounded at the door.
Audrey froze.
Three knocks.
Slow.
Controlled.
She approached silently.
“Who is it?”
“Declan.”
She exhaled.
Then became irritated.
She opened the door but left the chain engaged.
“What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk about Gideon.”
“At twelve-thirty in the morning?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Audrey.”
“I discovered something.”
“So did I.”
Declan’s eyes sharpened.
“What?”
She hesitated.
Then opened the chain.
Declan stepped inside.
He looked around once.
Audrey noticed the reaction.
“This is where I live.”
“I know.”
“No, you know my address.”
His jaw tightened.
“That’s different.”
She shut the door.
Declan approached the laptop.
Audrey showed him the records.
He read silently.
His face became increasingly confused.
“The trust paid for your father’s care.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was hoping you knew.”
“I didn’t.”
Audrey stared.
“You’re telling me your company secretly paid hundreds of thousands toward my father’s treatment and you didn’t know?”
“It wasn’t the company.”
“It came from your trust.”
“Gideon controls the contingency trusts.”
Audrey sat.
“Then maybe he wasn’t stealing.”
Declan remained silent.
A thought entered Audrey’s mind.
“What if Gideon knew?”
“Knew what?”
“That the debt was fake.”
Declan slowly looked at her.
“What if he couldn’t challenge Daniel directly?”
Audrey pointed at the screen.
“So he redirected part of the deductions back to my father.”
Declan considered it.
It fit.
Almost.
“But why not tell me?”
“Maybe he didn’t trust you.”
Declan’s expression hardened.
Audrey held his gaze.
“Can you blame him?”
The words hurt.
She saw it.
Declan looked away.
“No.”
Audrey softened.
For the first time, she noticed how tired he looked.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
The man she had always considered impossible to damage suddenly appeared exhausted.
She remembered Daniel’s words.
I used you.
Maybe Declan had been manipulated too.
Not equally.
Not enough to excuse him.
But enough to complicate her anger.
Declan’s phone buzzed.
He answered immediately.
“Gideon?”
Silence.
His expression changed.
“Where are you?”
Audrey stood.
“What happened?”
Declan raised one finger.
Listening.
Then:
“Don’t move.”
He hung up.
“Where is he?”
“Union Station.”
“At one in the morning?”
“He says he’s leaving town.”
“Why?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
Declan turned toward the door.
Audrey grabbed her coat.
“No.”
She stared at him.
“No?”
“You’re staying here.”
Audrey laughed in disbelief.
“We literally had this conversation.”
“This isn’t about employment.”
“Then what is it about?”
“Safety.”
“I’m coming.”
“Audrey.”
“I found the records. My father is involved. Gideon signed them.”
Declan clenched his jaw.
She crossed her arms.
“You don’t get to decide.”
He stared at her for two seconds.
Then exhaled.
“Fine.”
Union Station was nearly empty.
Gideon stood beneath the enormous central clock carrying one leather bag.
He looked older than he had that morning.
Declan and Audrey approached.
Gideon looked at Audrey.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
She almost laughed.
“Apparently every Mercer man says that when he doesn’t want me learning something.”
Gideon smiled faintly.
“Fair.”
Declan stopped.
“Why are you leaving?”
Gideon looked around.
“Daniel has people watching me.”
“He won’t after tomorrow.”
“You underestimate him.”
“No.”
Declan’s voice hardened.
“I underestimated him once.”
Gideon looked at Audrey.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“All of it.”
“Did you know the debt was inflated?”
“Yes.”
Declan went still.
Audrey swallowed.
“How long?”
“Almost from the beginning.”
Declan stepped forward.
“And you said nothing.”
“I couldn’t prove it.”
“You could have told me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Gideon looked at him.
“Because back then, you were becoming exactly like Daniel.”
The words hit hard.
Declan stopped.
“You were angry after your father died. Obsessed with control. Every betrayal became personal.”
Gideon’s voice softened.
“If I told you Thomas Collins had been manipulated, I wasn’t sure whether you’d investigate Daniel or punish Thomas harder for weakness.”
Audrey looked at Declan.
He did not defend himself.
Gideon continued.
“So I redirected part of Audrey’s deductions.”
“To Dad’s care.”
“Yes.”
“Why anonymously?”
“Because Daniel audited the accounts.”
Audrey’s throat tightened.
“You were trying to help us.”
“Not enough.”
Gideon looked ashamed.
“I should have done more.”
Declan said quietly:
“You should have trusted me.”
Gideon met his gaze.
“You hadn’t earned it yet.”
Silence.
Then Audrey asked the question that mattered most.
“Why leave now?”
Gideon’s face changed.
“Because Daniel knows I kept copies.”
“Copies of what?”
Gideon unzipped his bag.
He removed a black ledger.
Old.
Leather-bound.
He handed it to Audrey.
“This is the real financial history of Daniel’s network.”
Declan stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Your father.”
Declan froze.
“My father?”
“He discovered Daniel’s operation months before the plane crash.”
Declan’s face went white.
Gideon lowered his voice.
“He was preparing to expose him.”
Declan looked at the ledger.
Then at Gideon.
“The crash was mechanical.”
“That’s what the investigation concluded.”
“Are you suggesting—”
“I’m suggesting your father believed Daniel was capable of anything.”
Declan’s breathing changed.
Audrey watched him.
A lifetime shifted behind his eyes.
Gideon continued.
“Your father gave me the ledger three days before he died.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were twenty-seven and furious at the world.”
Gideon stepped closer.
“And because Daniel convinced you that your father died believing you were weak.”
Declan looked devastated.
“He said that?”
“Your father said the opposite.”
Gideon reached into his coat.
He handed Declan a sealed envelope.
The handwriting on the front made him freeze.
DECLAN.
His father’s writing.
Declan’s hands shook.
Audrey had never seen them shake.
He opened the envelope.
Inside was a single page.
He read silently.
His face changed.
“What does it say?” Audrey asked.
Declan looked up.
His eyes were wet.
“My father knew.”
“Knew what?”
Declan looked at Gideon.
“That Daniel was targeting him.”
A train announcement echoed through the station.
Then Gideon glanced behind them.
His face immediately hardened.
“We need to go.”
Declan turned.
At the far end of the platform, three men had entered.
Dark coats.
Moving quickly.
Audrey’s stomach tightened.
Gideon whispered:
“Daniel found us.”
Declan took Audrey’s hand.
Not possessively.
Protectively.
“Run.”
And for the first time in four years, Audrey followed him not because a contract demanded it.
May you like
But because she chose to.
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