Chapter 4 - What Elizabeth Saw
Richard did not answer.
Anna noticed the name.
Her face closed immediately.
“He knows you're looking.”
“You don't know that.”
“He always knows.”
Richard slid the phone into his coat.
“What exactly are you accusing him of?”
Anna stared through the library window.
“I told Elizabeth that donor money was being redirected.”
Richard frowned.
“Redirected where?”
“Shell consulting firms.”
“That would have been caught.”
“It was.”
“By whom?”
“Me.”
Richard almost said something dismissive, then stopped.
Anna continued.
“At first I thought it was sloppy bookkeeping. Small amounts. Twelve thousand here. Eighteen there. Payments labeled risk assessment, grant compliance, logistics review.”
“How much total?”
“When I stopped counting? About one point eight million.”
Richard looked at her.
“That isn't small.”
“No.”
“And you believed Daniel was behind it?”
“I believed somebody in his office was authorizing the payments.”
“Daniel's office handled legal review. Not disbursement.”
“His office also approved vendors.”
Richard knew that.
He disliked knowing it.
“Why didn't you report it?”
“I did.”
“To whom?”
“Elizabeth.”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“And?”
“She asked me to keep quiet while she looked into it.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Because one of the vendor companies shared a mailing address with a Mercer family trust.”
Richard said nothing.
Anna watched him absorb it.
“She didn't believe me at first.”
“That sounds more realistic.”
“She checked herself.”
Richard looked away.
That was Elizabeth.
She trusted people emotionally but verified details obsessively.
“What happened?”
“Two weeks later, my access was restricted. Then somebody accused me of reading private emails.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
Richard stared at her.
Anna raised a hand.
“Not the way the report made it sound. A donor email was forwarded to my account accidentally. The chain included correspondence between Daniel's office and a contractor. I opened what was sent to me.”
“And kept reading.”
“Yes.”
“That's unauthorized.”
“It was evidence.”
Richard's business instincts returned.
He had fired employees for less.
Anna saw it on his face.
“There. That's exactly what happened.”
“What?”
“You hear one part that sounds improper and stop listening.”
Richard's voice hardened.
“You're asking me to believe my oldest friend ran a financial scheme through my wife's foundation.”
“No. I'm telling you your wife believed something was wrong.”
“She would have told me.”
Anna looked almost sad.
“Would she?”
“Yes.”
“Richard, when Elizabeth tried talking to you during that period, what were you doing?”
He opened his mouth.
Stopped.
That year had been chaos.
Vaughn Holdings was fighting a hostile takeover attempt.
Richard had spent weeks in London.
Then Singapore.
Then New York.
Elizabeth had complained that he was never home.
He remembered one dinner.
She had said, “I need you to listen without trying to fix anything.”
He had received a call halfway through.
He had taken it.
The memory made him uncomfortable.
Anna seemed to read the answer.
“She was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“Maybe from your company. Maybe from Daniel. Maybe from whatever else she found.”
Richard studied her.
“You said whatever else.”
Anna nodded.
“The money wasn't the thing that scared her most.”
“What was?”
“I don't know.”
Richard nearly lost patience.
“You keep saying you know something and then telling me you don't.”
“Because that's the truth.”
She touched the envelope in her bag.
“Elizabeth didn't tell me everything.”
Richard looked at it again.
“Then let me read the message.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I promised her.”
“She is dead.”
Anna flinched.
Richard regretted the cruelty immediately.
But grief had never made him gentle.
Only quieter.
“I deserve to know.”
“Yes,” Anna said. “You do.”
“Then give it to me.”
“When I know you won't hand it to Daniel and ask him to explain it away.”
Richard stared.
“You think I'm that stupid?”
“I think grief makes people desperate to protect the version of the past they can survive.”
That silenced him.
Anna picked up her bag.
“I have to go.”
“Where?”
She gave him a look.
“Not everyone has a calendar assistant.”
Richard reached into his pocket.
He removed the pharmacy receipt.
“You spent your last money on Cooper.”
Anna's expression changed.
“You found that.”
“Yes.”
“It was trash.”
“It was twenty-eight dollars.”
“So?”
“You refused a hundred thousand.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Anna shrugged.
“Because I didn't earn a hundred thousand dollars.”
“You saved my dog.”
“I helped an injured animal.”
“Most people would have taken the money.”
“Most people have rent.”
She said it without self-pity.
That made it worse.
Richard took out his wallet.
Anna's eyes narrowed immediately.
“Don't.”
“This isn't the reward.”
“Then definitely don't.”
“I want to reimburse you.”
“Fine.”
She held out her hand.
Richard paused, then gave her forty dollars.
Anna counted it.
She handed twelve back.
Richard looked at the bills.
“What are you doing?”
“The medicine was twenty-eight and change.”
“Keep it.”
“No.”
“Anna.”
She pushed the bills into his palm.
“Don't turn every decent thing into a transaction.”
Then she walked away.
Richard stood there holding twelve dollars.
That evening he met Daniel Mercer at the private club where they had eaten dinner hundreds of times.
Daniel was sixty, silver-haired, composed, with the careful warmth of a man who had spent decades calming boardrooms.
He hugged Richard.
“You look awful.”
“Cooper is alive.”
“I heard. Thank God.”
Daniel ordered Scotch.
Richard did not.
“Do you remember Anna Brooks?”
Daniel's hand paused above the menu.
Barely.
Then continued.
“Should I?”
“She worked for Elizabeth.”
Daniel leaned back.
“Anna Brooks.”
He frowned as if searching memory.
Then his face changed.
“Oh.”
Richard watched.
“What?”
“Where did that come from?”
“I met her.”
Daniel's expression became cautious.
“Richard.”
“What?”
“She was unstable.”
There it was.
Too fast.
Richard felt something tighten.
“What do you mean?”
“She became obsessed with Elizabeth.”
“Obsessed how?”
“Convinced herself she was protecting her from people.”
“Which people?”
Daniel sighed.
“Me, for one.”
Richard looked at him.
Daniel spread his hands.
“You know this story. Maybe you don't remember because Elizabeth and I deliberately kept it away from you.”
“Why?”
“You were dealing with the London acquisition.”
Richard remembered the timeline.
“So Elizabeth agreed she was unstable?”
“Absolutely.”
“Did Elizabeth fire her?”
“Yes.”
“You saw her approve it?”
“I handled it personally.”
Richard leaned back.
“Why personally?”
“Because Anna threatened legal action.”
“That isn't in the file.”
Daniel took a sip of Scotch.
“Not everything needs to be immortalized.”
Richard thought of the unsigned details.
“Did she accuse you of stealing money?”
Daniel's eyes sharpened.
“Is that what she's telling you?”
“Did she?”
Daniel smiled without humor.
“She accused half the foundation of corruption.”
“Did she have evidence?”
“No.”
“You're sure?”
“Richard.”
“I'm asking.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“You lost your wife. You're still vulnerable. This woman knows it.”
Richard's expression changed.
Daniel saw it too late.
“She didn't contact me.”
“What?”
“I found her by accident.”
Daniel said nothing.
“She found Cooper.”
Daniel blinked.
“The dog?”
“She kept him alive.”
The silence between them deepened.
Daniel recovered.
“Then that's fortunate.”
“She refused the reward.”
Daniel looked genuinely surprised.
“That doesn't make her honest.”
“No.”
Richard studied his oldest friend.
“Do you know what Elizabeth's silver locket looked like?”
Daniel's face went still.
Richard saw it.
A flicker.
Tiny.
But there.
“I suppose.”
“Anna has it.”
Daniel lowered his glass.
“That doesn't prove anything.”
“I didn't say it did.”
“Elizabeth could have given it to her before realizing how unstable she was.”
Richard looked at him.
“You just said Elizabeth agreed Anna was unstable.”
“She did.”
“When?”
“Toward the end.”
“What changed her mind?”
Daniel's irritation surfaced.
“Why are we interrogating history?”
“Because I asked a question.”
The old dynamic between them shifted.
Daniel placed his glass carefully on the table.
“Elizabeth became frightened of Anna.”
Richard's throat tightened.
“Frightened?”
“Yes.”
“She told you that?”
“Yes.”
“Did she tell anyone else?”
“Probably.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked away.
“I don't remember.”
Richard smiled faintly.
It was the same answer Martin had given.
He left dinner early.
Back home, Cooper was awake.
Richard sat on the floor beside him.
The dog rested his head on Richard's knee.
Elizabeth had loved sitting exactly this way.
Richard stroked Cooper's neck.
“You really do have better judgment than the rest of us, huh?”
Cooper sighed.
Richard's phone buzzed.
A message from Martin.
FOUND SOMETHING.
Richard called immediately.
“What?”
“I pulled archived foundation emails.”
“And?”
“There was no written complaint from Elizabeth about Anna.”
Richard sat straighter.
“Nothing?”
“Nothing.”
“Daniel said she was frightened.”
“I found something else.”
Richard waited.
Martin's voice lowered.
“Three days before Anna was fired, Elizabeth emailed Daniel.”
“What did she say?”
Martin hesitated.
“Exact wording?”
“Yes.”
Martin read it.
“Do not remove Anna's access. I asked her to investigate the vendor records. Do not take any action regarding her employment until I return.”
Richard stopped breathing.
“When was that?”
“Three days before Anna's termination.”
“And Elizabeth was where?”
“Chicago. Foundation conference.”
Richard stared at the fire.
“So she ordered Daniel not to fire Anna.”
“Yes.”
“And three days later?”
“Anna was terminated under Elizabeth's digital approval.”
Richard looked down at Cooper.
A memory surfaced.
Elizabeth coming home from Chicago.
Pale.
Angry.
Asking where Daniel was.
Richard had assumed they were fighting about foundation expenses.
He had gone upstairs to pack for London.
Martin spoke again.
“Richard, there's more.”
“What?”
“The email wasn't in the standard archive.”
“Where was it?”
“In a legal hold folder that should have been deleted years ago.”
“Why wasn't it?”
“Someone copied it.”
“Who?”
“I don't know yet.”
Richard stood.
Outside his windows, Beacon Hill glowed beneath snow.
“And Martin?”
“Yes?”
“Don't tell Daniel what you found.”
Silence.
Then Martin said something Richard had never heard from him before.
May you like
“I wasn't planning to.”
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