Margaret carried the sealed documents from the safe back to the lake house before opening anything else.
She wanted daylight.
She wanted David beside her.
Most of all, she wanted no more surprises while standing in that abandoned building.
By breakfast, the documents covered half the dining table.
Bank statements.
Property agreements.
Copies of correspondence.
Old photographs.
A handwritten ledger.
And the final envelope from Thomas.
David stood at the counter making coffee while Margaret sorted the papers into piles.
“Where do we start?”
“With whatever can be verified.”
He nodded.
That was the answer Thomas would have given.
Margaret opened the first file.
It contained records from the original development company.
The numbers were disturbing.
Money had moved between accounts.
Investors had been told projects were profitable when they were not.
Several payments had been disguised as consulting fees.
Richard's name appeared repeatedly.
So did Jonathan Mercer's.
But the records showed something Margaret had not expected.
Thomas had not been one of the beneficiaries.
He had lost money.
He had put his own funds into the foundation after discovering the fraud.
David read over her shoulder.
“Dad wasn't protecting his investment.”
“No.”
“He was protecting everyone else's.”
Margaret nodded.
She turned another page.
There was a list of investors.
Claire's mother was there.
So were several families Margaret had never heard of.
At the bottom, Thomas had written a note.
Do not expose the truth until the innocent can be separated from the guilty.
David frowned.
“That could have taken years.”
“It did.”
He looked at her.
“Why didn't he simply go to the police?”
Margaret considered the question.
“Maybe because the evidence wasn't complete.”
“Or because he was afraid.”
“Of what?”
David pointed toward the documents.
“If Richard was willing to falsify records, he might have been willing to do worse.”
Margaret remembered Helen's words.
Jonathan wanted me dead.
She felt a chill.
They needed to know what had happened to Helen after Thomas's death.
Daniel arrived shortly after nine.
He had brought a lawyer.
The lawyer was a woman named Susan Bell who had worked with Thomas during the foundation's early years.
Margaret recognized her from an old photograph.
Susan shook her hand.
“I wish we were meeting under different circumstances.”
“So do I.”
Susan sat at the table.
She examined the documents.
Her expression changed as she went through them.
“Where did you get these?”
Margaret told her.
Susan leaned back.
“Thomas kept copies of everything.”
“He expected this?”
“He expected someone might eventually need to prove what happened.”
Susan looked at David.
“Your father was careful.”
“Careful enough to scare everyone around him.”
Susan smiled faintly.
“That was Thomas.”
She explained that the foundation had nearly collapsed twice.
The first time was after the development scandal.
The second was after Thomas became ill.
He had refused to close it.
Instead, he transferred the remaining properties into a protected trust.
That was how the lake house came to be controlled separately.
David listened closely.
“So the trust was never really about me.”
Susan looked at him.
“It was about giving you responsibility without giving you an easy escape.”
Margaret smiled.
“That sounds like him.”
Susan nodded.
“He wanted you to have control only if you demonstrated that you understood what control meant.”
David looked down.
“I didn't.”
“Not at first.”
He accepted that.
Susan continued.
“The foundation's original charter included a succession clause.”
“What kind?”
“If the designated trustee failed to maintain the purpose of the foundation, another family member could assume responsibility.”
Margaret remembered Thomas's note about Emily.
“Emily.”
Susan nodded.
“Your father wanted both of his children to have the opportunity.”
David looked surprised.
“He never told Emily.”
“He didn't want either of you to feel entitled.”
Margaret understood.
Thomas had deliberately separated inheritance from ownership.
The properties were never supposed to become trophies.
They were tools.
Susan pointed to the ledger.
“This is the important piece.”
Margaret opened it.
Every entry had a date, amount, and initials.
Some were ordinary.
Others were marked with a small circle.
“What does the circle mean?”
Susan looked closely.
“Protection payments.”
Margaret frowned.
“Payments to whom?”
“That is what Thomas was trying to establish.”
David turned the pages.
Near the end, several entries had no recipient names.
Only initials.
H.M.
J.M.
R.H.
S.C.
Margaret understood most.
Helen Mercer.
Jonathan Mercer.
Richard Hale.
Samuel Carter.
But there was another.
A.D.
David looked at her.
“Who is A.D.?”
Susan shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Daniel took the ledger.
“Could be a company.”
“Could be.”
Margaret noticed the dates.
The A.D. payments occurred after Jonathan's disappearance.
Some were made while Thomas was already sick.
That disturbed her.
“Who was Thomas paying after he got sick?”
Susan did not answer.
Instead she turned to the last page.
A sentence had been written there.
If A.D. returns, the foundation is compromised.
David looked at Margaret.
“Who's A.D.?”
“No idea.”
Daniel photographed the page.
Susan asked whether anyone had contacted them since the documents were found.
Margaret told her about the anonymous letter.
Susan became serious.
“Then don't assume this is over.”
“We don't.”
Susan gathered the documents.
“These should be placed somewhere secure.”
David shook his head.
“No.”
Susan looked at him.
“We're not hiding them again.”
Margaret studied her son.
“What do you want to do?”
“Document everything.”
Susan smiled.
“Your father would approve.”
They spent the rest of the day making copies.
One set went to Susan.
Another went to Daniel.
A third stayed with Margaret.
The originals were placed in a bank deposit box.
By evening, the work was done.
Margaret stepped outside.
The lake was almost completely still.
David joined her.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Do you ever wonder what Dad would say if he could see this?”
“Constantly.”
“What would he say?”
Margaret smiled.
“He'd complain that we're making too much noise.”
David laughed.
Then he became quiet.
“I miss him.”
“So do I.”
“I used to think I missed the father I wanted.”
Margaret looked at him.
“And now?”
“I miss the father I finally understand.”
Margaret touched his shoulder.
They stood there together.
Then headlights appeared at the end of the road.
A vehicle stopped.
Neither Margaret nor David moved.
A man stepped out.
He was carrying no weapon.
He simply stood beside the vehicle.
Then he called toward the house.
“Margaret Carter?”
She answered.
“Yes?”
The man walked closer.
“My name is Andrew Dalton.”
Margaret's heart stopped.
A.D.
David stepped in front of her.
Andrew raised both hands.
“I don't want trouble.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I knew you'd find the ledger.”
Margaret stared.
“You're A.D.”
“Yes.”
“Who are you?”
Andrew looked toward the lake.
“I worked for Thomas.”
David frowned.
“Doing what?”
“Keeping people away from the foundation.”
Margaret felt the meaning of the words settle.
“Why?”
Andrew looked at her.
“Because some of them wanted it destroyed.”
“Who?”
He hesitated.
Then said:
“Your husband never trusted the wrong people.”
Andrew reached into his coat.
Margaret tensed.
He removed a photograph.
He handed it to David.
It showed Thomas standing with Helen Mercer.
But another man stood behind them.
Margaret recognized him.
She had seen him once before.
At the hospital.
A man Thomas had spoken to shortly before his death.
David stared at the photograph.
“Who is that?”
Andrew answered.
“Richard Hale's attorney.”
Margaret felt cold.
“He's dead.”
Andrew shook his head.
“No.”
“He died years ago.”
“He disappeared.”
Margaret looked at him.
“Why didn't Thomas tell us?”
Andrew's expression hardened.
“Because Thomas believed telling you would put you in danger.”
Margaret looked toward the house.
For the first time since Thomas died, she wondered whether the danger he had been protecting her from had never actually ended.
Click here to continue reading: PART 18: Andrew Dalton Revealed Why Thomas Had Hidden His Final Evidence, and Margaret Discovered the Threat Was Closer to Her Family Than She Ever Imagined
Nine Days After Thomas Was Buried, Margaret Opened Her Door to an Unexpected Responsibility—and Realized Her Son Had Already Decided What Her Life Should Be
Part 17 of 27
