Chapter 7 - The Father Behind the Father
“GRANT, DID YOU HAND THAT WOMAN OVER TO YOUR FATHER'S SECURITY MEN KNOWING SHE MIGHT NEVER COME HOME?”
My voice shook with anger.
I was sitting in Laura's office while Grant appeared on my laptop screen.
He looked exhausted.
Dark shadows marked the skin beneath his eyes.
For once, there was no expensive suit jacket.
No polished smile.
No effortless confidence.
Just a man who seemed to have aged ten years in three days.
“Rachel, where did you get that photograph?”
“Answer my question.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“It's complicated.”
“Two people died in a fire. Thirty-eight families were denied relief money. A woman disappeared. And my signature was forged on financial documents.”
I leaned closer.
“What's complicated about telling me the truth?”
Grant closed his eyes.
“My father told me Nora was stealing from the company.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
He looked away.
“Later, I started finding things that didn't make sense.”
I felt my heart pounding.
“Like what?”
“Payments to shell companies. Invoices from businesses I'd never heard of. Reports that contradicted the original fire investigation.”
“So you knew.”
“I suspected.”
I stared at him.
“For five years?”
“Rachel—”
“Five years, Grant!”
I stopped myself before my voice rose further.
This conversation was too important to waste on an argument.
“Where is Owen?”
Grant glanced toward the door.
“He's safe.”
“That's not an answer.”
“He's staying with me.”
“Where?”
“The hotel.”
I looked at Laura.
We already knew Grant had changed hotels since arriving in London.
His attorney had provided an address, but the information was incomplete.
“Put him on the phone,” I said.
“He's sleeping.”
“Then wake him.”
Grant's expression hardened.
“You don't get to issue orders whenever you feel like it.”
Something inside me became very still.
“I'm his mother.”
“And I'm his father.”
“Then act like one.”
The words hung between us.
Grant looked wounded.
For the first time, I didn't feel compelled to apologize.
I continued.
“Owen told me your father threatened him. He was frightened into telling a judge he didn't want to live with me.”
Grant stared at the screen.
“I didn't tell him to say that.”
“Did you know Walter did?”
Silence.
“Grant?”
He slowly lowered his head.
I felt sick.
“You knew.”
“I thought it was just pressure about the private school.”
“He told our son I would go to prison if he didn't cooperate.”
Grant looked up sharply.
“What?”
“He told Owen that telling the truth would destroy me.”
Grant whispered something I couldn't hear.
I leaned forward.
“Your father doesn't get to use our child as insurance against his crimes.”
Grant looked toward the door again.
When he finally spoke, his voice had changed.
“Rachel, I need you to do something.”
“What?”
“Stop trying to reach my father.”
“Why?”
“Because he doesn't react well when he loses control.”
I stared at him.
“Is that supposed to frighten me?”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“It's supposed to keep you alive.”
The call ended abruptly.
Laura sat back.
“That was more revealing than I expected.”
I looked at her.
“He knew Owen was being pressured.”
“Yes.”
“And he still allowed the court to believe Owen was choosing freely.”
Laura nodded.
“That's significant.”
I wanted to feel victorious.
Instead, all I felt was sadness.
Grant had grown up with wealth, privilege, and every opportunity imaginable.
Yet when his father frightened an eight-year-old child, he couldn't find the courage to intervene.
That afternoon, Laura filed supplemental materials with the Virginia court.
She requested expedited consideration of Owen's safety, the alleged coercion, and Grant's compliance with the existing custody order.
Because Owen was overseas, she also coordinated with an attorney experienced in cross-border family matters.
Nothing happened instantly.
There were procedural questions.
Documents to authenticate.
Jurisdictional issues.
And legal protections that couldn't simply be ignored because I was terrified.
I hated every minute of it.
But Laura reminded me that the right process mattered.
We needed decisions that would protect Owen not just today, but afterward.
Meanwhile, Dana's investigation was expanding.
Bank records were being preserved.
The original financial authorizations were under review.
And investigators had begun tracing Cedar Point Ventures.
That evening, Benjamin called.
“I need to see you.”
His voice sounded different.
Urgent.
We met in a private room at Laura's office.
Benjamin carried the same battered leather folder I'd seen on our first meeting.
But this time, his hands were trembling.
“Rachel, there's something I haven't told you.”
I stared at him.
“Another secret?”
He looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
I sat down.
“Then tell me now. I'm finished being protected by people who think I can't handle the truth.”
Benjamin nodded.
“After Nora disappeared, I told everyone I believed she had died.”
“Didn't you?”
He stared at the floor.
“Not entirely.”
I felt my pulse accelerate.
“What does that mean?”
He opened the folder.
Inside was an old photograph of Nora standing beside a lake.
On the back was a handwritten date.
March 2024.
More than two years after she had supposedly vanished.
I stared at it.
“Where did you get this?”
Benjamin's eyes filled with tears.
“She sent it to me.”
My breath caught.
“She's alive?”
He nodded slowly.
“She's alive.”
I couldn't speak.
For five years, Grant's family had believed Nora Price was dead.
The woman who had discovered their financial secrets.
The woman last seen being escorted toward Victor Sloane's SUV.
The woman whose disappearance had haunted her husband.
Alive.
“Where is she?”
Benjamin looked at Laura, then back at me.
“She's been hiding because she believed Walter would kill her if he learned she survived.”
I leaned forward.
“Can she prove what happened?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hasn't she come forward?”
“Because she didn't know who to trust. And because the last time she tried to tell the truth, someone tried to make sure she'd never speak again.”
Benjamin took a deep breath.
“But she knows what happened to you and Owen.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
“Because Owen found her contact information with the card. When he reached me, I told Nora. She's been following everything from a safe distance.”
I pressed a hand against my chest.
“Does she know where my son is?”
“Not yet.”
He stood.
“But she says she has evidence that could bring Walter Whitaker down.”
I looked toward Laura.
For the first time, her expression showed genuine surprise.
Benjamin reached for his phone.
“If you're willing, I can arrange for you to meet her.”
I nodded without hesitation.
“Of course.”
He dialed a number.
Someone answered.
Benjamin spoke quietly.
“Nora? It's Ben.”
A pause.
“Rachel's here. She's ready to hear what you know.”
He listened for several seconds.
Then his face changed.
“What do you mean he's already gone?”
I stood.
“Who?”
Benjamin looked at me.
His expression had turned white.
He lowered the phone.
“Nora says Walter just left his Virginia estate on a private flight to London.”
My heart stopped.
May you like
Benjamin continued.
“He's going to take Owen away from Grant.”
