A WAITRESS FED THE SAME HOMELESS MAN EVERY NIGHT—ONE DAY, HE WALKED IN WEARING A SUIT
Chapter 10
The police arrested Richard.
But his final words troubled Emma.
“Why me?”
David didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he led her outside.
Rain had begun falling.
“You were never random,” he said.
“What does that mean?”
“Your father.”
Emma stopped.
“What about him?”
David looked exhausted.
“Your father discovered the Horizon scheme before anyone else.”
“I thought he was only an accountant.”
“He was more than that.”
Emma remembered the photograph.
“What did he do?”
“He copied evidence.”
“Where is it?”
David shook his head.
“We don’t know.”
“Then why did Richard say he chose me?”
David looked at her.
“Because your father hid something with you.”
Emma frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
“Think.”
She closed her eyes.
Her father’s belongings.
After his death, Emma had kept a small wooden box.
Inside were photographs, an old watch, and a key.
She had never opened the back of the box.
She had never understood why it was so heavy.
She called her mother.
“Mom, where is Dad’s wooden box?”
“In the attic.”
“Don’t touch it.”
Emma and David drove home.
They opened the box.
Inside the bottom was a hidden compartment.
The key fit.
A small metal drive fell into Emma’s hand.
She stared.
David whispered:
“That’s it.”
“What?”
“The original evidence.”
They connected it to an isolated laptop.
A folder appeared.
HORIZON — ORIGINAL
Inside were scanned contracts.
Audio files.
Photographs.
And one video.
Emma opened it.
Her father appeared on screen.
He looked tired.
Older than she remembered.
“Emma, if you’re watching this, I didn’t know whether I’d be alive when you found it.”
Emma’s eyes filled with tears.
Her father continued.
“I discovered that Richard wasn’t working alone.”
David leaned forward.
A second name appeared.
Paul Mercer.
Emma froze.
“Paul?”
Her father continued.
“Paul was my assistant. I trusted him.”
David looked shocked.
“Paul knew.”
The video continued.
“He helped Richard move the first funds.”
Emma covered her mouth.
The restaurant manager.
The man who had given her the photograph.
The man who had warned her.
Her father had named him.
But then the video revealed something else.
“I eventually learned Paul changed sides.”
Emma looked at David.
“He betrayed Richard?”
“Yes.”
Her father continued:
“He helped me hide the evidence.”
Emma’s eyes filled with tears.
“And if anything happens to me, I need Emma to know that Paul was protecting her.”
The video ended.
Emma sat silently.
David looked at her.
“Your father trusted Paul.”
“But Paul knew you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because he promised your father.”
Emma suddenly understood.
Paul had kept the photograph for twelve years.
He had known.
He had been afraid.
And he had waited.
Then Emma’s phone rang.
Paul.
She answered.
His voice was shaking.
“Emma.”
“Yes?”
“Get away from the house.”
“Why?”
“I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I told Richard where the evidence was.”
Emma’s blood ran cold.
“Why?”
Paul whispered:
“Because he has my daughter.”
