“Dad, Can She Eat With Us?”—Then the Single Dad Did Something Nobody Expected
Chapter 3
Daniel called every person he knew who had worked with Sarah.
Most refused to talk.
One finally agreed.
His name was Tom Alvarez.
He lived thirty miles outside town.
Tom met Daniel in a small diner.
When he saw Emily, he looked shocked.
“She’s the same age?”
“Eight.”
Tom nodded.
“Sarah thought something like this might happen.”
“What?”
“She knew people were watching her.”
“Who?”
Tom looked around.
“The company.”
“What company?”
“The one Sarah worked for after you left.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What did she find?”
Tom pulled a folder from his coat.
“She found fake invoices.”
“For what?”
“Safety equipment.”
Daniel frowned.
“How much money?”
“More than three million.”
His jaw tightened.
“Three million?”
Tom nodded.
“They were billing factories for emergency safety upgrades.”
“And not doing them.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel thought of the plant.
The old machines.
The broken guard rails.
The workers who had been injured.
He remembered complaining.
Then getting fired.
Sarah had apparently kept digging.
“What happened?”
Tom swallowed.
“She found a second ledger.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who does?”
Tom looked at Emily.
“She did.”
Daniel stared.
“Emily?”
Tom nodded.
“Sarah told me she hid the ledger where nobody would look.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Tom pushed the folder toward Daniel.
There was a photograph inside.
A school.
Emily’s old elementary school.
A red storage locker.
Daniel looked at Emily.
“Do you know this?”
She nodded slowly.
“Mom used to pick me up there.”
“Did she leave anything?”
Emily thought.
“She had a blue box.”
“What kind?”
“Metal.”
“Where?”
“She said it was my birthday box.”
Daniel felt a chill.
“Did she keep it at the school?”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
“Where then?”
“At home.”
The apartment.
Daniel understood.
The men searching the apartment were looking for something.
Probably the box.
That afternoon, Daniel and a police officer returned with Emily.
She pointed to a loose floorboard.
Daniel lifted it.
Nothing.
Then Emily whispered:
“Under the sink.”
They checked.
Behind a panel was a small metal box.
Blue.
Inside was a flash drive.
A key.
A photograph.
And a handwritten note.
Daniel, if you found this, trust your instincts.
Daniel read on.
The people who stole the safety money are still inside the company.
I found proof.
They know I have it.
If they come for me, keep Emily safe.
Daniel’s hands shook.
The final line was underlined three times.
Do not trust Martin Blake.
Daniel went still.
Martin.
The man who had fired him.
The man who had ordered workers to ignore safety reports.
The man who was now one of the senior executives at the company.
Daniel looked at Emily.
“Your mother knew I would help you.”
Emily nodded.
“She always said you would.”
“Why?”
Emily looked down.
“She said you were the only man who ever stood up for her when nobody else did.”
Daniel remembered.
Years ago, Sarah had been blamed for a production mistake she hadn’t made.
Daniel had defended her.
He had been fired for it.
They lost touch.
He had thought she’d simply moved on.
Apparently, she hadn’t forgotten.
Neither had someone else.
That evening, Daniel opened the flash drive.
One folder contained videos.
Another contained financial records.
And the final folder held a list of names.
Martin Blake.
Three executives.
Two accountants.
And a private security company.
At the bottom was one line:
Paid to locate Emily Carter.
Daniel felt sick.
They weren’t looking for Sarah anymore.
They were looking for her daughter.
And now those people knew the flash drive had been found.
