Chapter 8 - THE BROTHER WHO CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD
Michael Harrison arrived in New York the following afternoon.
No one had invited him.
Daniel was standing in his father’s old study when the elevator opened.
Michael walked out carrying one black suitcase.
He was forty-one, three years younger than Daniel, thinner than Daniel remembered, with their father’s dark eyes and their mother’s habit of observing a room before speaking.
“Still dramatic entrances?” Daniel asked.
Michael looked at him.
“Still ruining things before asking questions?”
Daniel crossed the room.
“Did you have Amy followed?”
Michael dropped the suitcase.
“Yes.”
Daniel punched him.
Margaret screamed.
Michael hit the floor.
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
“Daniel!”
Margaret pulled at his arm.
Michael wiped blood from his mouth.
“I deserved that.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You had my pregnant wife followed?”
“I had her monitored.”
“Say followed again and I’ll break your jaw.”
Michael stood slowly.
“I wasn’t the one who leaked her location.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I wanted Amy found, she would never have made it to Oregon unnoticed.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Michael continued.
“I knew where she was before the photographer did.”
Margaret went pale.
“You knew?”
“I have known for three days.”
“And you said nothing?”
Michael looked at Daniel.
“She asked not to be found.”
Daniel’s anger faltered.
“You respected that?”
“Yes.”
“After spying on her for eight years?”
Michael’s expression tightened.
“That requires explanation.”
“Start.”
They moved into the study.
Michael poured himself water.
No one offered him anything stronger.
“Dad started investigating Amy after your third date.”
Daniel clenched his jaw.
“I know.”
“He investigated everyone.”
“That doesn’t excuse it.”
“I’m not excusing him.”
“Then why continue after he died?”
Michael looked toward Margaret.
Their mother looked away.
“Because Dad discovered something before he died.”
“What?”
“Someone inside Harrison Freight was stealing.”
Daniel frowned.
“What does that have to do with Amy?”
“Nothing. Initially.”
Michael opened his suitcase and removed a drive.
“The theft involved shell companies, political donations, foundation money, and logistics contracts. Dad suspected someone close to the family.”
“Who?”
“He died before identifying them.”
Daniel’s expression darkened.
Charles Harrison had suffered a fatal heart attack in his study.
At least that was what everyone believed.
Michael continued.
“After Dad died, I took over parts of the investigation privately.”
“Why not tell me?”
“Because you were CEO.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“You suspected me?”
“I suspected everyone.”
Margaret sat down.
“Michael.”
He looked at her.
“Including you.”
Margaret went pale.
Daniel said, “Amy?”
“Her accounts were clean.”
“Then why keep watching her?”
“Because someone else was watching her too.”
The room became silent.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Explain.”
“Three years ago, one of my investigators noticed a second surveillance team near Amy.”
Margaret whispered, “Whose?”
“I never confirmed it.”
“Vanessa?”
“No.”
Daniel thought of the trust.
“Howard Pike?”
Michael did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Their family attorney.
The man who had handled Charles Harrison’s estate.
The man with trust authority.
Michael inserted the drive into a laptop.
Files appeared.
Payments.
Photographs.
Audio logs.
Names.
Howard Pike’s appeared repeatedly.
Daniel stared.
“You think Howard is behind Northstar.”
“I think Howard controls someone who controls Northstar.”
“Why leak Amy’s pregnancy?”
Michael looked at him.
“That’s what scares me.”
Across Oregon, Amy received another anonymous message.
This one contained only an address.
And a sentence.
If you want to know why they care about your baby, look at Daniel’s father’s autopsy.
Amy immediately forwarded it to Samantha.
The attorney called.
“Do not investigate this yourself.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You’re lying.”
Amy almost smiled.
“I’m pregnant, not reckless.”
“You recently escaped New York without telling anyone.”
“That was emotionally reckless, not physically.”
“Amy.”
“I’ll let you handle it.”
Samantha sighed.
“Good.”
But the message stayed in Amy’s mind.
Charles Harrison’s autopsy.
Daniel’s father had died before Amy and Daniel married.
Official cause: myocardial infarction.
Heart attack.
Nothing suspicious.
Then why mention it?
That evening Amy sat near the window, hand resting on her stomach.
Her daughter kicked.
For the first time.
Tiny.
Barely noticeable.
Amy froze.
Then smiled.
“There you are.”
Another kick.
Amy cried.
She instinctively reached for her phone to call Daniel.
Her thumb hovered over his name.
For years, he had been the first person she wanted to tell everything.
That habit had not disappeared simply because trust had.
Amy put down the phone.
Three minutes later, it rang.
Daniel.
She stared at it.
Then answered.
“Hi.”
His voice was careful.
“Hi.”
Neither spoke.
Daniel said, “My brother came back.”
“Michael?”
“You know about him?”
“His initials are on the surveillance files.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“He admits monitoring you.”
Amy’s fingers tightened.
“But he claims someone else was doing it too.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know.”
Amy looked at the ocean.
“The baby kicked.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“What?”
“For the first time.”
There was silence.
Then Amy heard him inhale shakily.
“Is she…”
Amy froze.
“She?”
Daniel realized.
“I know.”
“How?”
“Lucas told me the leak included the sex. I wish I had learned it from you.”
Amy’s eyes filled.
“I wish that too.”
Daniel sat down in his father’s study.
“A girl.”
“Yes.”
He laughed softly.
A broken, amazed sound.
“We’re having a girl.”
Amy did not correct the we.
Not tonight.
Daniel whispered, “Is she okay after the bleeding?”
Amy stiffened.
“How do you know?”
“Lucas only told me there had been a medical emergency. I guessed when you said you were alive.”
“She’s okay.”
“And you?”
“I’m okay.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Thank you.”
Amy almost asked what he would name her.
Almost imagined him building a crib.
Almost let herself remember the good parts.
Then the anonymous message returned to her mind.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“Did your father have an autopsy?”
Daniel frowned.
“Of course.”
“Have you ever seen it?”
“No. Why?”
Amy told him about the message.
Daniel became silent.
“Amy, send it to me.”
“I sent it to my attorney.”
“Good.”
“I’m not sending it to you unless she approves.”
Daniel accepted that immediately.
“Okay.”
That surprised her again.
Then he said, “I need to tell you something else.”
Amy’s stomach tightened.
“Chicago?”
“Yes.”
She waited.
“I kissed Vanessa.”
Amy closed her eyes.
Daniel continued.
“I kissed her back. I went to her room. I left eighteen minutes later. I did not sleep with her.”
Amy’s tears came silently.
“I should have told you the next morning. I should have told you before I ever came home.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Cowardice.”
The simplicity hurt more than excuses would have.
“I was afraid of losing you, so I lied by omission until I lost you anyway.”
Amy wiped her face.
“I don’t know if I can forgive that.”
“I know.”
“I don’t know if I want this marriage.”
“I know.”
“I may file for divorce.”
Daniel gripped his phone.
Every instinct told him to fight.
Instead he said:
“If that’s what gives you peace, I will not make it ugly.”
Amy began crying harder.
“Why couldn’t you have been this man before?”
Daniel looked at the wedding ring sitting on his desk.
“Because I thought you leaving was impossible.”
Amy whispered, “That’s exactly why I had to.”
After they hung up, Daniel sat alone.
Michael entered.
“I found the autopsy.”
Daniel looked up.
His brother’s face was pale.
“What?”
Michael placed the document down.
“There’s a toxicology page missing from the family copy.”
Daniel frowned.
“So?”
“So I found the original lab record.”
Daniel read the line Michael pointed to.
A chemical compound.
Then a concentration.
He looked up.
“What does this mean?”
Michael’s voice was quiet.
“Dad didn’t die from a natural heart attack.”
Daniel stared.
May you like
Michael continued.
“Someone poisoned him.”
