Chapter 6 - SIX DAYS BEFORE LAURA DIEDDaniel did not sleep.
By sunrise, Blackwood Ranch was wrapped in mist.
The storm had passed, leaving broken branches, flooded ditches and a silence that felt almost unnatural.
Claire had been taken to the sheriff’s office for questioning but not formally arrested.
There wasn’t enough evidence yet.
Daniel hated that.
Rebecca arrived with Ethan shortly after seven.
The moment Ethan stepped from the car, Atlas called from the stall.
Ethan looked toward him.
“Can I see him?”
Daniel hesitated.
Then nodded.
Together they walked toward the outdoor stalls.
The three horses were calmer now.
Ruby reached over the rail.
Midnight stood quietly.
Atlas pushed his nose against Ethan’s shoulder.
Ethan hugged his neck.
“Thank you,” the boy whispered.
Daniel heard.
“For what?”
Ethan looked up.
“He didn’t let Claire take Mom’s box.”
Daniel swallowed.
In a strange way, that was true.
If Atlas hadn’t moved against the loose board during the storm, Ethan might never have seen the hidden compartment.
Daniel rested a hand on the horse’s neck.
Laura had trusted Atlas.
And somehow the horse had protected her secret for three years.
Inside the house, Marcus arrived carrying photocopies from an old case file.
“I shouldn’t technically have removed these,” he said.
Daniel looked at him.
“But?”
“But somebody buried information in Laura’s investigation.”
Marcus placed the file on the kitchen table.
The first report listed Laura’s crash at 10:47 p.m.
Rainy conditions.
Vehicle left the road on a sharp bend.
No evidence of another vehicle.
But supplemental pages told a different story.
A witness had reported seeing a dark SUV following Laura minutes before the crash.
“Whose SUV?” Daniel asked.
“Unknown.”
Marcus turned a page.
Another witness was Victor Shaw.
Victor claimed he arrived after the accident and called emergency services.
Daniel frowned.
“He called?”
“No.”
“What?”
“Phone records show the first emergency call came from a passing trucker twelve minutes later.”
“So Victor lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why wasn’t he charged?”
Marcus tapped a handwritten note.
“Detective recommended follow-up. Then someone higher up marked him as an unreliable witness and closed that part of the inquiry.”
“Who?”
“That’s where things get interesting.”
Marcus showed him a signature.
Sheriff Patrick Beaumont.
Daniel stared.
“Beaumont.”
“Claire’s father.”
Daniel sat back.
Claire rarely discussed her family.
She said her father died while she was in college.
Apparently that was another lie.
Marcus continued.
“Patrick Beaumont was county sheriff at the time Laura died. Retired eight months later. He died last year.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“So Claire’s father controlled the investigation.”
“Parts of it.”
“And Victor?”
“Victor worked as a private investigator for several local insurance companies. He also did contract work for Beaumont.”
Daniel opened Laura’s ledger.
Several pages listed dates, property transfers and initials.
V.S.
C.B.
P.B.
Victor Shaw.
Claire Beaumont.
Patrick Beaumont.
The pattern became obvious.
Money from the Mercer Foundation had been redirected through shell companies buying ranchland.
Some properties were later sold at enormous profits.
“But why involve my family?” Daniel asked.
Marcus pointed to another name.
T.M.
Thomas Mercer.
Daniel’s father.
Daniel stared.
“No.”
“We don’t know what it means.”
“My father wouldn’t steal from his own foundation.”
“Maybe he didn’t.”
Daniel remembered Laura’s letter.
Your father’s ranch is not what you think it is.
A sound came from the hallway.
Ethan stood there.
He had been listening.
Daniel closed the ledger.
“Hey, buddy.”
“Was Grandma Laura scared?”
Daniel smiled sadly.
“Your mom was brave.”
“I know.”
Ethan walked closer.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“The man last night said Claire should’ve searched the stall years ago.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“What exactly did he say?”
Ethan tried to remember.
“He said… Laura hid it well.”
Daniel and Marcus exchanged a look.
Victor knew about the box before last night.
That meant Laura had told someone—or Victor had seen her hide it.
“Anything else?” Marcus asked gently.
Ethan nodded.
“He said the files prove what your father did.”
Daniel went still.
“My father?”
Ethan nodded again.
Marcus opened the ledger.
“Maybe Victor thinks Thomas was involved.”
Daniel stood.
“I need to see the old ranch records.”
Blackwood had an archive room beneath the original farmhouse.
Most records went back nearly a century.
Laura had spent months organizing them before her death.
Daniel hadn’t entered since.
He, Marcus and Rebecca went downstairs while Ethan stayed upstairs.
The archive smelled of old paper and cedar.
Daniel opened filing cabinets.
Foundation documents.
Tax records.
Land titles.
Then Rebecca noticed a gap behind one cabinet.
“This wall looks newer.”
Marcus examined it.
“Drywall over stone.”
Daniel found a hammer.
Twenty minutes later they opened a small section.
Inside was an envelope taped to the stone.
Written across it:
FOR LAURA.
Daniel stared.
Someone had left something for his wife.
Inside was a photograph of Thomas Mercer standing beside Patrick Beaumont.
Between them was a much younger Victor Shaw.
On the back, someone had written:
THEY ALL KNOW ABOUT BLACKWOOD NORTH.
Daniel frowned.
“Blackwood North?”
Rebecca’s face changed.
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
She looked uncomfortable.
“Dad owned another section of ranchland north of the river.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to it?”
“I thought you knew.”
Daniel felt cold.
Rebecca continued.
“Dad sold it right before Laura died.”
“To whom?”
Marcus checked Laura’s ledger.
His finger stopped.
“Beaumont Land Holdings.”
Daniel stared.
Patrick Beaumont had bought Mercer land.
The transaction happened ten days before Laura’s death.
And six days before she died, Laura photographed Claire holding the keys to her car.
The pieces were getting closer.
But they still didn’t form a complete picture.
Then Marcus’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His expression hardened.
“What?”
Daniel asked.
Marcus ended the call.
“Victor Shaw is gone.”
“Gone where?”
“Nobody knows.”
“What about Claire?”
Marcus hesitated.
“She was released.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because her lawyer arrived with evidence claiming Victor came to the ranch without her invitation.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I know.”
“Where is she now?”
Marcus looked toward the window.
“That’s the problem.”
Claire’s phone had been switched off.
Her car had vanished from the sheriff’s parking lot.
May you like
And the first place Daniel thought she might go was the one property nobody had mentioned for three years.
Blackwood North.
