Chapter 24 - THE PERSON WHO NEVER LEFT THE COMPANY.
Nora’s statement changed the center of gravity.
Before, Diane had looked like the person hiding Ethan.
Now it was possible she had also been receiving information from him after he vanished.
That did not prove she knew everything.
It made her omissions harder to excuse.
Rachel confronted her.
“Did Nora give you an envelope?”
Diane went silent.
“Mom.”
“Yes.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Why did you tell me Dad contacted you only once?”
“I forgot about Nora.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Diane started crying.
Rachel did not soften.
“What was in the envelope?”
“Photographs.”
“Of what?”
“Company trucks.”
“Anything else?”
“Copies of checks.”
“To who?”
“Employees.”
“Ghost employees?”
“I didn’t know that term.”
“Who were the checks made out to?”
Diane hesitated.
Rachel heard it.
“Mom.”
“One was made to a man named Harold Vance.”
Sarah, listening on speaker, typed something.
Rachel asked:
“Who is Harold?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Dad write anything?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Diane’s voice shook.
“Find who signs for Harold.”
Rachel looked at Sarah.
There.
Specific.
Investigable.
“Where is the envelope now?”
“I gave it to my father.”
Rachel laughed without humor.
“Of course you did.”
“He owned the company.”
“That was exactly why Dad was afraid.”
“I didn’t understand that then.”
“What did Grandpa do with it?”
“He said Ethan was confused.”
“Paranoid?”
“Yes.”
The family’s favorite word.
“Then?”
“He burned the photographs.”
Diane whispered it.
Rachel felt sick.
“You watched him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Losing everything.”
There it was.
Again.
The house.
The company.
Status.
Family security.
Different decade.
Same trade.
Truth for stability.
Rachel was exhausted by how ordinary the pattern had become.
Sarah found Harold Vance in old payroll records.
He had received checks for eighteen months.
No Social Security number on copies Rachel could see.
No employment address.
Then payments stopped three months before Ethan disappeared.
Public records showed no obvious Harold Vance matching the age and region.
Possible fake identity.
Not proven.
Then another name appeared as authorization supervisor.
C. Reeves.
Colleen.
Again.
Still not proof she created Harold.
Only that her approval appeared on payroll paperwork.
Rachel wanted to contact Colleen immediately.
Sarah said no.
“We preserve first.”
“Why?”
“Because once people know what you have, records move.”
Rachel remembered the cut lock.
Fair.
The next step came from an unexpected place.
Ethan’s old accountant.
Marvin Cho.
Eighty-three.
Retired in Plano.
He agreed to meet because Rachel reminded him of Ethan.
“You have his angry eyebrows,” Marvin said.
“Thank you?”
“Not a compliment.”
Rachel almost smiled.
Marvin remembered Harold Vance.
“That account bothered Ethan.”
“Why?”
“Checks were being cashed through the same bank branch.”
“By Harold?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“I never saw the man.”
“Who did?”
“Colleen’s assistant.”
“Name?”
Marvin thought.
“Beth something.”
Records identified her.
Beth Lawson.
Still employed by the company.
Fourteen years later.
That mattered.
Colleen had retired from day-to-day operations.
Beth remained.
Current title:
Chief Administrative Officer.
Rachel stared at the company website.
Beth had survived every leadership change.
“What does that tell us?” Kendra asked.
“Nothing yet.”
“You’re getting annoying.”
“Evidence makes me boring.”
“Dad would hate this version of you.”
Rachel smiled.
Maybe he would.
They contacted Beth through Sarah.
No response.
A formal letter followed.
Two days later, Beth’s attorney responded.
She would not voluntarily discuss historic company matters.
That was her right.
Then Rachel’s consulting office received a surprise visit.
Not Beth.
A young man.
Thirty.
Nervous.
He introduced himself as Tyler Lawson.
Beth’s son.
“I think my mother is scared.”
Rachel didn’t invite him into her office until she called Sarah.
Speakerphone.
Tyler sat across from Rachel.
“What are you here to tell me?”
He held a flash drive.
“My mom has kept copies.”
Rachel’s pulse jumped.
“Of what?”
“Old company records.”
“Why?”
“She said insurance.”
Rachel remembered the tape inventory.
TAPE 4 — INSURANCE.
“What insurance?”
Tyler shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Why give this to me?”
“My mother didn’t.”
Rachel stopped.
“You took it?”
“Yes.”
Sarah spoke sharply through the phone.
“Do not give Rachel that drive.”
Tyler froze.
“Why?”
“Because we do not know whether you had authority to take it.”
Rachel appreciated Sarah more every day.
“Keep it,” Sarah said. “Have your attorney contact me.”
Tyler looked frustrated.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then tell us without accessing potentially improper material.”
Tyler swallowed.
“My mother said Ethan Mercer wasn’t the only person who was supposed to disappear.”
Rachel felt the room change.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who was the other person?”
Tyler looked down.
May you like
Then answered.
“Harold Vance.”
