Chapter 18 - The Uncle I Was Told Had Died
My father had told me Uncle Everett died when I was a child.
Daniel admitted that was not true.
Everett Dawson had disappeared after a bitter dispute over Dawson Marine Systems. He believed he deserved half the company, but my grandfather had left controlling shares to my father.
“Why did Dad tell me he was dead?”
“To protect you,” Daniel said. “Everett threatened to challenge your inheritance.”
Investigators traced the $300,000 payment to a marina in British Columbia.
Everett had been living under a shortened name for years.
He returned to Washington voluntarily after learning Malcolm had been arrested.
He looked like an older, harder version of my father.
When he entered Daniel’s office, grief moved through me before anger could.
“You knew my father died.”
“Yes.”
“You never came.”
“He made it clear I wasn’t welcome.”
Everett claimed Malcolm had contacted him two years earlier and offered money for information about the family trust.
“What did you tell him?”
“That your father created a backup beneficiary.”
“Did you know it was Emma?”
“No.”
Everett admitted accepting Patricia’s transfer, but insisted it was payment for documents proving Malcolm’s fraud.
He opened a weathered case.
Inside were original corporate ledgers missing since 2009.
They showed that Malcolm had not acted alone.
A senior bank officer had approved false transfers and hidden them from regulators.
That officer now served on the fiduciary board protecting Emma’s shares.
His name was Thomas Bell.
Daniel went silent.
Thomas had signed every annual certification stating the trust was secure.
If he still worked with Malcolm, Emma’s legal protection was compromised.
We contacted the court and requested an emergency freeze on the board’s authority.
The judge granted a temporary order.
Twenty minutes later, Thomas Bell’s office reported him missing.
His computer had been wiped.
And a private jet registered to Morrow Capital had requested departure clearance from Seattle.
The passenger manifest listed two travelers.
Thomas Bell.
May you like
And Emma Dawson.
👉 Someone had placed Claire’s daughter’s name on a flight leaving the country, even though Emma was still standing safely beside her.
