Chapter 8: What Thomas Knew
I went without telling Thomas that Daniel would be parked outside.
The restaurant was small and quiet — the kind of place chosen for conversations that cannot happen in offices.
Thomas was already there when I arrived, seated at a corner table with a glass of water he had not touched.
He stood when he saw me, and the relief on his face was real.
But underneath it was something else.
Something that had been sitting with him for a while.
"You look exhausted," I said.
"I haven't slept." He waited until I sat.
"I saw the news at six this morning.
Richard's name, the charges.
And Hale." He shook his head.
"I knew Hale's name.
That's what I need to tell you."
I kept my face still.
"Go on."
"About eight months ago, someone contacted me.
Through a personal email, not my work account.
They said they represented a group of investors interested in a private acquisition of Hayes Technologies — a friendly approach, very well-structured, very professional." He turned his water glass slowly.
"They knew things about our internal pipeline that weren't public.
Acquisition targets we hadn't announced.
Revenue projections from internal models."
"Someone gave them that information."
"Yes." He met my eyes.
"I didn't know who at the time.
I told them I wasn't interested and I didn't respond further.
But I kept the email." He reached into his jacket and placed a printed page on the table.
"The sender name was a pseudonym, but the email domain traces back to a firm connected to Hale's London operation.
I only made that connection this morning, when I saw his name in the news."
I picked up the page.
The email was formal, precise, and full of details that should not have existed outside Hayes Technologies' internal systems.
"Thomas," I said carefully.
"Who had access to these specific projections?"
He was quiet for a moment.
"Three people.
Myself.
Our head of strategy, Diane Cho.
And our outside legal counsel." He paused.
"The firm we've used for the past decade."
The same firm Daniel had found this morning, connected to the Pacific Heights address.
"The law firm," I said.
Thomas nodded slowly.
"I think someone there has been feeding information to Hale's network for at least a year.
Maybe longer." He looked at me.
"I should have come to you sooner.
When I got that email, I told myself it was a fishing expedition and let it go.
But if I had looked harder then—"
"You couldn't have known what it meant then," I said.
"You know now.
That's what matters."
I folded the email and placed it in my bag.
"I need you to send me the original," I said.
"And I need you to speak to someone today — a man named Daniel Reeves.
He's been building the financial case.
This connects directly to what he's working on."
"Of course." Thomas exhaled.
"Whatever you need."
I looked at him across the table.
Eleven years.
He had told me about Richard's questions when he could have said nothing.
He had kept that email when he could have deleted it.
He had called me this morning when he could have waited to see which way things fell.
"Thank you," I said.
"For calling me."
He nodded.
Then, quietly: "Your father would have handled this the same way you did.
Quietly.
Completely.
He never let anyone see the move until it was already made."
I thought about the parachute under my jacket.
The recording device in my pocket.
The pilot Evelyn had hired six weeks before I ever needed him.
"He taught me well," I said.
Outside, Daniel was already on the phone when I reached the car.
He held up one finger — *one moment* — and then said into the phone: "Get me everything on a partner at that firm.
Billing records, client access logs, any communication with London in the past eighteen months."
He ended the call and looked at me.
"The law firm," I said.
"Senior partner.
Name is Geoffrey Marsh.
He's been with the firm for twenty-two years.
He handled your father's estate." Daniel's voice was flat and precise.
"He also handled the trust restructuring that Evelyn initiated three months ago."
I felt the cold move through me again.
"He knew what we changed," I said.
"He knew exactly what we changed.
And he would have told Hale." Daniel started the car.
"Which means Hale knew the restructuring had happened.
Which means Richard knew."
"Then why did Richard still go through with it?"
Daniel pulled into traffic.
"Because Marsh also told them something else.
Something that made them think it didn't matter what Evelyn restructured." He glanced at me.
"We found a second email this morning.
Marsh to Hale, sent two weeks ago."
He handed me his phone.
The email was already on the screen.
I read it once.
Then I read it again.
*The changes she made are reversible.
If she d*es before the child is born, there is a 90-day window in which the original structure can be reinstated by court order.
I have reviewed the filing.
I am certain.*
I set the phone down.
Richard had known the restructuring existed.
He had gone ahead anyway because Geoffrey Marsh had told him it could be undone.
They had planned for Evelyn.
They had planned for everything — except the parachute.
"Where is Marsh now?" I said.
"His office." Daniel turned onto the highway.
"He doesn't know we have the email yet."
"How long before he finds out Richard was arrested?"
"He already knows.
It's been on the news for four hours."
"Then he knows he's exposed."
"Yes," Daniel said.
"Which is why we need to move now."
His phone rang.
He answered on speaker.
"He's leaving the building," a voice said.
"Parking garage.
Black Range Rover."
May you like
Daniel pressed the accelerator.
"Don't lose him," he said.
