Chapter 8: What Daniel Actually Wanted
I showed my father the message.
He read it twice.
Then he set the phone down on the table between us like it was something that needed to be kept in sight.
"Don't go," he said.
"I know."
"Whatever he wants to tell you, it's not for your benefit."
"I know that too." I picked the phone back up.
"But I want to understand what he thinks I can do for him.
Because that's the second time he's come to me directly.
He's not calling you.
He's not calling his own attorney.
He's texting me."
Richard thought about that.
"He wants something Nicole can't give him right now," I said.
"She's tied up with lawyers and frozen accounts.
He needs another way in.
And I'm the only person in this house who doesn't have an attorney standing between me and him."
"So he thinks you're the weak point."
"Yes."
My father looked at me for a moment.
"You're not going to let him think that indefinitely, are you."
It wasn't quite a question.
"I'm going to answer him," I said.
"I'm going to agree to meet him.
Somewhere public.
And I'm going to let him tell me what he wants." I looked at Richard.
"And I'm going to record every word of it."
Richard was quiet for a moment.
"You're nineteen."
"I know."
"This is not something you have to do."
"He tried to use me as a distraction," I said.
"He and Nicole together planned for me to take the fall this morning so they'd have two weeks to move money out of your accounts.
He has been in this house.
He has sat at this table.
Ethan calls him Uncle Daniel." I felt my voice tighten and I breathed through it.
"I'm not weak.
I'm just the only one he thinks is."
Richard looked at his tea.
Then he looked at me.
"Call Hensley's office first," he said.
"Tell them what you're doing.
Ask if there's anything they need from whatever he says to you."
"I will."
"And Maya." His hand moved across the table and covered mine for a moment.
"Be careful."
I texted Daniel back from the kitchen table, my father reading every word as I typed.
*Fine.
Tonight.
Seven o'clock.
The coffee place on Mercer Street.
I'm not coming alone.*
Three dots appeared almost immediately.
*Alone or nothing.*
I looked at Richard.
"Hensley," he said.
I called Sandra at Hensley's office.
She put me through to James Hensley directly.
I explained in three sentences what Daniel had asked.
Hensley's response was immediate.
"Don't go alone.
Don't go at all without our guidance.
What I would suggest — and Mr.
Caldwell should hear this — is that you don't meet him in person.
You respond by asking him to put whatever he wants to say in writing.
If he refuses, that tells you everything.
If he agrees, he's given us something we can use."
I typed the new message.
*Whatever you want to tell me, put it in writing.
Email or text.
I'll read it tonight.*
A long pause.
Much longer than before.
Then: *You don't understand what I'm trying to do here.
I want to help you.*
*Then put it in writing.*
Another pause.
*I'm trying to protect you from what Nicole is planning.*
I looked at my father.
He leaned over and typed back himself.
*This is Richard again.
You have one opportunity to behave decently in this situation.
Write down what you know, send it to Maya's number, and do not contact my daughter again in person.
If you're genuinely trying to help — write it down.
If you're not, stop messaging this number.*
The three dots appeared and disappeared four times.
Then a long block of text arrived.
I read it standing at the kitchen table, my father beside me, both of us reading in silence.
Daniel's message said that Nicole had a second attorney — not Greg Pullen.
A private one she had retained six weeks ago.
That she had already begun moving money in smaller increments before the large transfer.
That she had been planning this exit since before she told Daniel about the pregnancy.
That Daniel himself had not known about the full financial plan until two days ago when Nicole told him how much she had already moved.
And then the last line.
*She told me the pregnancy test setup was your idea, Maya.
She said you suggested it to her as a way to give her more time.
I know that's not true.
But that's what she'll say if this goes to court.*
Richard straightened up very slowly.
"She'll say I helped her," I said.
My voice came out flat and strange.
"She'll say it was my plan."
"She'll try," Richard said.
"In court.
In front of a judge."
"She'll try," he said again.
"And she will not succeed." He picked up his phone and called Hensley back without sitting down.
"James.
I need you to add something to our filing.
Yes.
Tonight if possible." He walked to the kitchen window, his voice dropping into that quiet, certain register.
"My daughter needs to be protected from whatever my wife is planning to say about her.
I want that on record before Nicole has a chance to say it first."
I sat down.
The kitchen was very still.
On the table between the two empty mugs, the pregnancy test was still lying on the marble counter behind me.
The two pink lines were still visible.
May you like
I got up, picked it up, and dropped it in the trash.
Then I sat back down and waited for whatever was coming next.
