Chapter 13 - The Forgotten PartnerMy mother joined us twenty minutes later.
Unlike my father, Catherine Sterling did not pretend to be surprised.
She recognized Daniel immediately.
That told me everything.
“You knew too?”
My mother lowered herself into the chair beside me.
“I knew pieces.”
My father remained standing.
“In 1994, Sterling & Vale Development was close to bankruptcy,” he explained. “Daniel discovered an opportunity involving distressed waterfront property. If we acquired it, the company survived. If we didn't, everything collapsed.”
“What went wrong?”
“Daniel wanted out.”
“Why?”
My father hesitated.
“He believed some of the investors financing the acquisition were connected to organized financial crime.”
I stared at him.
“And were they?”
“Yes.”
The room suddenly felt smaller.
My father continued.
“I wanted to terminate the deal. But before we could unwind it, Daniel disappeared.”
“No body?”
“Nothing.”
“Police investigation?”
“Extensive.”
“And his shares?”
“Daniel had signed a succession agreement. If either partner died or became permanently incapacitated, the other could purchase his shares.”
I finally understood the implication.
Sterling Global had not been born solely from brilliance.
It had been born from a disappearance.
“Who sent the photograph?”
My father looked at me.
“I don't know.”
His phone rang.
The security director.
My father answered on speaker.
“Sir, we found something.”
“What?”
“The person who delivered the envelope never entered the building.”
My father frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
“The envelope was placed inside Ms. Sterling's office by someone who already works here.”
I slowly turned toward the glass walls surrounding us.
Hundreds of employees worked beyond them.
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For the first time in my life, Sterling Tower no longer felt like a fortress.
It felt compromised.
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