Chapter 6 - The Daughter Richard Buried Without a Funeral
There was no death certificate for Rebecca Davis.
Grace found a 2004 accident report.
Rebecca Davis.
Twenty years old.
Injured.
Not killed.
After that, the public record became sparse.
When I confronted Evelyn by phone, she hung up.
Then Mitchell Aeronautics’ historical review uncovered something else.
An old shareholder register.
2002:
DAVIS FAMILY TRUST — 6%.
Later:
INTEREST CANCELED PURSUANT TO SETTLEMENT.
I took the record to Uncle Daniel.
His face changed instantly.
“You know Richard.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Your grandfather knew him first.”
In the late 1990s, Mitchell Aeronautics needed expansion capital.
The Davis family trust acquired six percent.
Richard later claimed additional rights through side agreements.
Grandpa accused him of trying to expand control beyond the agreed investment.
Litigation almost followed.
A confidential settlement ended the Davis stake.
“Grandpa never wanted another Davis inside Mitchell Aeronautics,” Daniel said.
“And then I married one.”
He looked away.
That answer mattered.
So did the next discovery.
Davis Capital had commissioned a background report on me four months before David asked me out.
Education.
Marine service.
Employment.
Family connections.
Mitchell Aeronautics ownership.
The report was not romantic curiosity.
It was due diligence.
Our first meeting had always been my favorite story.
Veterans’ charity gala.
David “accidentally” spilled sparkling water near my dress.
Bought me another drink.
Asked for my number.
Later he joked:
“I saw you and forgot how to walk.”
Now Grace found that Davis Capital had purchased its gala table only after the guest list showed I would attend.
David had not wandered into my life.
Someone placed him in the room.
That did not prove every feeling afterward was fake.
May you like
I almost wished it did.
Because fraud is easier to hate than love corrupted by purpose.
