Chapter 3 - THE DEAD MAN IN HER FATHER’S FILES
Rebecca Sloan read the photocopy without speaking.
Her office overlooked Fayetteville Street from the twelfth floor of a brick-and-glass building Olivia had visited dozens of times.
That morning, everything familiar felt slightly altered.
Rebecca finally removed her glasses.
“Where did you find this?”
“Under Dad’s desk.”
“And you’re certain the blue writing isn’t Daniel’s?”
“Yes.”
“Mark?”
“I’ve seen his Christmas cards. It could be.”
Rebecca placed the page inside a clear document sleeve.
“You said the fireproof case is gone?”
“Mark took it.”
“What exactly was inside?”
“Estate papers. Dad’s personal letters. Old company records. Things he told me never to throw out.”
Rebecca leaned back.
“Thomas Mercer’s name was in that case.”
Olivia stared at her.
“You knew Daniel’s father?”
“I knew of him.”
“Rebecca.”
“I was your father’s lawyer. Some things were privileged while he was alive.”
“He’s dead.”
“I know.”
“Then stop protecting him from me.”
Rebecca looked toward the window.
“Thomas Mercer and your father started Carter Precision together.”
Olivia sat very still.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My father founded the company.”
“That’s the simplified version.”
Rebecca folded her hands.
“Robert supplied the technical patents. Thomas handled early manufacturing and vendor relationships. They incorporated in 1994.”
“Then why isn’t his name anywhere?”
“It was originally Carter-Mercer Industrial Systems.”
Olivia heard the air conditioner click on.
Daniel had never mentioned this.
Neither had Elaine.
“What happened?”
“Thomas died in a warehouse accident in 2000.”
“I know that part.”
“After his death, Robert bought Thomas’s ownership interest from the estate.”
“Elaine says my father cheated them.”
Rebecca’s eyebrows rose.
“She told you that?”
“Not directly. Daniel has made comments. Things about his dad building something another family got rich from.”
Rebecca stood.
She unlocked a file cabinet.
“Your father anticipated this conversation someday.”
From the lowest drawer, she removed a thin folder.
It was labeled MERCER, THOMAS J.
Olivia almost reached for it.
Rebecca kept her hand on top.
“This isn’t the complete file. Robert kept originals at home.”
“In the case Mark stole.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca opened the folder.
Inside were copies of checks, correspondence, and a trust summary.
Olivia scanned the first page.
Two education trusts.
One for Daniel Mercer.
One for Mark Mercer.
Each funded after Thomas’s death.
Initial contribution: $425,000.
Olivia looked up.
“Eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars?”
“In 2000.”
“Daniel told me his mother struggled to pay rent.”
“That may also be true.”
“How?”
Rebecca turned another page.
“Elaine was trustee.”
Olivia felt something cold settle behind her ribs.
“Could she spend it?”
“Not for herself.”
Rebecca pointed to the distribution language.
“The money was for education, healthcare, housing reasonably connected to the boys’ welfare, and later scheduled distributions.”
“Did Daniel receive it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Dad?”
“No. Robert paid the estate separately for Thomas’s shares.”
Olivia looked back at the handwritten note Mark had dropped.
ASK SLOAN ABOUT THOMAS MERCER FILE BEFORE SHE DOES.
“They knew this existed.”
“At least one of them did.”
Rebecca returned to her desk.
“There’s something else.”
She opened her email and searched Daniel’s name.
Three weeks before the wedding, Daniel had contacted Rebecca.
Not as Olivia’s fiancé.
As her “future spouse.”
He asked whether a spouse could receive voting control over Carter Precision shares if Olivia voluntarily transferred them after marriage.
Rebecca had refused to discuss Olivia’s estate.
Daniel replied politely.
Then, six days later, he sent a different message.
He attached a document titled MARITAL ASSET CONSOLIDATION AGREEMENT and asked Rebecca whether notarization alone would make it enforceable.
“I told him to hire his own counsel,” Rebecca said.
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
Olivia stared at the screen.
She had spent those same weeks choosing flowers, confirming catering numbers, and arguing with Daniel about whether his mother should be allowed to add twenty-seven people to the guest list.
Rebecca clicked the attachment.
The agreement opened.
Olivia’s name appeared at the bottom.
So did a signature.
Her signature.
Except Olivia had never seen the document.
Rebecca whispered, “That wasn’t on the version he originally emailed me.”
Olivia leaned closer.
A notary stamp sat beside the forged signature.
Rebecca enlarged it.
Then she stopped.
“What?”
Rebecca pointed to the name beneath the seal.
CAROLYN MAYES, NOTARY PUBLIC.
Rebecca reached for her phone.
“Carolyn Mayes notarized documents for your father for almost twenty years.”
“So?”
Rebecca looked at Olivia.
May you like
“Carolyn died last November.”
The document was dated six weeks ago.
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