Chapter 5 - The Letter Daniel Never Received
Mateo was in his truck before Daniel finished giving instructions to security.
"You're not going alone," Daniel said.
Mateo slammed the driver's door.
"I'm not asking permission."
Daniel opened the passenger side and got in.
For one second, neither man spoke.
Then Mateo started the engine.
They reached his mother's apartment in Queens forty minutes later with Ortiz following in an unmarked sedan.
Mateo's mother, Elena Reyes, opened the door holding the envelope against her chest.
She looked at Daniel and stopped breathing for a beat.
"You."
Daniel removed his coat.
"Mrs. Reyes."
"You sent flowers to the funeral."
Daniel's eyes dropped.
"Yes."
"You never came."
Mateo took the envelope from her before the silence grew teeth.
The paper had yellowed at the edges.
DANIEL MERCER was written across the front in block letters.
Inside were six handwritten pages.
Mateo read aloud.
"Mr. Mercer, I have tried three times to speak to you directly. Someone is moving project money through subcontractors that do not exist."
Daniel sat down hard at the small kitchen table.
Mateo kept reading.
Luis listed payment dates, invoice numbers, and account totals.
$180,000.
$240,000.
$390,000.
Millions by the end of the page.
Then one line appeared twice.
T.M. approved adjustment.
Mateo looked up.
"T.M."
Daniel rubbed his mouth.
"Could mean project code."
"Or Thomas Mercer."
Ortiz stood behind him.
"Keep reading."
Mateo turned the page.
The final sheet ended mid-sentence.
Someone had torn away the rest.
"That's it?"
Elena shook her head. "That's all that was in the envelope."
Mateo flipped through the pages again.
A number appeared in the margins four separate times.
47.
Sometimes circled.
Sometimes underlined.
"What's Unit 47?"
Daniel frowned.
"Riverside didn't have a Unit 47. Floors topped out at forty."
Ortiz photographed every page.
Daniel's lawyer called.
Daniel put him on speaker.
"Howard, find every Riverside record connected to forty-seven. Storage, accounting, permits. Everything."
"Give me ten minutes."
They waited seven.
Elena made coffee nobody drank.
Mateo stood by the window staring down at his father's handwriting.
His mother touched his shoulder once, then pulled her hand back.
Daniel's phone rang.
"Howard?"
"I found it."
Everyone stopped moving.
"There was a private off-site storage lease opened during Riverside construction. Mercer Development paid for it. Locker 47."
Daniel stood.
"Closed when?"
"It wasn't."
Mateo turned.
Howard continued.
"The lease is still active. Monthly payment comes from a Mercer Strategic Consulting expense account."
Daniel's eyes shifted toward Mateo.
"Whose authorization?"
Howard hesitated.
May you like
"Thomas Mercer."
