Nina kept the tablet between us as rain tapped softly against the windshield.
For several seconds, I could only stare at Melissa's name.
Beneficial owner.
Northstar Ventures.
Sixteen-point-two million dollars.
Twelve million transferred overseas forty-eight hours before our anniversary dinner.
The dinner where she had leaned toward Daniel and whispered that I could no longer do anything.
“Where did the twelve million go?” I asked.
“We have an intermediary bank in the Cayman Islands.”
“Final destination?”
“Still tracing.”
“Who authorized it?”
Nina enlarged the transaction record.
“Paul initiated it.”
“And Melissa?”
“Her digital approval appears on the secondary authorization.”
I felt my jaw tighten.
“She told me the seventy-five thousand was personal help from Daniel.”
“She lied.”
“Or somebody used her name.”
Nina looked at me.
“You think that's possible?”
“With this family, I think anything is possible until we have proof.”
That wasn't generosity.
It was discipline.
I had learned, painfully, that anger rushed toward conclusions faster than evidence did.
“Can we freeze Northstar?”
“Not directly. It isn't a Prescott Logistics account.”
“But the money came from Prescott.”
“Some of it.”
“How much?”
“At least seven million we can substantiate right now.”
“Then start recovery proceedings.”
“I already called our banking counsel.”
I looked at her.
“You knew I'd say that?”
“I hoped you would.”
My phone lit up.
Melissa.
The timing was almost absurd.
I showed Nina.
“Answer.”
I did.
“Claire.”
Melissa sounded breathless.
“Where are you?”
“Why?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“About Northstar?”
Silence.
Not long.
But enough.
“What's Northstar?”
Nina raised one eyebrow.
I stared through the windshield.
“Melissa.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Northstar Ventures.”
Nothing.
“The company registered with you as beneficial owner.”
Her breathing changed.
“Daniel told you that?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“That doesn't matter.”
“Yes, it does.”
“Twelve million dollars left Northstar two days before dinner.”
She stopped breathing for a second.
I heard it.
Then:
“I didn't transfer anything.”
“Your authorization is attached.”
“I didn't.”
“Where are you?”
“At Mom's.”
“Stay there.”
“Why?”
“Because Nina and I are coming.”
“No.”
That answer came instantly.
“Why not?”
“I don't want lawyers involved.”
“Lawyers became involved when millions of dollars moved through an account carrying your name.”
“I don't know anything about millions.”
“Then you should have no problem explaining seventy-five thousand.”
She began crying.
Not loudly.
Melissa had always known how to cry without damaging her mascara.
“I needed help.”
“For what?”
“You wouldn't understand.”
“Try me.”
“Daniel said it was fine.”
“What was fine?”
“Paying off some things.”
“Seventy-five thousand dollars' worth?”
“I had debts.”
“What kind?”
“Credit cards.”
“Anything else?”
Silence.
“Melissa.”
“I borrowed money.”
“From whom?”
“I said I'm not discussing this over the phone.”
Nina mouthed, Ask about Northstar.
“Did you sign anything for a company called Northstar Ventures?”
“No.”
“Did Paul Mercer ever ask you to sign business documents?”
Another silence.
This one was different.
Longer.
“Yes.”
Nina straightened.
“What documents?”
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
“He said Daniel needed them for tax planning.”
“How many?”
“Maybe six.”
“When?”
“Over the last year.”
“What did they say?”
“I didn't read them.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
Daniel didn't read legal documents.
Melissa didn't read financial documents.
People signed pages because someone familiar told them to.
And then millions moved.
“Did you sign electronically?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did Paul have access to your email?”
“No.”
“Your phone?”
“No.”
“Your passwords?”
“Absolutely not.”
She sounded offended.
That was interesting.
“Then how did he process approvals?”
“I don't know.”
“Melissa, twelve million dollars left an account with your name attached to it.”
“I told you, I don't know anything about that.”
“Where did the seventy-five thousand go?”
“Personal expenses.”
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
“Show me.”
“What?”
“Bank statements.”
“No.”
“Then Nina will subpoena them.”
Her crying stopped.
The silence became hard.
“You're threatening me.”
“No. I'm telling you what happens next.”
“You've always hated me.”
There it was.
The emotional detour.
Melissa used it the way Daniel used charm.
Redirect the conversation away from facts.
“I don't hate you.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I dislike being lied to.”
“You think you're better than everyone.”
“No.”
“You always did.”
I looked at Nina.
She was writing notes.
“Melissa, did Daniel tell you he was selling Prescott Logistics?”
“He said he might buy you out.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
“Did he tell you where the money would come from?”
“No.”
“Did he tell you I was ill?”
Silence.
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Melissa.”
“He said you were having problems.”
“What kind?”
“Memory problems.”
“And you believed him?”
“I didn't know.”
“You saw me regularly.”
“You seemed stressed.”
I laughed once.
“So stress became cognitive impairment?”
“I didn't know what was true.”
“Yet you whispered at dinner that I couldn't do anything.”
She went quiet.
Nina looked up.
I continued.
“What did you mean?”
“I don't remember saying that.”
“I have the video.”
Her breath caught.
“What exactly did Daniel tell you before dinner?”
“Nothing.”
“Melissa.”
“He said everything was almost done.”
“What was almost done?”
“The buyout.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“Then why did you think I had lost the power to act?”
No answer.
“Did he tell you my voting rights were gone?”
A quiet sound escaped her.
Not a word.
But close.
“Melissa.”
“He said paperwork had been handled.”
“What paperwork?”
“I don't know.”
“Was my name mentioned?”
“Yes.”
“Was the doctor letter mentioned?”
“No.”
“Guardianship?”
“No.”
“Power of attorney?”
“I don't know.”
I pressed two fingers against my temple.
“Who told you Northstar was tax planning?”
“Paul.”
“Did Daniel know?”
“I assumed.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“I don't know.”
The call had become more useful than I expected.
Melissa had lied.
But some of her fear sounded real.
“Don't destroy your phone,” I said.
“What?”
“Don't delete messages. Don't erase emails. Don't throw away documents.”
“I'm not a criminal.”
“I hope not.”
I ended the call.
Nina looked at me.
“She knows more.”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe she controlled Northstar?”
“No.”
“You're sure?”
“No. But she reacted like someone who signed something stupid, not someone who moved twelve million dollars offshore.”
Nina nodded.
“I had the same impression.”
“Then Paul matters more.”
“We've been trying to locate him.”
“Any luck?”
“He turned off his phone.”
“Home?”
“Empty.”
“Car?”
“Not there.”
I looked toward Daniel's townhouse.
“He's running.”
“Possibly.”
“Or someone told him to disappear.”
Nina didn't answer.
At 7:02, Marcus called.
IT had recovered part of Paul's deleted files.
One folder was labeled succession.
Inside were draft documents for transferring operational authority from me to Daniel.
Another was labeled Northstar.
“Send everything,” Nina said.
Marcus hesitated.
“There are audio files too.”
My skin prickled.
“What audio files?”
“Meetings.”
“With whom?”
“I've only listened to thirty seconds.”
“Who did you hear?”
“Daniel. Paul. Andrew.”
“Anyone else?”
Marcus paused.
“Melissa.”
Nina and I exchanged a look.
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
“Send it.”
The file arrived before Marcus disconnected.
Nina connected her tablet to the car audio.
The recording began with chairs moving and glasses touching a table.
Daniel's voice came first.
We only need Claire out of the decision chain long enough to close.
Andrew answered.
And after?
Daniel said:
After the debt is cleared, I fix everything.
Then Paul spoke.
You're assuming Holbrook doesn't discover the exposure.
Daniel replied:
They won't if Northstar absorbs it first.
I turned toward Nina.
She paused the recording.
“Northstar wasn't only hiding money.”
“It was hiding the losses.”
She resumed.
Paul asked who would own the entity.
Daniel answered:
Not me. Too obvious.
Then Melissa's voice.
Mine?
The recording stopped.
I stared at the dashboard.
Nina replayed the last twenty seconds.
Melissa again.
Mine?
Daniel:
Temporarily.
Melissa:
Do I get anything for doing this?
Andrew laughed.
Daniel said:
You'll be taken care of.
The rest of the file was corrupted.
For a moment, I felt nothing.
Then anger came slowly.
Not explosive.
Dense.
Settling into every space.
“She knew.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe not everything.”
“No.”
“But enough.”
“Yes.”
I called Melissa again.
She answered immediately.
“Claire?”
“You lied to me.”
“What?”
“I heard the recording.”
Silence.
“The Northstar meeting.”
Nothing.
“Daniel asked to use your name.”
She began crying again.
This time I didn't respond.
“I didn't understand.”
“You asked what you'd get.”
“I thought it was some tax company.”
“You asked what you'd get.”
“He said it wasn't illegal.”
“What did you receive?”
“Nothing.”
“Besides seventy-five thousand dollars?”
“That was separate.”
“Was it?”
“Yes.”
“How much were you promised?”
She hesitated.
“Melissa.”
“One percent.”
“Of what?”
“The sale.”
I closed my eyes.
Forty-two million.
One percent.
Four hundred twenty thousand dollars.
“You sold your silence for a promised commission.”
“No.”
“What would you call it?”
“I thought Daniel was buying you out.”
“You never asked me.”
“He said you agreed.”
“And when he told you my rights had been handled?”
“I thought you'd signed something.”
“And when he said I was having memory problems?”
“I didn't know he was lying.”
“You didn't ask.”
She broke.
“I was scared!”
“Of what?”
“Losing everything.”
The answer came out almost as a scream.
I went still.
“What do you mean?”
Her voice dropped.
“Daniel pays for Mom's house.”
“I know.”
“He pays Dad's mortgage.”
I didn't know that.
“He covers my loans.”
I looked at Nina.
“He pays Andrew. He helps everybody.”
“Using company money.”
“I didn't know.”
“But you knew your life depended on him.”
“Yes.”
“And if I regained control?”
“You would've stopped it.”
There it was.
Not hatred.
Dependency.
They didn't need me to be incapable because they despised me.
They needed me incapable because my authority threatened the flow of money supporting them.
“Where is Paul?” I asked.
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie again.”
“I don't.”
“Did he contact you today?”
“No.”
“Yesterday?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me to move money.”
Nina leaned closer.
“What money?”
“He gave me instructions.”
“When?”
“Yesterday morning.”
“Before dinner?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly?”
“He said Northstar was being closed and money had to go into a protected account.”
“Twelve million?”
“I didn't know the amount until later.”
“Where did he tell you to send it?”
“I didn't send anything.”
“Your approval is there.”
“He sent me a link. I clicked approve.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did the page say?”
“Transfer authorization.”
“You clicked it without reading?”
“I thought it was something Daniel needed.”
“Where did the money go?”
“I don't know.”
“Who does?”
“Paul.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
“Where?”
“Mom's house.”
I looked toward Nina.
“Was Daniel there?”
“No.”
“Andrew?”
“Yes.”
“What were Paul and Andrew doing?”
“Arguing.”
“About?”
“I couldn't hear everything.”
“What did you hear?”
Another pause.
“Andrew kept saying Paul had changed the deal.”
“What deal?”
“I don't know.”
“What did Paul say?”
Melissa sniffed.
“He said Daniel had already lost and there was no reason they should lose with him.”
The sentence changed the entire shape of the problem.
Northstar hadn't merely been part of Daniel's scheme.
Paul might have hijacked it.
“What time did Paul leave?”
“Around five.”
“Did he take anything?”
“A black duffel bag.”
“Anything else?”
“His laptop.”
“Where did he say he was going?”
“He didn't.”
“Did Andrew follow him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Andrew was on the phone with someone.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
“I heard a name.”
“What name?”
She paused.
“Victor.”
Nina's expression sharpened.
I covered the phone.
“Who is Victor?”
“I don't know yet.”
I returned to the call.
“Last name?”
“I never heard it.”
“Anything else?”
“Andrew said something about Ridgewell.”
I stared at Nina.
“Exact words.”
“I don't remember.”
“Try.”
Melissa breathed slowly.
Then repeated what she had heard.
“Tell Victor Ridgewell gets paid when we get paid.”
Nina immediately began searching.
I didn't need to understand yet.
I only needed to recognize the implication.
Andrew wasn't merely helping Daniel.
He had his own arrangement.
Possibly with whoever controlled the overseas transfer.
“Melissa.”
“Yes?”
“Do not speak to Daniel, Andrew, Charles, or Paul.”
“Why?”
“Because right now I don't know which of them is protecting you and which of them is preparing to blame you.”
She began to protest.
I ended the call.
Nina was already dialing one of her investigators.
“Find every Victor connected to Andrew Bell, Ridgewell, Northstar, and Holbrook.”
She disconnected and looked at me.
“Claire.”
“I know.”
“Daniel's conspiracy is splitting.”
“Good.”
“You think that's good?”
“No.”
I looked back at the townhouse.
“But people tell the truth faster when they stop trusting each other.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 10: Andrew Came to Me Before Midnight Offering Daniel’s Secrets, but His Price Revealed He Was Still Protecting Someone Else
At Our Anniversary Table, Daniel Made Me the Family Joke Without Knowing I Still Controlled Everything He Claimed as His
Part 9 of 35
