The morning after Brooke's arrest, I woke on Megan's couch at six thirteen with my phone balanced against my chest and my coat still on.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, I didn't know where I was.<\/p>\n
Then everything returned at once.<\/p>\n
The operations center.<\/p>\n
Mom's face.<\/p>\n
Brooke in handcuffs.<\/p>\n
The account frozen for seventy-two hours.<\/p>\n
Uncle Daniel alive.<\/p>\n
Daniel Price in the hospital.<\/p>\n
Rebecca in custody.<\/p>\n
Luis cooperating.<\/p>\n
Dad standing ten feet from Mom because she hadn't decided whether she wanted him closer.<\/p>\n
I sat up.<\/p>\n
Megan was already awake in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
She slid a mug across the counter without asking.<\/p>\n
"Coffee."<\/p>\n
"You're becoming predictable."<\/p>\n
"Good. Somebody should."<\/p>\n
I took the mug.<\/p>\n
The first thing I checked was Holt Ridge.<\/p>\n
No overnight withdrawals.<\/p>\n
No new vendor changes.<\/p>\n
No strange login attempts.<\/p>\n
The second thing I checked was the account Daniel Price had helped expose.<\/p>\n
Still frozen.<\/p>\n
Four point eight million dollars sitting behind layers of trusts, shell entities, stolen proceeds, legitimate investments, and enough legal ambiguity to keep several attorneys busy until retirement.<\/p>\n
Rachel called at six thirty-one.<\/p>\n
"You need to come in."<\/p>\n
"Good morning to you too."<\/p>\n
"I have bad news and complicated news."<\/p>\n
"Which do I want first?"<\/p>\n
"They're the same news."<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
"Of course they are."<\/p>\n
At Holt Ridge, Rachel had spread documents across the conference-room table.<\/p>\n
Ryan stood at the windows.<\/p>\n
Ruth sat near the door with a yellow legal pad.<\/p>\n
Mercer was not there.<\/p>\n
That told me this was corporate, not criminal.<\/p>\n
"What happened?"<\/p>\n
Rachel pushed an old financing agreement toward me.<\/p>\n
"Your first Hawthorne transaction."<\/p>\n
"I've seen it."<\/p>\n
"Not this version."<\/p>\n
I sat.<\/p>\n
The document showed the financing structure tied to the entity Uncle Daniel used.<\/p>\n
At the bottom was an option clause.<\/p>\n
I read it twice.<\/p>\n
Then a third time.<\/p>\n
"This can't be valid."<\/p>\n
"Maybe not."<\/p>\n
"What does it say?"<\/p>\n
Ryan leaned over.<\/p>\n
Rachel answered.<\/p>\n
"That the financing entity retained a contingent interest in future Holt Ridge development proceeds."<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
"Future what?"<\/p>\n
"Not ownership. Participation."<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
"For how long?"<\/p>\n
"Potentially ten years."<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
Holt Ridge was eight years old.<\/p>\n
"What kind of participation?"<\/p>\n
"Percentage of proceeds under certain financed projects."<\/p>\n
"We never used them again."<\/p>\n
"Directly."<\/p>\n
"Meaning?"<\/p>\n
Rachel pulled another set of records.<\/p>\n
Three later projects had financing intermediaries whose parent ownership traced back, through multiple layers, to entities connected with Daniel Hale.<\/p>\n
I stared at the pages.<\/p>\n
"He kept financing me."<\/p>\n
"Indirectly."<\/p>\n
"Without telling me."<\/p>\n
"Apparently."<\/p>\n
"Did he take money?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"How much?"<\/p>\n
Rachel hesitated.<\/p>\n
"Over the years? Rough estimate, four hundred sixty thousand."<\/p>\n
Ryan swore quietly.<\/p>\n
My mind went blank.<\/p>\n
Not because Holt Ridge couldn't survive that number.<\/p>\n
Because my company history had been manipulated from outside almost from the beginning.<\/p>\n
I had built the work.<\/p>\n
Negotiated the deals.<\/p>\n
Found properties.<\/p>\n
Managed renovations.<\/p>\n
Hired people.<\/p>\n
Taken risks.<\/p>\n
But hidden beneath some of the financing were Daniel's hands.<\/p>\n
"How did nobody see this?"<\/p>\n
Rachel answered carefully.<\/p>\n
"Because each financing source was legitimate on paper."<\/p>\n
"So he used real companies."<\/p>\n
"Some real. Some layered."<\/p>\n
"And my attorney didn't catch it."<\/p>\n
Her face tightened.<\/p>\n
"Your attorney was me."<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
She continued.<\/p>\n
"I didn't catch it."<\/p>\n
There was no defensiveness.<\/p>\n
That made the admission heavier.<\/p>\n
"We checked lenders. We checked terms. We did not trace beneficial ownership through every upstream entity because there was no reason to suspect the same hidden person."<\/p>\n
I looked down.<\/p>\n
"Brooke knew."<\/p>\n
"Maybe."<\/p>\n
"Daniel definitely did."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Does this make him part owner?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
The answer came firmly.<\/p>\n
I looked up.<\/p>\n
"No?"<\/p>\n
"No. These are financing and participation agreements. Ugly ones. Hidden ones. Possibly fraudulent ones. But he does not own Holt Ridge."<\/p>\n
Something unclenched slightly.<\/p>\n
"Could someone claim otherwise?"<\/p>\n
Rachel's expression told me that was the complicated part.<\/p>\n
"Someone already has."<\/p>\n
She handed me a letter.<\/p>\n
The sender was a law firm in Charlotte.<\/p>\n
The letter represented Daniel Hale.<\/p>\n
My supposedly dead uncle, who had been shot by his own daughter and was recovering under police guard, had apparently found time to challenge Holt Ridge.<\/p>\n
I read the first paragraph.<\/p>\n
Then the second.<\/p>\n
He claimed beneficial economic interest in company-derived assets.<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
Ryan looked at me.<\/p>\n
"What's funny?"<\/p>\n
"He gets shot, almost dies, and wakes up litigious."<\/p>\n
Rachel didn't smile.<\/p>\n
"The timing may not be his."<\/p>\n
"What does that mean?"<\/p>\n
"The letter was drafted before he was shot."<\/p>\n
I looked at the date.<\/p>\n
December twenty-third.<\/p>\n
Before Christmas.<\/p>\n
Before Brooke's arrest.<\/p>\n
Before Daniel lost control of anything.<\/p>\n
"He was planning this."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"Leverage."<\/p>\n
"Against whom?"<\/p>\n
"Probably Brooke. Possibly you."<\/p>\n
I kept reading.<\/p>\n
The letter did not demand ownership of Holt Ridge outright.<\/p>\n
It demanded recognition of historic financing participation and a freeze on certain distributions connected to properties Daniel claimed were built from his original capital.<\/p>\n
"What properties?"<\/p>\n
Rachel showed me the list.<\/p>\n
Hawthorne.<\/p>\n
Ridgeview Commons.<\/p>\n
Cedar Vale.<\/p>\n
And my house.<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
"What does my house have to do with this?"<\/p>\n
"Construction financing."<\/p>\n
"I paid for this house."<\/p>\n
"Mostly."<\/p>\n
My voice hardened.<\/p>\n
"Mostly?"<\/p>\n
Rachel pulled a closing statement.<\/p>\n
One temporary construction bridge loan had come through an investment vehicle.<\/p>\n
I remembered it.<\/p>\n
Short-term financing while another property sale closed.<\/p>\n
"It was repaid."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Then Daniel has no interest."<\/p>\n
"Correct."<\/p>\n
"Why list it?"<\/p>\n
"Pressure."<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
The house wasn't about money.<\/p>\n
It was symbolic.<\/p>\n
Brooke had seen it on television and realized I had built a life larger than the one she'd been describing to our parents.<\/p>\n
Daniel had apparently understood the same thing.<\/p>\n
Attack the house.<\/p>\n
Attack the proof.<\/p>\n
"Can he take it?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Say that again."<\/p>\n
"He cannot take your house based on the documents I've reviewed."<\/p>\n
I exhaled.<\/p>\n
Ryan sat.<\/p>\n
"What can he do?"<\/p>\n
"Create expensive litigation."<\/p>\n
That sounded more believable.<\/p>\n
Rachel continued.<\/p>\n
"If he argues some early financing involved proceeds of fraud, certain assets could become subject to tracing."<\/p>\n
"Even if Miranda didn't know?" Ryan asked.<\/p>\n
"Knowledge matters for liability. Tracing can be separate."<\/p>\n
"So stolen money could have touched legitimate deals."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
I felt sick.<\/p>\n
Daniel hadn't merely used my success.<\/p>\n
He had contaminated it.<\/p>\n
Maybe intentionally.<\/p>\n
Maybe as insurance.<\/p>\n
A respectable business receiving money that later became disputed was valuable camouflage.<\/p>\n
"What do we do?"<\/p>\n
"Audit everything."<\/p>\n
"Already happening."<\/p>\n
"Deeper."<\/p>\n
"How deep?"<\/p>\n
"Every financing source since inception."<\/p>\n
I looked toward Ryan.<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
No hesitation.<\/p>\n
"Do it."<\/p>\n
Rachel studied me.<\/p>\n
"That could uncover things you don't want."<\/p>\n
"I don't care."<\/p>\n
"You should."<\/p>\n
"I care whether Holt Ridge is clean."<\/p>\n
"Good answer."<\/p>\n
"It's not an answer. It's the job."<\/p>\n
By ten, we had hired an independent forensic accounting firm.<\/p>\n
No internal shortcuts.<\/p>\n
No quiet adjustments.<\/p>\n
No deleting embarrassing mistakes.<\/p>\n
Everything would be examined.<\/p>\n
If Daniel's money touched projects, we would identify it.<\/p>\n
If Brooke rerouted funds, we would identify that.<\/p>\n
If Luis profited, Rebecca manipulated, Price skimmed, or anyone else participated, we would document it.<\/p>\n
For the first time since the investigation began, the work felt familiar.<\/p>\n
Not comfortable.<\/p>\n
Structured.<\/p>\n
A problem with records.<\/p>\n
Dates.<\/p>\n
Transactions.<\/p>\n
Evidence.<\/p>\n
Unlike family, ledgers eventually had to balance.<\/p>\n
At noon, Mercer arrived.<\/p>\n
He looked tired enough to sleep standing.<\/p>\n
"Brooke asked for you."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
He blinked.<\/p>\n
"I thought you'd want to know why."<\/p>\n
"I do."<\/p>\n
"But?"<\/p>\n
"But wanting to know isn't the same as going."<\/p>\n
That seemed to please him.<\/p>\n
"She says she has information about the four-point-eight million."<\/p>\n
"Price has information."<\/p>\n
"She claims his is incomplete."<\/p>\n
"Probably true."<\/p>\n
"She also says Daniel Hale lied about what portion is criminal."<\/p>\n
"Also probably true."<\/p>\n
"Still no?"<\/p>\n
I looked at Rachel.<\/p>\n
She raised one eyebrow.<\/p>\n
I sighed.<\/p>\n
"What does Brooke want in exchange?"<\/p>\n
"Conversation."<\/p>\n
"Only?"<\/p>\n
"That's what she says."<\/p>\n
"Then she wants something else."<\/p>\n
Mercer nodded.<\/p>\n
"Probably."<\/p>\n
I thought about Mom.<\/p>\n
Dad.<\/p>\n
Years of conversations where Brooke presented urgency first and terms later.<\/p>\n
"No private meeting."<\/p>\n
"Agreed."<\/p>\n
"Recorded."<\/p>\n
"Obviously."<\/p>\n
"Attorney present."<\/p>\n
Rachel said, "Absolutely."<\/p>\n
"And no promises."<\/p>\n
Mercer nodded.<\/p>\n
"Then I'll listen."<\/p>\n
Brooke was being held in a secure county facility while federal charges were still being coordinated.<\/p>\n
The room had cinderblock walls and a bolted table.<\/p>\n
She entered wearing plain jail clothing.<\/p>\n
No makeup.<\/p>\n
No jewelry.<\/p>\n
No phone.<\/p>\n
Without all the things she used to control presentation, she looked younger.<\/p>\n
That bothered me.<\/p>\n
I reminded myself that vulnerability and innocence were not synonyms.<\/p>\n
She sat.<\/p>\n
Rachel beside me.<\/p>\n
Mercer behind the observation glass.<\/p>\n
Brooke looked at my clothes.<\/p>\n
"You went to work."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Of course."<\/p>\n
"What do you want?"<\/p>\n
She smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
"You really can't do small talk."<\/p>\n
"Not with you."<\/p>\n
Her smile disappeared.<\/p>\n
"How's Mom?"<\/p>\n
"Safe."<\/p>\n
"Dad?"<\/p>\n
"Safe."<\/p>\n
"Uncle Dan?"<\/p>\n
"Alive."<\/p>\n
Her face tightened.<\/p>\n
That mattered.<\/p>\n
"You didn't know?"<\/p>\n
"I knew he'd probably live."<\/p>\n
"But not for sure."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
I watched her absorb it.<\/p>\n
"You shot him."<\/p>\n
"It wasn't supposed to happen."<\/p>\n
"That doesn't undo it."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
For once, she sounded tired rather than defensive.<\/p>\n
Then she looked at Rachel.<\/p>\n
"How much did she find?"<\/p>\n
"Ask me."<\/p>\n
Brooke's eyes returned to mine.<\/p>\n
"How much did you find?"<\/p>\n
"Enough."<\/p>\n
"That means more than you expected."<\/p>\n
"Daniel financed parts of Holt Ridge indirectly."<\/p>\n
A small smile.<\/p>\n
"Now you know."<\/p>\n
"You knew."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"How long?"<\/p>\n
"Years."<\/p>\n
"Why didn't you tell me?"<\/p>\n
She laughed.<\/p>\n
"You wouldn't have believed me."<\/p>\n
"Try again."<\/p>\n
"Fine."<\/p>\n
She leaned back.<\/p>\n
"Because I liked knowing something about your perfect company that you didn't."<\/p>\n
At least that was honest.<\/p>\n
"Did you ever think Daniel owned part of Holt Ridge?"<\/p>\n
"Not legally."<\/p>\n
"Did he tell you he did?"<\/p>\n
"He told me he made you."<\/p>\n
Anger rose.<\/p>\n
"Did you believe him?"<\/p>\n
"At first."<\/p>\n
"And later?"<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
That answer surprised me.<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"Because I watched you."<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"Work."<\/p>\n
She said the word reluctantly.<\/p>\n
"I watched what you did. The deals. The projects. The people. Daniel gave you an opening."<\/p>\n
"He gave me a hidden problem."<\/p>\n
"Both can be true."<\/p>\n
I didn't answer.<\/p>\n
She continued.<\/p>\n
"That's what I hated."<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"That even after I knew about Hawthorne, I couldn't pretend he built everything for you."<\/p>\n
Her voice cracked slightly.<\/p>\n
"You actually did the rest."<\/p>\n
I sat very still.<\/p>\n
This was the closest Brooke had ever come to acknowledging my work.<\/p>\n
And I hated how much some small childhood part of me wanted it.<\/p>\n
I refused to reward that instinct.<\/p>\n
"What information did you bring me here for?"<\/p>\n
Her face closed again.<\/p>\n
"The four-point-eight isn't all Daniel's."<\/p>\n
"We know."<\/p>\n
"You don't know how much isn't."<\/p>\n
"Then tell me."<\/p>\n
"One point six belongs to victims."<\/p>\n
Rachel immediately started writing.<\/p>\n
"Which victims?" I asked.<\/p>\n
"Loan applicants. small businesses. people Daniel manipulated."<\/p>\n
"Names?"<\/p>\n
"I have them."<\/p>\n
"Where?"<\/p>\n
"Not here."<\/p>\n
"Then this conversation ends."<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
Brooke's expression changed.<\/p>\n
"Sit down."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Miranda."<\/p>\n
"You asked me here to create leverage."<\/p>\n
"I can give you the list."<\/p>\n
"Then give it."<\/p>\n
"I need something."<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
I remained standing.<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"Don't let Uncle Dan control the narrative."<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
"That's not a legal term."<\/p>\n
"He's going to say I stole everything."<\/p>\n
"Didn't you?"<\/p>\n
"Not everything."<\/p>\n
"How much?"<\/p>\n
She looked down.<\/p>\n
"From the primary account? I moved about nine hundred thousand over two years."<\/p>\n
Rachel stopped writing.<\/p>\n
"Where?"<\/p>\n
"Different places."<\/p>\n
"Recovered?"<\/p>\n
"Some."<\/p>\n
"How much?"<\/p>\n
"Maybe five hundred."<\/p>\n
"Maybe?"<\/p>\n
"Price took some."<\/p>\n
"Daniel?"<\/p>\n
"Some."<\/p>\n
"Rebecca?"<\/p>\n
"Small amounts."<\/p>\n
"Luis?"<\/p>\n
"Different stream."<\/p>\n
I sat again.<\/p>\n
"Why track two million if you moved nine hundred?"<\/p>\n
"Because two million included money I intended to move."<\/p>\n
"Not money you had."<\/p>\n
"Correct."<\/p>\n
"Why inflate it?"<\/p>\n
She looked almost embarrassed.<\/p>\n
"Because I liked seeing the number."<\/p>\n
That answer was so childish it felt more disturbing than sophistication.<\/p>\n
"What about the seven-fifty Holt Ridge transfer?"<\/p>\n
"Never happened."<\/p>\n
"You tried."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"To finish."<\/p>\n
"Finish what?"<\/p>\n
"Being dependent."<\/p>\n
"On who?"<\/p>\n
"Everyone."<\/p>\n
She laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
"Mom's emergency money. Dad's guilt. Daniel's cut. Price's threats."<\/p>\n
"And you thought stealing three quarters of a million from my company was independence?"<\/p>\n
Her eyes hardened.<\/p>\n
"It was a way out."<\/p>\n
"Using money belonging to employees, partners, clients."<\/p>\n
"Holt Ridge would've survived."<\/p>\n
I leaned forward.<\/p>\n
"That's what you told yourself?"<\/p>\n
"You had reserves."<\/p>\n
"So because I built something stable, it became available to steal."<\/p>\n
"You always recover."<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
The core assumption again.<\/p>\n
Miranda cleans it up.<\/p>\n
"That's not permission."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"Do you?"<\/p>\n
She looked away.<\/p>\n
After a moment, she said, "Now."<\/p>\n
The word landed harder than an apology.<\/p>\n
I wasn't sure I believed it.<\/p>\n
But I heard it.<\/p>\n
Rachel asked, "Where is the victim list?"<\/p>\n
Brooke looked at her.<\/p>\n
"Daniel's second farm."<\/p>\n
"What second farm?"<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
"Of course there's another property."<\/p>\n
Brooke ignored me.<\/p>\n
"Not the Burnsville place. Smaller. Outside Marion."<\/p>\n
"Address?"<\/p>\n
She gave it.<\/p>\n
Mercer confirmed through the glass that officers would verify.<\/p>\n
"What else is there?" I asked.<\/p>\n
"Original loan files."<\/p>\n
"Daniel's?"<\/p>\n
"Some."<\/p>\n
"Your records?"<\/p>\n
"Some."<\/p>\n
"Anything involving Holt Ridge?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"The first clean transfer."<\/p>\n
"What does that mean?"<\/p>\n
Brooke looked at me.<\/p>\n
"The first time Daniel moved legitimate money into one of your projects after washing it through another company."<\/p>\n
Rachel stopped writing.<\/p>\n
"When?"<\/p>\n
"Six years ago."<\/p>\n
"Which project?"<\/p>\n
"Cedar Vale."<\/p>\n
I remembered Cedar Vale.<\/p>\n
Twelve mountain townhomes.<\/p>\n
The project that took Holt Ridge from small local operation to serious developer.<\/p>\n
"How much?"<\/p>\n
"Two hundred thousand."<\/p>\n
"Source?"<\/p>\n
"Daniel's investment structure."<\/p>\n
"Illegal proceeds?"<\/p>\n
"Mixed."<\/p>\n
Rachel looked grim.<\/p>\n
"That can trigger tracing."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
Brooke watched me.<\/p>\n
"This is what he wants."<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"For you to panic and settle."<\/p>\n
"Settle what?"<\/p>\n
"His claim."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"Because if you give him a recognized financial interest, he can argue later that his participation was legitimate."<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
Daniel wasn't only attacking Holt Ridge for money.<\/p>\n
He was rewriting his own history.<\/p>\n
If I acknowledged him as a legitimate financier now, he could use that recognition to sanitize past transactions.<\/p>\n
"He wants me to validate him."<\/p>\n
Brooke nodded.<\/p>\n
"Like you validated the account."<\/p>\n
I looked at Rachel.<\/p>\n
She was already connecting the same pieces.<\/p>\n
"His letter was drafted before Christmas."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"You knew about it."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Was that part of your fight?"<\/p>\n
"Part."<\/p>\n
"What did you want?"<\/p>\n
"To destroy the documents that connected him to Holt Ridge."<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"So he couldn't use your company to clean himself."<\/p>\n
For several seconds, neither Rachel nor I spoke.<\/p>\n
Brooke had tried to steal from me.<\/p>\n
She had also, apparently, tried to prevent Daniel from legitimizing his past through my company.<\/p>\n
Both could be true.<\/p>\n
That complexity annoyed me.<\/p>\n
I wanted clean categories.<\/p>\n
Victim.<\/p>\n
Villain.<\/p>\n
Helper.<\/p>\n
Thief.<\/p>\n
Our family had none.<\/p>\n
"Why not tell me?"<\/p>\n
Brooke's eyes flashed.<\/p>\n
"Because by then I was stealing too."<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
The simplest answer.<\/p>\n
Truth would expose her along with him.<\/p>\n
"So you protected yourself."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"And called it protecting Holt Ridge."<\/p>\n
"Sometimes people do both."<\/p>\n
I thought of Dad.<\/p>\n
Mom.<\/p>\n
Luis.<\/p>\n
Everyone.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
A guard knocked.<\/p>\n
Time.<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
Brooke said my name.<\/p>\n
I paused.<\/p>\n
"The Marion property has something else."<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"Proof Daniel forged your signature before I ever did anything."<\/p>\n
"On Hawthorne?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"What then?"<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
"On a document that names you as his successor."<\/p>\n
Rachel stood.<\/p>\n
"What kind of successor?"<\/p>\n
Brooke's expression changed.<\/p>\n
"Not heir."<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"Partner."<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
"I was never his partner."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"Then why create it?"<\/p>\n
Brooke's eyes stayed on mine.<\/p>\n
"Because if Daniel goes down, he wants somebody respectable standing beside his name."<\/p>\n
I understood before Rachel said it.<\/p>\n
Scapegoat.<\/p>\n
Not beneficiary.<\/p>\n
Not successor.<\/p>\n
Cover.<\/p>\n
Uncle Daniel hadn't only used Holt Ridge to hide money.<\/p>\n
He had spent years building documents that could eventually make it look like I knew.<\/p>\n
And somewhere at another hidden property was evidence showing exactly how far he'd gone.<\/p>\n
The morning after Brooke's arrest, I woke on Megan's couch at six thirteen with my phone balanced against my chest and my coat still on. For several seconds, I didn't … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27283,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27243\/revisions\/27283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}