Chapter 10: The Road Through the Pines
“Mom!””
Ethan was already running.
Richard caught his arm before he reached the road.
“Let go of me!””
“You can’t catch a car!””
The black SUV disappeared between the trees.
Police vehicles exploded to life seconds later.
Sirens shattered the morning silence.
Ethan stood in the road, breathing hard.
“I saw her hands.””
“So did I,” I said.
“They were tied.””
Richard looked toward the vanished SUV.
For all his anger, his face now held something worse.
Fear.
A detective hurried toward us.
“Everyone inside. Now.””
“My wife is in that vehicle,” Richard said.
“We know.””
“Then go!””
“Units are pursuing.””
Ethan pointed down the road.
“I’m coming.””
“No, you’re not.””
“That’s my mother!””
“And if the suspect is armed, you become another problem I have to solve.””
Ethan looked ready to argue.
I grabbed his hand.
“Let them work.””
He turned on me.
“You saw her.””
“Yes.””
“She could die.””
“I know.””
His anger collapsed instantly.
He covered his face.
I pulled him against me.
For one second, everything else disappeared.
Then Natalie spoke behind us.
“Graham won’t kill her yet.””
We turned.
She stood in the doorway, her injured arm wrapped in white gauze.
Richard stared at her.
“How can you possibly know that?””
“Because Margaret has something he needs.””
“What?””
Natalie looked at me.
“The original agreement.””
Rebecca stepped closer.
“The one stolen from Hawthorne?””
Natalie nodded.
“Graham thought I had it. I didn’t.””
“Margaret took it?””
“I think so.””
Richard shook his head.
“She took the contract Graham gave her from my study.””
“Not the same document,” I said.
“No.””
Natalie walked toward the kitchen table.
“Margaret knew I was inside Hawthorne. We communicated twice.””
Ethan stared at her.
“You and my mother were working together?””
“Not exactly.””
“What does that mean?””
“She contacted me three months ago.””
“Why?””
“Because Graham had returned.””
Natalie took a breath.
“She was terrified.””
Richard laughed bitterly.
“She didn’t look terrified when she forged my signature.””
“No,” Natalie said.
“She looked desperate.””
“Don’t defend her.””
“I’m not.””
Natalie met his eyes.
“Margaret has done terrible things. But Graham has been controlling her for years.””
The detective entered.
“Pursuit update.””
Everyone turned.
“They lost visual near Route 17.””
Ethan cursed.
“We’ve notified state police.””
“Any cameras?”” I asked.
“Traffic cameras are being checked.””
Daniel’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Price.””
His face tightened.
“What account?””
Rebecca immediately looked at him.
Daniel listened.
“Freeze it.””
He ended the call.
“What?”” I asked.
“Someone just attempted to move forty-eight million dollars from a Hawthorne subsidiary.””
My stomach dropped.
“Which subsidiary?””
“Northbridge Infrastructure.””
Rebecca frowned.
“That account requires dual authorization.””
“Yes.””
“Whose?””
Daniel looked at me.
“Yours and mine.””
I stared at him.
“I didn’t authorize anything.””
“Neither did I.””
“Then how?””
“Natalie’s administrative credentials can initiate an emergency authorization request.””
Everyone turned toward her.
Natalie shook her head.
“No.””
Daniel held up his phone.
“It came from your credentials.””
“I didn’t do it.””
“Where’s your company laptop?””
Her face changed.
“My car.””
“The car Graham’s people found?””
“Yes.””
Daniel swore.
I understood immediately.
“Graham has her device.””
“And enough internal information to imitate the rest.””
Rebecca opened her laptop.
“If he moves company funds while simultaneously triggering debt defaults, he can create the financial distress required by the old agreement.””
“Assuming the agreement is enforceable.””
“He doesn’t need to win immediately,” Daniel said.
“He needs chaos.””
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Every person in the room froze.
I answered.
“Graham.””
He laughed softly.
“Still quick.””
“Where’s Margaret?””
“Safe.””
“Let me hear her.””
“No.””
“Then I assume she’s dead and tell the police.””
A pause.
Then movement.
Margaret’s voice came through.
“Claire?””
Ethan lunged toward the phone.
“Mom!””
“Ethan?””
Her voice cracked.
“Oh, God, Ethan—”
The phone shifted.
Graham returned.
“Satisfied?””
“Untie her.””
“When I get what belongs to me.””
“The agreement?””
“Among other things.””
“What do you want?””
“My company.””
“It was never your company.””
“That’s what Jonathan taught you.””
“I’ve seen the agreement.””
“Then you know.””
“I know you had conditional rights.””
“I had ownership.””
“You lost those rights when you committed fraud.””
His voice cooled.
“Careful.””
“Why? Because you’ll threaten me?””
“I don’t need to threaten you.””
He paused.
“I only need you at the board meeting.””
My blood chilled.
“What board meeting?””
“The one happening at ten.””
Rebecca checked her phone.
Her face changed.
“There’s an emergency board meeting scheduled.””
“I didn’t receive notice.””
“You’re suspended,” Graham said.
I looked at the clock.
8:43 a.m.
“What happens at ten?””
“A vote.””
The same word Margaret had used.
My grip tightened.
“What vote?””
“To determine whether Hawthorne Capital enters emergency restructuring.””
Daniel whispered, “No.””
Graham heard him.
“Daniel’s there? Excellent.””
“What happens if restructuring passes?””
Rebecca answered before Graham could.
“Founder conversion rights could activate.””
Graham laughed.
“There she is.””
I looked at Rebecca.
“Can they pass it without me?””
“If enough directors believe the company faces immediate financial danger.””
“And the forty-eight million transfer creates that appearance.””
Daniel’s face hardened.
“He manufactured the crisis.””
Graham spoke calmly.
“I’m correcting history.””
“No,” Natalie said loudly.
“You’re repeating it.””
Silence.
Then Graham’s voice changed.
“Natalie?””
She stepped toward the phone.
“I found Jonathan’s letter.””
A long pause.
“You always were sentimental.””
“You lied about Samuel.””
Another silence.
Natalie’s eyes filled with tears.
“Did you kill my husband?””
Graham didn’t answer.
That answer was enough.
Natalie began shaking.
Then Margaret screamed in the background.
A sharp crash followed.
“Mom!”” Ethan shouted.
The line went dead.
I called back.
Nothing.
Then Daniel’s phone buzzed.
He looked at it.
“The transfer attempt failed.””
Rebecca exhaled.
“For now.””
My phone received a message.
A photograph.
Margaret sat in a chair inside an unfamiliar room.
Behind her was a clock.
9:01.
May you like
Beneath the image were six words.
*BE AT THE BOARD MEETING, CLAIRE. ALONE.*
