Chapter 8: The Woman Who Ran
We reached the Whitmore house shortly after midnight.
Two police cruisers were parked in the driveway.
The front door stood open.
Richard sat in the living room with his head in his hands.
Vanessa paced near the fireplace.
“Dad.””
Richard looked up.
“Ethan.””
His eyes were red.
“She left.””
“When?””
“Maybe twenty minutes after you did.””
“Where?””
“I don’t know.””
Vanessa answered.
“She packed a bag.””
Ethan stared at her.
“You watched her leave?””
“I thought she was going to a hotel!””
“You didn’t ask?””
“She told me Dad needed space.””
Richard stood.
“She took the Vale contract.””
I looked toward his study.
“The original?””
“Yes.””
“Anything else?””
He hesitated.
“My laptop.””
Daniel, who had followed us, swore.
Richard looked at him.
“Who are you?””
“Daniel Price. Hawthorne Capital.””
Richard laughed bitterly.
“Wonderful. Why not invite the entire financial industry?””
A detective approached.
“Mr. Whitmore, we need to continue your statement.””
“Give me five minutes.””
The detective looked at me.
“Claire Hawthorne?””
“Yes.””
“We may need to speak with you as well.””
“Of course.””
He walked away.
Ethan crouched beside his father.
“Dad, think. Where would Mom go?””
“I don’t know.””
“Hotel? Friend? Vanessa’s apartment?””
“No.””
Vanessa suddenly stopped pacing.
“There is somewhere.””
Richard looked up.
“What?””
“The lake cabin.””
My stomach tightened.
“What lake cabin?””
Vanessa turned toward me.
“My grandmother had one near Lake Winthrop.””
Ethan frowned.
“We sold that years ago.””
“No.””
“What?””
“Mom told me last year it was still in the family.””
Richard stood.
“That’s impossible.””
“She said Grandma transferred it before she died.””
I pulled out my phone.
“Natalie told me to check my father’s lake house.””
Everyone went quiet.
Ethan stared at me.
“Your father had one too?””
“Apparently.””
Richard frowned.
“Where?””
“I don’t know.””
Daniel was already typing.
“Give me the name again.””
“Lake Winthrop.””
He searched internal property records.
Then stopped.
“Oh.””
“What?””
He turned his phone.
A Hawthorne subsidiary had owned a property near Lake Winthrop for twenty-nine years.
Not in my father’s name.
In the name of an old holding company.
*JH-GV Properties LLC.*
JH.
Jonathan Hawthorne.
GV.
Graham Vale.
Rebecca, who had joined by phone, spoke through the speaker.
“That’s not coincidence.””
“No,” I said.
Richard looked confused.
“What does my wife have to do with that property?””
Maybe nothing.
Maybe everything.
I looked at Vanessa.
“Where is your family cabin?””
She gave us the address.
Daniel entered it.
His eyebrows rose.
The two properties were less than a mile apart.
Ethan stood.
“We’re going.””
The detective overheard.
“No.””
We turned.
“If Mrs. Whitmore may be connected to an active financial investigation, nobody is chasing her into the woods at one in the morning.””
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“She’s my mother.””
“And if she’s meeting someone dangerous?””
That stopped him.
I thought of Graham.
Then Natalie.
Two siblings telling opposite versions of the same history.
One missing.
One possibly running.
I asked the detective, “Can officers check the cabin?””
“We can request local assistance.””
“Do it.””
Richard handed him the address.
While he made the call, Vanessa sat beside me.
“I need to tell you something.””
Her voice was barely audible.
“What?””
“Mom met Graham before tonight.””
“I assumed that.””
“No. I mean here.””
I looked at her.
“When?””
“Twice.””
Richard heard.
“What?””
Vanessa flinched.
“Dad—”
“You saw him here?””
“I didn’t know who he was.””
“When?””
“Last month.””
Richard’s face reddened.
“And you said nothing?””
“I thought he was a consultant!””
“What did they talk about?””
“I don’t know.””
“Vanessa.””
She started crying.
“I heard Mom say Claire’s name.””
The room became still.
I leaned forward.
“My name?””
“Yes.””
“What exactly did she say?””
Vanessa wiped her face.
“She said, ‘If Claire Hawthorne discovers this before the vote, we lose everything.’”
Daniel looked at me.
“What vote?””
“I don’t know.””
Richard whispered, “Harbor Point?””
“No,” I said.
Something about the sentence felt wrong.
Before *the vote*.
Not before the bid.
Not before the presentation.
The vote.
My phone rang.
Rebecca.
I answered.
“Tell me you found something.””
“I found several things.””
Her voice sounded tense.
“The old ownership agreement references a founder vote.””
“What kind?””
“A transfer vote.””
Daniel leaned closer.
Rebecca continued.
“If Graham exercised his conversion rights, the remaining founder-controlled shares could vote to reject the transfer.””
“So Dad could block him.””
“Originally, yes.””
“Originally?””
“Jonathan’s shares passed to you.””
I understood.
“Meaning I control the vote.””
“Yes.””
My skin prickled.
Margaret’s words suddenly made sense.
If Claire discovers this before the vote, we lose everything.
“But Margaret knew who I was before dinner,” I whispered.
Ethan looked at me.
“What?””
“She had to.””
He shook his head.
“She didn’t recognize you.””
“Maybe she did.””
I remembered her first words.
Is this really what you’re wearing?
The insults.
The probing questions.
The deliberate humiliation.
What if she hadn’t been testing whether I was good enough for Ethan?
What if she had been testing me?
Trying to make me leave?
Trying to break us apart?
Daniel’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Price.””
His expression changed.
“When?””
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“We found Natalie’s car.””
“Where?””
“Near Lake Winthrop.””
“Is she there?””
“No.””
“Any sign of her?””
He swallowed.
“Blood on the driver’s door.””
Ethan cursed.
Then the detective’s radio crackled.
He listened.
His face tightened.
“Local officers reached the Whitmore cabin.””
Richard stepped forward.
“And?””
“Nobody inside.””
“Margaret?””
“No.””
The detective paused.
“But there was a fire in the fireplace.””
“Recent?””
“Still burning.””
My stomach dropped.
“What was burned?””
He listened to the radio.
May you like
Then looked directly at me.
“Documents.””
