Chapter 9
Rebecca stared at my phone.
Nobody spoke.
Then she laughed once.
A stunned, empty sound.
“That’s insane.”
Daniel didn’t move.
I looked at him.
He looked at Rebecca.
“Say something,” she snapped.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You know me.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell her.”
Daniel’s silence changed the room.
Rebecca’s face hardened.
“Daniel.”
He finally spoke.
“I know you had access.”
Her mouth fell open.
“To what?”
“The bid system.”
“I’m chair of the board.”
“You had administrator credentials.”
“So did you.”
“I know.”
Rebecca pointed at him.
“This is exactly why I told my father you couldn’t be trusted.”
Daniel went pale.
There was history there.
More than either had admitted.
Grace stepped between the accusations.
“Stop.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Lauren is missing. This is not the moment to play courtroom in an office.”
She turned to me.
“Forward the video to Detective Ortiz.”
I did.
Rebecca grabbed her coat.
“I’m going to the police station.”
Daniel said, “Rebecca—”
She spun around.
“Don’t say my name.”
Then she walked out.
I looked at Daniel.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He rubbed his face.
“Six years ago, when Victor first contacted me, I suspected Rebecca.”
“Why?”
“Because several leaks occurred shortly after board strategy meetings.”
“Meetings she attended.”
“Yes.”
“Did you have proof?”
“No.”
“Did Charles know?”
“I told him my concerns.”
“And that’s why he tried to fire you.”
Daniel nodded.
My stomach turned.
“Why would Rebecca sell information?”
“I never said she did.”
“But you suspected her.”
“Yes.”
“Do you still?”
He looked toward the door.
“I don’t know.”
I was tired of that answer.
I left.
Grace came with me.
In the elevator, she said quietly, “Do not assume the video is truthful simply because Lauren looks frightened.”
“You think she lied?”
“I think frightened people can be manipulated.”
“By Michael?”
“By anyone.”
Outside, snow had started falling.
Small white flakes against the city windows.
Christmas was three days away.
It felt obscene.
People were buying presents.
Children were visiting Santa.
Music played from storefronts.
And my family was disintegrating.
My phone rang.
Michael.
I almost ignored it.
Grace said, “Put it on speaker.”
I answered.
“What?”
His voice was rough.
“Where are you?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Is Sophie with you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
My blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I need to talk to you without her hearing.”
“Talk.”
“Not on the phone.”
“No.”
“Emily, please.”
I looked at Grace.
She nodded once.
“Public place,” I said.
“Fine.”
“Grace will be there.”
Michael exhaled.
“Of course she will.”
We met at a hotel café across from the courthouse.
Michael arrived ten minutes later.
He looked terrible.
Not polished anymore.
Not controlled.
He sat across from me.
“Lauren is missing.”
“I know.”
“Police came to the house.”
“Good.”
He looked at Grace.
“Do you need to sit here?”
“Yes,” Grace answered.
Michael ignored her.
“Emily, someone is setting me up.”
I stared at him.
“You stole money.”
“I moved money.”
“Without authorization.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It never is with you.”
He leaned closer.
“The money was used to pay someone.”
“Who?”
“Victor Hale.”
My heart stopped.
Grace’s expression sharpened.
“You paid your competitor?”
Michael looked at her.
“I paid him to keep quiet.”
“About what?”
He hesitated.
I slammed my hand on the table.
“No more.”
Several people looked over.
I lowered my voice.
“No more half-truths. No more telling me I don’t understand. Tell me everything.”
Michael looked at me.
For the first time since the party, his arrogance disappeared.
“Our fathers made a deal.”
“Our fathers?”
“Yours and mine.”
I froze.
“My father?”
Michael nodded.
I stared at him.
“My father was a high school principal.”
“Before that.”
I shook my head.
“He worked in accounting for a few years.”
“At Carter Systems.”
The room tilted.
“No.”
“He left before you were born.”
My father had never told me.
“Why?”
“Because he found evidence Charles had cheated Victor Hale out of ownership.”
I couldn’t speak.
Michael continued.
“Your father threatened to expose it.”
“What happened?”
“Charles paid him.”
“No.”
“He did.”
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
My hands shook.
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand dollars.”
Thirty years ago.
A fortune to my parents.
I remembered our childhood home.
Paid off early.
My parents always said my grandfather left money.
Had that been a lie too?
Michael continued.
“Your father signed a confidentiality agreement.”
“So why does that matter now?”
“Because when Charles created the trust for you, Victor found out who you were.”
My chest tightened.
“He knew I was my father’s daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He believed Charles was trying to hide stolen assets by putting control in your name.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So you paid Victor.”
“Yes.”
“With company money.”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Michael looked down.
“Then personally.”
“Why use Lauren’s company?”
“To hide the payments from the board.”
Grace leaned forward.
“That is still misappropriation.”
“I know.”
Michael looked at me.
“I was trying to protect the company.”
“You were protecting yourself.”
“Yes.”
The admission surprised me.
“Yes,” he repeated. “And the company. Both can be true.”
I looked at him.
“What did Victor threaten to reveal?”
“The original partnership documents. Your father’s statement. Evidence that Charles used proprietary work Victor created to launch the company.”
My stomach turned.
“That could destroy the company.”
“It could lead to litigation worth hundreds of millions.”
“So you paid him.”
“He called it restitution.”
“And the necklace?”
Michael closed his eyes.
“That was me being an idiot.”
“The hotels?”
“Me being an idiot.”
“Lauren?”
His voice dropped.
“Me being an idiot.”
I felt nothing.
Maybe I had finally reached the end of pain.
“Was Rebecca selling secrets?”
His eyes opened.
“What?”
“Answer me.”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I was.”
I stared at him.
Grace stared too.
“What?”
Michael rubbed both hands over his face.
“I gave Victor internal information.”
My heart slammed.
“Why?”
“He demanded proof of certain government bids.”
“You committed corporate espionage.”
“No. I gave him old pricing models.”
“That’s still confidential.”
“I know.”
“How long?”
“About a year.”
Lauren’s video had said he wasn’t the one.
So either Michael was lying now or Lauren’s accusation against Rebecca was false.
“Why would Lauren blame Rebecca?”
Michael looked confused.
“What are you talking about?”
I showed him the video.
His face changed.
Not guilt.
Recognition.
“Where did you get this?”
“Anonymous number.”
He replayed the last seconds.
Rebecca.
Michael stood so suddenly his chair scraped backward.
“We need to go.”
Grace remained seated.
“Why?”
“Because that isn’t what she said.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
Michael grabbed my phone and replayed the clip.
He paused just before Lauren said Rebecca.
Then he turned up the volume.
There was a tiny jump.
A fraction of a second.
Michael pointed at the waveform.
“This was edited.”
Grace took the phone.
“How can you tell?”
“Because I’ve edited enough investor videos to recognize a cut.”
He enlarged the frame.
Lauren’s head moved slightly between sentences.
Someone your family trusts.
Cut.
Rebecca.
My stomach dropped.
“Then what did she originally say?”
“I don’t know.”
Michael sat again.
His face had gone pale.
“But whoever sent you this wants you looking at Rebecca.”
My phone rang.
Detective Ortiz.
I answered.
“Mrs. Carter, we found Ms. Matthews.”
I stood.
“Is she alive?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Relief hit so hard I had to grab the table.
“Where?”
“At a motel outside the city.”
“Is she okay?”
“She’s shaken.”
“What happened?”
“We’re still determining that.”
Ortiz hesitated.
“But there’s something you should know.”
May you like
“What?”
“Ms. Matthews says she never sent you any video.”
