The name on Nina\u2019s phone was Victor Prescott.<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s father.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, I assumed I had misread it.<\/p>\n
Not because the letters were unclear.<\/p>\n
Because my mind refused to connect the man sitting ten yards away in our boardroom with a hidden company positioned to acquire controlling interest in Prescott Logistics.<\/p>\n
I looked through the glass.<\/p>\n
Victor sat beside Patricia with one elbow resting on the table. He appeared irritated rather than afraid, his silver hair neatly combed, his expression carrying the same impatience he had worn whenever someone challenged him at a family dinner.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you certain?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Nina nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe buyer is registered through two entities. The outer company is incorporated in Delaware. Its managing member is another LLC registered in Nevada. That structure leads to a private trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor is the trustee and principal beneficiary.\u201d<\/p>\n
I handed the phone back.<\/p>\n
My first reaction was anger.<\/p>\n
My second was something colder.<\/p>\n
Daniel had always described his father as retired.<\/p>\n
Victor Prescott had owned a regional construction-supply company years earlier, sold it, and spent most of the last decade complaining that retirement was boring. He played golf, attended charity dinners, and frequently reminded Daniel that Prescott Logistics existed because the Prescott name opened doors.<\/p>\n
It had never been true.<\/p>\n
But Daniel liked hearing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes Daniel know?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe signed the sale agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he knew Victor was the buyer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot necessarily. The buyer\u2019s disclosed name on the draft was Meridian Strategic Partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the line.<\/p>\n
I had skimmed past it because the forged signature had mattered more.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor hid behind Meridian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat appears to be the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nina glanced toward the conference room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what we need to determine before anyone has time to coordinate their answers.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened the door.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked up immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat now?\u201d<\/p>\n
I ignored him.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor, I need you to remain.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression changed only slightly.<\/p>\n
Patricia frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we need to discuss Meridian Strategic Partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor stopped moving.<\/p>\n
That was enough.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Meridian?\u201d<\/p>\n
I watched him carefully.<\/p>\n
There was no recognition in his face beyond the transaction itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho introduced Meridian to you?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
He leaned back.<\/p>\n
\u201cAndrew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the table, Andrew Bell went rigid.<\/p>\n
I turned toward him.<\/p>\n
Andrew swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made an introduction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA representative.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cName?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGraham Cole.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nina wrote it down.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmployer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeridian.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Victor.<\/p>\n
He was still seated.<\/p>\n
Still calm.<\/p>\n
Too calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever meet Graham Cole?\u201d I asked him.<\/p>\n
Victor gave a dismissive shrug.<\/p>\n
\u201cI meet plenty of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes met mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nina opened her laptop.<\/p>\n
\u201cInteresting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s mouth hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Graham Cole\u2019s email account was created using a recovery number registered to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, Patricia turned toward her husband.<\/p>\n
Victor said nothing.<\/p>\n
Daniel stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor shifted in his chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re inventing conspiracies because you\u2019re angry at Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t register your phone number.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patricia looked from Victor to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nina answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have evidence suggesting Mr. Prescott controlled the entity that intended to purchase Prescott Logistics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSit down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The command came automatically.<\/p>\n
Daniel obeyed halfway before catching himself.<\/p>\n
He remained standing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me Meridian was backed by institutional investors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor did not answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said they wanted to keep management intact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patricia whispered, \u201cVictor.\u201d<\/p>\n
He raised a hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone needs to stop overreacting.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
Nine million dollars in questionable transactions.<\/p>\n
Forged signatures.<\/p>\n
A secret sale.<\/p>\n
A planned divorce.<\/p>\n
And Victor thought the problem was emotional excess.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is Graham Cole?\u201d I asked again.<\/p>\n
Victor looked at Nina.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have accusations, make them through counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re asking questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen ask my lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me this was the deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe deal that finally made everything worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was something boyish in Daniel\u2019s expression.<\/p>\n
It startled me.<\/p>\n
Not innocence.<\/p>\n
Need.<\/p>\n
For nine years I had watched Daniel chase his father\u2019s approval in ways I considered irritating but harmless.<\/p>\n
Bigger house.<\/p>\n
Better car.<\/p>\n
Larger contracts.<\/p>\n
Magazine covers clipped and mailed to Victor even though he read them online.<\/p>\n
I suddenly wondered how much of Daniel\u2019s ambition belonged to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said they valued me,\u201d Daniel continued.<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no they.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no Meridian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the first time I had ever heard Daniel say that word to his father.<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s eyes sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t understand the complexity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
I watched Daniel\u2019s anger reorganize itself.<\/p>\n
For six days, he had treated me as the enemy.<\/p>\n
Now another possibility was entering the room.<\/p>\n
One he did not like.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was the forty-two million?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Victor exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cA valuation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom whose money?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were investors.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re behaving like a child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel hit the table with his palm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Patricia flinched.<\/p>\n
Andrew closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
Victor slowly stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want the truth? Fine. You were going to ruin the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one spoke.<\/p>\n
Victor looked at Daniel with open contempt.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were overleveraged. You were expanding into markets you didn\u2019t understand. Your margins were slipping. You were chasing growth because you liked seeing your photograph in trade publications.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s face reddened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exactly true.\u201d<\/p>\n
I glanced at Marcus.<\/p>\n
He did not disagree.<\/p>\n
Victor continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou needed a controlled exit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you created a fake buyer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI created a vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo buy my company?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo preserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy company.\u201d<\/p>\n
I saw Victor almost smile.<\/p>\n
Then he looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, apparently not.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
The resentment.<\/p>\n
Not toward Daniel.<\/p>\n
Toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you learn about my ownership?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Victor stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it bothered you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t flatter yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were supposed to be temporary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words were so unexpected that even Daniel looked confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Victor crossed his arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Daniel was struggling, you provided money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI invested.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou bailed out your husband.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI became controlling shareholder.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou took advantage of a crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
My anger sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel offered the structure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was before he understood what it meant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel turned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew what it meant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor looked at his son.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew you needed her check.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cruelty of it landed cleanly.<\/p>\n
Daniel sat down.<\/p>\n
For once, I did not feel satisfaction seeing him diminished.<\/p>\n
I understood something instead.<\/p>\n
Victor had been doing this to him his entire life.<\/p>\n
Reducing every accomplishment until Daniel needed another.<\/p>\n
It did not excuse what Daniel had done.<\/p>\n
But it explained why his father\u2019s approval had become a currency more powerful than reason.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy conceal the buyer?\u201d Nina asked.<\/p>\n
Victor ignored her.<\/p>\n
I answered for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I would never have approved a sale to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s eyes returned to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you needed my signature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room changed.<\/p>\n
It was the first clean admission.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew the signature wasn\u2019t hers?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
I turned to Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
For once, I could not read him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you had signed the preliminary consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad brought it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor said, \u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel ignored him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said you had agreed to negotiate if your voting control was protected until closing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never agreed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The air left the room.<\/p>\n
I did not believe Daniel completely.<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
He had still planned a divorce.<\/p>\n
Still moved money.<\/p>\n
Still lied.<\/p>\n
But perhaps the forged approval had begun somewhere else.<\/p>\n
Nina opened another document.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Prescott, did you provide Daniel with this consent?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor sat again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not answering further questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is your right.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at company counsel.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease note his refusal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor laughed without humor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t a courtroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the company you tried to buy using my stolen signature.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patricia finally spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor, tell them they\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did not.<\/p>\n
She stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much money did you put into this?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked annoyed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is irrelevant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPatricia.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas my house bought with this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone went silent.<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s expression shifted.<\/p>\n
Patricia understood immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n
The property Nina had traced to Patricia had been described to her, apparently, as a gift from Daniel.<\/p>\n
She turned toward her son.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you buy the house?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel shook his head slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her gaze returned to Victor.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me Daniel bought it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor rubbed his temple.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was family money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPatricia, stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stepped away from him.<\/p>\n
I had never seen Patricia Prescott look uncertain in her own family.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou made me thank him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis meeting has turned into theater.\u201d<\/p>\n
He headed for the door.<\/p>\n
Nina spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour attorneys will receive preservation demands within the hour.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo whatever you think you need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI intend to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor left.<\/p>\n
The door closed behind him.<\/p>\n
No one moved.<\/p>\n
Daniel stared at the tabletop.<\/p>\n
His father had vanished down the hallway, taking with him the simple version of events Daniel had apparently been depending on.<\/p>\n
Andrew was the next to break.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know Victor controlled Meridian.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much did you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI introduced Daniel to Cole.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho told you to?\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrew hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s head came up.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew Dad was involved?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew he knew the investor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me this was independent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what he told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the money you received?\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrew\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a finder\u2019s fee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne hundred twenty thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel pushed his chair back.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou took one hundred twenty thousand?\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrew looked offended.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were going to make millions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom selling a company I didn\u2019t control.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me Claire would cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n
The shame on his face was new.<\/p>\n
Not remorse.<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
But the beginning of understanding how many people had been using his certainty against him.<\/p>\n
I closed my folder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis meeting is finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
He looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know about my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you believe me?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you\u2019re surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression fell.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I left.<\/p>\n
Nina followed me into my temporary office.<\/p>\n
The door had barely closed when she said, \u201cThis complicates the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt complicates Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe distinction matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood by the window overlooking the loading yard.<\/p>\n
Trucks moved below us in neat lines.<\/p>\n
Employees crossed between buildings carrying clipboards and coffee.<\/p>\n
The company looked ordinary.<\/p>\n
That was what betrayal often lacked in stories.<\/p>\n
The world rarely changed appearance when trust disappeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if Victor planned the whole transaction?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel still moved money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill planned to divorce me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill lied to me for months.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pressed my fingers against the glass.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo finding a worse person doesn\u2019t make him better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
That helped.<\/p>\n
Not because I wanted Daniel condemned.<\/p>\n
Because I was tired of confusing explanation with absolution.<\/p>\n
Nina\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n
She answered, listened, and frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
She raised one finger.<\/p>\n
Then ended the call.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor\u2019s attorneys just contacted outside counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlready?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does he want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe claims the Meridian transaction was a legitimate restructuring plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUsing a forged signature?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe denies knowledge of forgery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s more.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe claims Daniel provided your signed consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel says Victor provided it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo one of them is lying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr someone between them is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrew.<\/p>\n
Melissa.<\/p>\n
An assistant.<\/p>\n
A lawyer.<\/p>\n
A document processor.<\/p>\n
The circle was widening.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did the signature first appear?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re tracing metadata now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFind the earliest copy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
A message from Daniel.<\/p>\n
I know you don\u2019t believe me. But I did not forge your name.<\/p>\n
I read it twice.<\/p>\n
Then another arrived.<\/p>\n
Ask Nina about the envelope from my father\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
I looked at the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat envelope?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nina frowned.<\/p>\n
I called Daniel.<\/p>\n
He answered immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat envelope?\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice was quieter than usual.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe preliminary consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad\u2019s office. He had a folder with your signature pages.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat signature pages?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBlank documents with your signature at the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never signed blank documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you see them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you said nothing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought they were copies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCopies of what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t understand what I was looking at.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sentence is becoming the story of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
He absorbed that without answering.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are they now?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad keeps old transaction files at his home office.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nina was already reaching for her phone.<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cDo not go there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not warn him. Do not call him. Do not touch anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll handle it legally.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost ended the call.<\/p>\n
Then he added, \u201cNot about the dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry I saw things I should have questioned and decided they weren\u2019t my problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was closer to truth than anything he had said since Bellmont House.<\/p>\n
But closer was not enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cSave it for the investigators.\u201d<\/p>\n
I disconnected.<\/p>\n
Nina was speaking with counsel.<\/p>\n
Within an hour, preservation demands went out regarding Victor\u2019s home office and business records.<\/p>\n
By late afternoon, his lawyers confirmed they would comply.<\/p>\n
By early evening, they produced a digital inventory.<\/p>\n
At 7:23, Nina called me back into the conference room.<\/p>\n
A scanned envelope appeared on her screen.<\/p>\n
My name was written across the front.<\/p>\n
Inside were nine signature pages.<\/p>\n
All bearing what appeared to be my signature.<\/p>\n
Some were attached to documents.<\/p>\n
Some were not.<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did these come from?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
She enlarged one page.<\/p>\n
A faint printer code appeared along the bottom margin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTracking information.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan it identify the printer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nina\u2019s expression had gone very still.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt appears the pages were printed at Prescott Logistics.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
She clicked.<\/p>\n
A timestamp appeared.<\/p>\n
Seven months earlier.<\/p>\n
Sunday.<\/p>\n
6:42 a.m.<\/p>\n
I remembered that weekend.<\/p>\n
Daniel and I had been in Boston.<\/p>\n
Together.<\/p>\n
At a wedding.<\/p>\n
Neither of us had been anywhere near the office.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho had access?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nina opened another window.<\/p>\n
The building-entry logs.<\/p>\n
One badge had entered the executive floor at 6:18 that morning.<\/p>\n
The name attached to it made no sense.<\/p>\n
I leaned closer.<\/p>\n
Then I understood why.<\/p>\n
It belonged to someone who had spent the entire board meeting sitting quietly, appearing almost peripheral to everything.<\/p>\n
Marcus Reed.<\/p>\n
The name on Nina\u2019s phone was Victor Prescott. Daniel\u2019s father. For several seconds, I assumed I had misread it. Not because the letters were unclear. Because my mind refused to … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4626"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4644,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4626\/revisions\/4644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}