Chapter 4 - Helen’s Second Video
Helen Brooks had more than one recording.
She called Emily the afternoon Leo was discharged.
“There’s something I didn’t show the police yet.”
Emily’s stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“I didn’t realize it mattered.”
Michael drove them to Helen’s house.
Emily sat in the back beside Leo’s car seat.
She had not sat beside Michael since the pool.
He noticed.
Said nothing.
Helen lived alone after her husband’s death and spent much of her time photographing birds from her second-floor balcony.
She opened her phone gallery.
“I recorded earlier that day.”
The first clip showed cloud formations over the lake.
The camera drifted.
Diane appeared beyond the hedge near the pool.
She was speaking to someone on another phone.
Not her normal iPhone.
A small black device.
Michael leaned closer.
“A burner.”
Helen increased the volume.
Wind distorted most of the conversation.
But fragments remained.
“…six months…”
“…before the trust closes…”
Then Diane clearly said:
“Emily has to look responsible.”
Emily’s mouth went dry.
Michael closed his eyes.
The next sentence was weaker.
A male voice through the phone.
“Then make sure Michael sees the right thing.”
Nobody spoke.
Helen looked horrified.
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything,” Emily said.
“I was filming birds.”
“You filmed the truth.”
Helen handed the phone to Detective Cole later that day.
Police obtained a warrant for Diane’s property.
They found the burner phone inside a gardening shed behind the mansion.
It had been wiped.
But not perfectly.
Digital technicians recovered a partial contact list.
One number was labeled V.
The number belonged to a prepaid phone that had connected repeatedly near Warren Development headquarters and Victor Lang’s condominium.
Victor hired counsel.
He stopped answering Michael’s calls.
Warren Development’s board called an emergency meeting.
Michael arrived with company counsel but no authority to remove Victor immediately because Victor was also a director and held six percent of Warren Development personally.
Diane’s twenty-four plus Victor’s six created thirty percent.
If the foundation obtained Leo’s eighteen, their coalition would hold forty-eight.
One additional director would give them practical majority control.
The numbers were no longer abstract.
Michael sat across from Victor.
“You told my mother to make me see the right thing.”
Victor’s attorney immediately said, “Do not answer.”
Victor ignored him.
“You’re interpreting a distorted recording.”
“You removed my access before the pool incident.”
“As CFO, I restricted Lake Mercer information because you had been sharing confidential documents.”
“With whom?”
Victor looked toward Emily.
The room changed.
Emily stared at him.
“Me?”
Victor placed a folder on the table.
Printed security logs showed Michael’s home tablet accessing confidential Lake Mercer reports over six nights.
Michael looked at Emily.
“Did you open these?”
She did not answer.
“Emily.”
“Yes.”
The admission hit him.
“Why?”
“Because your mother kept saying the sale had to happen before Leo’s birthday.”
“You accessed company files without telling me?”
“Yes.”
Victor leaned back.
“Interesting.”
Emily looked at Michael.
“I was scared.”
“You should have told me.”
“You didn’t believe me about your mother until a phone recorded her dropping our baby.”
The board members went silent.
Michael flinched.
She continued.
“I found payments.”
Victor’s face changed.
That mattered.
Emily saw it.
“What payments?” Michael asked.
She turned toward him.
“Consulting fees from Warren Development to a company called Shoreline Strategic Advisors.”
Victor said quickly, “Legitimate vendor.”
Emily ignored him.
“Shoreline sent money to the Warren Legacy Foundation.”
Michael stared.
“How much?”
“Six point eight million dollars over eighteen months.”
Victor’s attorney whispered to him.
Emily continued.
“And the foundation sent almost five million to North Coast Urban Partners.”
Michael’s face drained.
The buyer in the Lake Mercer transaction had been funded by the foundation selling the property.
It looked like Warren money was quietly financing the entity preparing to buy Warren property.
Victor stood.
“This meeting is over.”
Michael blocked him.
“No.”
“Move.”
“You built North Coast with company money?”
Victor’s attorney said, “Michael, do not make defamatory allegations.”
Emily reached into her bag.
“I printed the transfers.”
Victor looked at her.
For the first time, the polished CFO appeared afraid.
Michael saw it too.
Then Victor smiled.
“You committed unauthorized access to restricted financial systems.”
Emily stared.
“So?”
“So those documents may not save you.”
May you like
He leaned closer.
“They may destroy you.”
