Chapter 4 - The Son Who Had Everything to Gain
Andrew Whitmore was drinking Margaret’s bourbon when she entered his office.
He stood behind Daniel’s old desk on the forty-second floor of Whitmore Tower.
That detail had bothered Margaret for years.
Now it enraged her.
Andrew smiled.
“Mother.”
Margaret closed the door.
“You filed to have Emma declared dead.”
His smile faded by half an inch.
“So Evelyn found the petition.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you spent five years refusing to accept reality.”
“Reality was collecting cans at Riverside Terminal yesterday.”
Andrew poured another drink.
“Yes. Quite a dramatic resurrection.”
Margaret crossed the room.
“You knew she was alive.”
“Based on what?”
“She saw you.”
“Children remember all kinds of things.”
“She remembers you touching her necklace.”
Andrew set the glass down.
“You hit her twice in public, Mother. I’d be careful about attacking anyone else’s credibility.”
The words found their mark.
Margaret lowered her voice.
“Why did you visit Laura?”
“Family concern.”
“Why did you threaten her?”
“I didn’t.”
“Why did you sign a victim statement in her fraud case without informing me?”
His eyes changed.
Not fear.
Calculation.
“Because seven hundred eighty thousand dollars disappeared from a trust I manage.”
“Into an account created in Laura’s name.”
“Yes.”
“Who found it?”
“Our auditors.”
“Which auditors?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
Andrew walked toward the window.
Below them Manhattan looked miniature and obedient.
He had always liked high places.
“Laura stole from Daniel while hiding his child from us. You should be angry at her.”
“I was.”
Andrew turned.
“Was?”
Margaret hated how much he resembled his father when cornered.
The slight tilt of the chin.
The insult hidden inside calmness.
“I visited her.”
That surprised him.
Only for a moment.
Then he smiled.
“Of course you did.”
“She has letters supposedly written by me.”
“I remember.”
“No, you remember telling me she accused me of threatening her. You never showed me letters.”
“Because I thought they were nonsense.”
“They carry my signature.”
“Then perhaps you wrote them.”
Margaret stared at him.
Andrew picked up his glass again.
“Grief affects memory.”
There it was.
The first attempt to make her doubt herself.
Five years earlier, it might have worked.
“Daniel investigated Northstar.”
The glass stopped halfway to Andrew’s mouth.
Barely.
But Margaret saw it.
“What?”
“Northstar Recovery Services.”
Andrew drank.
“An ordinary vendor.”
“Four-point-eight million dollars in payments.”
“Over five years.”
“What do they recover?”
“Distressed equipment. Debt portfolios. Assets.”
“Where are they headquartered?”
“I don’t memorize vendor addresses.”
Margaret stepped closer.
“I do.”
Andrew watched her.
“The listed address is a mail suite in White Plains.”
“Lots of companies use registered offices.”
“The phone number goes to an answering service.”
“Take it up with procurement.”
“I intend to.”
Andrew laughed softly.
“You’re doing what you always do.”
“What is that?”
“Deciding the entire universe is a personal betrayal.”
The insult hurt because there was truth in it.
Margaret had spent decades dominating rooms.
Daniel used to tell her, You don’t listen, Mom. You wait for other people to stop talking.
She heard his voice now.
So she forced herself to stay quiet.
Andrew mistook silence for weakness.
He continued.
“You assaulted a child yesterday. Our board is getting calls from the city. Three council members want our transit contracts reviewed. The stockholders are furious.”
“We’re privately held.”
“Our lenders aren’t.”
“What are you planning?”
“I’m protecting the company.”
“From whom?”
“Right now?”
His eyes moved over her.
“You.”
Margaret felt the threat.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
Andrew opened a folder.
“Emergency board meeting tomorrow, nine a.m.”
“For what purpose?”
“To appoint an interim chair.”
Margaret’s face hardened.
“I am chair.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“For now.”
Margaret turned to leave.
“Mother.”
She stopped.
Andrew’s voice softened.
“You should think carefully about Emma.”
Margaret looked back.
“What does that mean?”
“If she really is Daniel’s daughter, she’ll inherit twenty-two percent of WTD through the trust.”
“She already owns it beneficially.”
“After five missing years, that becomes complicated.”
“Not anymore.”
“Perhaps.”
Margaret moved toward him.
“Say what you’re trying to say.”
Andrew’s expression went blank.
“A poor child suddenly appears carrying an heirloom worth almost nothing but sentimental value. You immediately identify her as an heiress to shares worth approximately sixty million dollars.”
“You think she’s an impostor?”
“I think a court will ask.”
“You knew her.”
“Prove it.”
Margaret stared at him.
There was her answer.
Not a confession.
Something more revealing.
Confidence.
He believed the records had been altered enough that even Emma’s identity could become a weapon.
Margaret left without another word.
Outside, Evelyn waited beside the elevators.
“He knows we’re looking at Northstar,” Margaret said.
“Then we move faster.”
The elevator doors opened.
Before Margaret stepped inside, she looked through the glass wall of the executive corridor.
Andrew had already picked up his phone.
He didn’t know she could see him.
He spoke urgently.
Then he turned his back.
Margaret’s own phone buzzed.
A message from Samuel Lee, WTD’s chief financial officer.
DO NOT USE COMPANY EMAIL.
A second message arrived.
DANIEL WAS RIGHT ABOUT NORTHSTAR.
A third followed.
I HAVE THE LEDGER.
May you like
Then a fourth.
ANDREW KNOWS I HAVE IT.
