Chapter 8 - The Price Derek Offered
Derek’s first strike landed before noon.
Hart Hospitality’s directors received a confidential memorandum.
It accused Evelyn of breaching fiduciary duties by halting the Hart Square redevelopment for “personal and emotional reasons unrelated to current corporate interests.”
Attached were lender warnings.
Development-cost schedules.
Projected litigation exposure.
And press clippings about Henry Hart’s unresolved disappearance.
Derek was turning grief into a governance issue.
Patricia Wynn called Evelyn.
“You’re losing the board.”
“How many?”
“Four firmly. Maybe six.”
“I own enough voting shares.”
“Not personally.”
Evelyn knew.
The Hart Family Trust held twenty-seven percent.
Voting rights were split among Evelyn, Adrian, and Lorraine under provisions Henry created.
Adrian could block her on certain extraordinary transactions.
Derek knew that.
Of course he did.
Martha arrived at Evelyn’s office carrying something in a plastic folder.
“What is it?”
“Your father’s letter.”
“You already gave Naomi the original.”
“This is something else.”
Martha unfolded a photocopy.
A bank deposit slip dated October 1995.
HART EMPLOYEE BENEFIT TRUST.
$12,000,000.
Evelyn stared.
“Where did you get this?”
“Daniel kept it.”
“Why?”
“He processed electrical work in the trust office. Henry asked him to witness the vault inventory.”
“This proves the fund existed.”
“Yes.”
Hart Hospitality’s historical financial statements had represented that the planned trust was never funded.
Someone had rewritten the company’s own history.
Naomi traced the bank.
The institution had merged three times, but archival records still existed.
A preservation request went out.
Then Derek called Martha.
She put him on speaker.
“Martha.”
“Mr. Sloan.”
“Two million is still available.”
“You already know my answer.”
“Three.”
Evelyn raised an eyebrow.
Martha smiled.
“For what?”
“All documents Henry gave you.”
“That sounds expensive for worthless old paper.”
Derek’s voice hardened.
“Your apartment building was sold last month.”
Martha’s smile disappeared.
“What?”
“The new owner intends to renovate.”
Evelyn looked at Naomi.
Derek continued.
“Your lease expires in eight weeks.”
Martha whispered, “You bought my building.”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“A property affiliate.”
“Yours?”
“A company doing business with us.”
Martha’s hand trembled.
Derek continued.
“You can take three million dollars and never worry about rent again.”
“Or?”
“I didn’t say or.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Evelyn took the phone.
“You’re finished.”
Derek laughed.
“Ms. Hart.”
“You’re using housing pressure against a witness.”
“I made no threat.”
“You knew about her lease.”
“Public records.”
Evelyn’s voice dropped.
“Stay away from her.”
“Then control her.”
The line went dead.
Martha sat silently.
Evelyn said, “I can move you somewhere secure.”
Martha looked angry.
“I had a home before your family’s company stole my husband’s retirement.”
“I know.”
“No, you discovered it yesterday.”
The words stung.
Martha immediately looked regretful.
Evelyn nodded.
“You’re right.”
Martha looked away.
“I’m tired of rich people offering me new places after other rich people make the old places impossible.”
Evelyn had no answer.
Naomi entered.
“We traced the property affiliate.”
Evelyn turned.
“Derek?”
“Not directly.”
“Who?”
“Harbor Meridian Development.”
Martha laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Naomi continued.
“And we found something else. Harbor Meridian has quietly acquired options on twelve surrounding properties.”
“Why?”
“For Hart Square expansion.”
Evelyn frowned.
“That wasn’t in Derek’s current proposal.”
“No.”
Naomi displayed a map.
The additional parcels included Martha’s apartment building.
Evelyn stared.
“Derek planned this before finding Martha?”
Naomi nodded.
“Probably.”
Martha looked at the map.
“My building sits where?”
Naomi zoomed in.
Directly on a proposed service corridor connecting the new hotel tower to parking.
Martha whispered, “He would have displaced us anyway.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn watched her.
Derek had seen Martha as disposable before he knew—or before admitting he knew—what she carried.
That made the parking-lot cruelty even more revealing.
The investigation advanced that afternoon.
The archived bank located the employee trust account.
Funds had been deposited.
Then three days before Henry disappeared, $3.2 million had been transferred to Harbor Meridian Advisory.
Authorized by two signatures.
Malcolm Sloan.
And Adrian Hart.
Evelyn stared at her brother’s name.
Naomi continued.
“The remaining $8.8 million disappeared over the following eighteen months through a series of transfers.”
“Authorized by whom?”
“Malcolm.”
“He was CFO.”
“Yes.”
“And Lorraine’s declaration made the transactions look approved by Henry.”
Naomi nodded.
Martha whispered, “They stole everyone’s future.”
Then Naomi opened another page.
“One beneficiary account was different.”
“What?”
“Before the trust was drained, Henry created a protected sub-account.”
“For whom?”
“Employees with more than twenty years of service.”
Martha looked up.
“Daniel had twenty-three.”
Naomi nodded.
“So did you?”
“Martha worked nine years. Daniel qualified.”
Evelyn asked, “What happened to that account?”
Naomi’s expression changed.
“It wasn’t drained.”
Martha stopped breathing.
“How much is in it?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Why?”
“Because the account still exists under a successor trust.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Who controls it?”
Naomi rotated the screen.
Successor trustee:
SLOAN PRIVATE FIDUCIARY SERVICES.
May you like
Derek’s company controlled access to the one piece of Henry Hart’s employee trust that Malcolm had failed to steal.
And Derek had never disclosed that fact.
