Chapter 5 - The Signature
Daniel met Elena at a twenty-four-hour coffee shop in Costa Mesa because she refused to come to his house.
She arrived without Adrian.
That gave him hope.
Not much.
Enough.
She placed the proxy on the table.
“Page six.”
Daniel read it.
Below the voting authorization appeared a consent.
Reviewed and acknowledged: Daniel T. Carter, Chief Executive Officer.
The signature looked like his.
It was not.
“He forged it,” Daniel said.
Elena folded her arms.
“Prove it.”
Daniel looked at his sister.
“You believe him?”
“I believe I’ve spent fifteen years watching you assume everyone is less competent than you.”
“This isn’t about competence.”
“You control the company. Dad trusted you with everything.”
“Dad gave you sixteen percent.”
“And gave you almost three times that.”
There it was.
The old wound.
Thomas Carter had believed Daniel could operate the business.
Elena had heard only that Thomas did not believe she could.
Daniel had never known how to fix that.
Adrian had.
By feeding it.
“Elena, he stole the Seagate covenant.”
“You don’t know that.”
“He had unauthorized access to my cabin.”
“He says the card was planted.”
“By whom?”
“You.”
Daniel stared at her.
She looked embarrassed saying it.
But she had said it.
“Why would I fabricate a card giving your husband access to my bedroom?”
“To destroy him.”
“Why?”
“Because I asked Dad to make Adrian head of development before he died.”
Daniel leaned back.
“So this is about Dad again.”
“It is always about Dad with you.”
“No. It’s about fifty-two million dollars.”
She frowned.
Daniel slid a report across the table.
“Seagate is worth at least one hundred thirty-seven million.”
“Then why did Owen say eighty-one?”
“That’s what I intend to find out.”
Elena glanced down.
“Who owns Harbor Crest?”
“Still hidden.”
“Then find that instead of tearing apart my marriage.”
Daniel’s temper rose.
He controlled it.
This time.
“Elena, did Adrian tell you about Claire’s foundation transfer?”
Her eyes widened.
“No.”
“Good.”
He immediately regretted revealing it.
Elena understood.
“He was blackmailing Claire?”
Daniel said nothing.
“Daniel.”
“I shouldn’t have told you.”
“But you did.”
She looked disturbed now.
For the first time.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Adrian knew Claire misused foundation money. He used it to gain access to my yacht and my schedule.”
“Claire admitted that?”
“Yes.”
Elena stood.
“This is insane.”
“It’s real.”
“My husband is not some criminal mastermind.”
“No. He’s a man who thinks people are objects. That’s simpler.”
She grabbed her bag.
Daniel caught her wrist.
Not hard.
“Elena.”
She pulled free.
“Don’t.”
“You asked if I could prove the signature is false.”
She stopped.
Daniel removed his phone.
“Nora compared it to my notarized corporate signatures. She found differences in stroke pressure and letter formation. We’re sending the original proxy to a forensic document examiner.”
Elena’s face changed.
Fear.
Not belief.
Not yet.
“But the original is at Adrian’s attorney’s office.”
“Then tell him you want it.”
“He’ll know I’m suspicious.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him for a long moment.
“And if you’re wrong?”
“I lose my sister.”
“You may already have.”
She left.
Daniel remained at the table.
At 8:00 a.m., he met Nora Ellis and a forensic accounting team.
By noon, they had recovered partial server backups from an off-site disaster-recovery system Owen apparently had forgotten existed.
The erased payment logs showed something remarkable.
Blue Meridian Marine Services, one of the companies supposedly servicing Aurelia, had received $463,000 from Carter Maritime.
Its registered address was a mailbox in Irvine.
Pacific Executive Provisioning had received $511,000.
Same bank.
Lancer Technical Group: $481,000.
Same bank.
All three sent most of their money onward within forty-eight hours.
To Harbor Crest Infrastructure.
Nora stared at the transaction map.
“The yacht expenses were fabricated.”
Daniel nodded.
“They made it look like I was stealing.”
“And used the money to capitalize Harbor Crest.”
“They’re buying Seagate with Carter’s own money.”
Nora sat back.
“Not all of it. Harbor Crest has a forty-million-dollar bank commitment.”
“Based on what collateral?”
“We’re working on that.”
Daniel’s phone rang.
Elena.
He answered immediately.
“Did you get the proxy?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
Her breathing was uneven.
“I asked Adrian for it.”
“And?”
“He said the attorney had it.”
“Then?”
“He asked why I wanted it.”
Daniel stood.
“Elena, where are you?”
“In my car.”
“Where’s Adrian?”
“At home.”
“What happened?”
“He was calm.”
Something about the way she said it chilled Daniel.
“Then he asked whether you had shown me anything from the yacht.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“What did you say?”
“That you found his card.”
“And?”
“He smiled.”
Daniel glanced at Nora.
“Elena, go somewhere he can’t predict.”
“Daniel—”
“Now.”
A car horn sounded through the phone.
Then Elena whispered, “He just pulled out of our driveway.”
“Where are you?”
“Across the street.”
“Leave.”
She hesitated.
“I went into his office while he showered.”
Daniel’s pulse quickened.
“What did you find?”
“A second phone.”
“Take it to Nora.”
“I couldn’t unlock it.”
“Bring it anyway.”
“I took a picture of the screen.”
Daniel received the image.
The phone displayed one notification.
From Owen Price.
Board package ready. If Daniel resists, we use Claire.
Below it was another message.
And if Elena starts asking questions, remind her what she signed.
Daniel’s voice tightened.
“Elena, drive.”
“I am.”
Then she said, “Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“There was another name in Adrian’s messages.”
“Who?”
She answered.
And Daniel stopped moving.
May you like
“Margaret Shaw.”
One of the board members who had voted to investigate him.
