Chapter 6 - The Case Against Hannah
Two detectives waited in Elise’s conference room.
Hannah brought an attorney.
Margaret brought a story.
According to the complaint, Hannah had discovered irregular financial transactions, then threatened Daniel Mercer for money.
The detectives showed Hannah screenshots.
The messages displayed her name.
Her number.
Even her profile photograph.
TWO MILLION. THEN I WALK AWAY.
Another read:
I HAVE MARGARET ON RECORD. YOU BOTH PAY OR I BURN THE FAMILY DOWN.
Hannah felt physically ill.
“I didn’t send these.”
Detective Sloan nodded without expression.
“Do you know Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“Did you meet him at Le Jardin on July fourteenth?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He asked to meet.”
“Did you tell your husband?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Hannah’s attorney touched her arm.
Hannah understood.
Every honest answer made her look worse.
“I want to provide my phone for forensic examination through counsel.”
Detective Sloan nodded.
“That would help.”
Hannah looked at the screenshots again.
“Ask for Daniel’s original device.”
“We will.”
“If he gives you images instead of the phone, you’ll know why.”
The second detective wrote something down.
They left without arresting her.
That should have felt like a victory.
It didn’t.
By noon, business reporters had learned that Whitmore Grand Collection was investigating “financial misconduct involving a family-connected consultant.”
Hannah’s name was not printed.
Everyone in their world knew anyway.
Two clients canceled calls.
A third suspended a contract.
Her bank placed additional review restrictions on her business account.
Margaret had not simply accused Hannah of theft.
She was making the accusation economically real.
Elise entered with her laptop.
“I found something.”
Hannah looked up.
“The screenshots are wrong.”
“How?”
“The time stamps use twelve-hour formatting.”
“So?”
“Daniel’s phone is configured for twenty-four-hour time.”
Hannah stared.
“You know that?”
“He emailed you a screenshot of a calendar invitation last month.”
Elise placed them side by side.
14:32 on the real screenshot.
2:32 PM on the supposed extortion messages.
“Someone created these elsewhere.”
“Can we prove that?”
“Maybe. But this helps.”
Hannah almost breathed.
Then her attorney’s phone rang.
His expression turned grim.
“What?”
He hung up.
“Morrison Vale is seeking a temporary restraining order.”
“To stop what?”
“You from disclosing any Whitmore documents publicly.”
“They’re trying to gag me.”
“They’ll call it protection of trade secrets.”
“What about evidence of fraud?”
“You can provide that to law enforcement, regulators or the court through proper channels. What you can’t safely do is dump confidential files into the press.”
Hannah had never planned to.
But Margaret wanted everyone to believe she had.
That evening Lucas came to the apartment.
He looked exhausted.
“I heard about the police.”
“Your mother works fast.”
“She says Daniel filed the complaint.”
“Daniel says whatever keeps him alive.”
Lucas studied her.
“Alive?”
“Financially. Professionally. Maybe legally.”
He sat.
“My mother admitted Riverside.”
Hannah stopped.
“She admitted using trust money?”
“Yes.”
“And your signature?”
“She says I gave her authority.”
“Did you?”
Lucas looked down.
“Not knowingly.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
He swallowed.
“I signed documents without reading them closely.”
Hannah closed her eyes.
The truth again.
Always arriving too late.
Lucas looked at her.
“She says everything after Riverside happened because Daniel blackmailed her.”
“Do you believe her?”
“I believe part of it.”
“So do I.”
He seemed surprised.
Hannah continued.
“She probably did start by covering your loss.”
Lucas flinched.
“But Hawthorne isn’t a cover-up. It’s a takeover.”
“She says my father was cutting her out.”
“Then she could hire a lawyer. Challenge him. Negotiate. Leave him. Divorce him.”
“She thinks half the company is hers morally.”
“Morality isn’t a wire authorization.”
Lucas rubbed his face.
“Hannah, stop.”
“No.”
“I’m trying to keep this family from collapsing.”
“This family collapsed years ago. You just kept the walls polished.”
He stood.
“And what are you doing?”
“Trying not to go to prison.”
“I asked you for the recordings.”
“And I said no.”
“Because you don’t trust me.”
“Yes.”
His eyes shone.
“Then what are we doing?”
Hannah looked at him for a long time.
“I don’t know.”
Lucas’s voice broke.
“I defended you to my father.”
“You didn’t defend me when it mattered.”
“I froze.”
“Why?”
He shook his head.
She waited.
Finally he whispered, “Because part of me thought my mother might be right.”
Hannah felt the words enter slowly.
“About what?”
“That you had been investigating us because you wanted leverage.”
Hannah stared at him.
Lucas looked ashamed.
“My mother kept saying you were preparing for a divorce. That your firm was struggling. That you were collecting financial records.”
“And you believed her?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You knew me.”
He said nothing.
Hannah walked to the door and opened it.
Lucas did not move.
“You once told me,” she said, “that the worst thing your father ever did was make you feel like love could be withdrawn whenever you failed.”
Lucas nodded.
“You became exactly like him tonight.”
His face crumpled.
Hannah opened the door wider.
“Go.”
He left.
Three hours later, Elise called.
“The bank trace came back.”
Hannah sat upright.
“What?”
“The $480,000 transfer.”
“Yes?”
“It originated through the Foundation disbursement system, but the instruction was uploaded from a network device registered to Whitmore Family Office.”
“Margaret.”
“Maybe.”
“Whose device?”
Elise hesitated.
“Hannah…”
“Whose?”
“Lucas’s executive credentials.”
Hannah went cold.
She had expected Margaret.
Daniel.
An assistant.
Not Lucas.
Then Elise added, “There’s more. The access was authenticated by his personal security token.”
Hannah stared into the dark apartment.
Lucas had told her his mother used his credentials.
But a password could be stolen.
A token was different.
A token had to be physically available.
May you like
And the morning the money was planted in Hannah’s account, Lucas had been in New York.
Sleeping beside her.
