Chapter 4 - The Doctor Who Changed His Story
Dr. Alan Mercer initially refused to speak.
Then Laura’s attorney served him with a subpoena in the probate case.
His lawyer called within two hours.
Mercer wanted to correct the record.
They met through a recorded videoconference.
He looked frightened.
“Mr. Bennett was not diagnosed with dementia.”
Laura leaned forward.
“Then why did you write that he had cognitive impairment?”
“I didn’t.”
Pierce displayed the letter Celeste filed.
Mercer stared.
“That is my signature.”
“Is it authentic?”
“I use electronic signing.”
“Did you sign this document?”
“I don’t remember it.”
Laura’s anger sharpened.
“North Peak paid you eighty thousand dollars.”
Mercer went pale.
“My clinic received consulting fees.”
“For what?”
“Executive wellness programming for Snowhaven Ridge.”
“Did you provide eighty thousand dollars of services?”
His silence answered.
Pierce took over.
“Doctor, falsifying a capacity report in an inheritance dispute can have serious consequences.”
Mercer removed his glasses.
“Grant told me Victor needed a general statement for insurance.”
Laura stared.
“You signed without reading?”
Mercer looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
Laura almost laughed at the bitter symmetry.
Everyone signed things.
Everyone trusted convenience.
Victor’s enemies had turned carelessness into a weapon.
“Was my father competent?” Laura asked.
Mercer answered:
“Yes.”
“Completely?”
“He had hypertension, arthritis, and occasional insomnia. Nothing that impaired testamentary capacity.”
Celeste’s strongest probate evidence collapsed.
But the victory produced another problem.
Pierce explained that the questionable payment to Mercer created grounds for a broader court investigation into all North Peak transactions.
The resort’s lenders could react.
Snowhaven Ridge carried $36 million in legitimate debt from a major lift expansion.
Its loan covenants required accurate financial reporting.
If $8.4 million had been diverted, lenders could declare default.
Laura stared.
“So exposing Celeste could bankrupt the resort.”
“Potentially.”
That was why Victor called Caleb’s trust a lock.
He needed control moved away from Celeste without publicly triggering the fraud too soon.
But he died before finishing.
Laura returned to Snowhaven Ridge.
Celeste was waiting in Victor’s office.
“You contacted Mercer.”
“Yes.”
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“I’m discovering what you did.”
Celeste slammed the door.
“You think Dad was a saint?”
“No.”
“He hid losses from banks.”
Laura paused.
“What losses?”
Celeste smiled bitterly.
“Three winters ago, Snowhaven Ridge nearly failed.”
Laura knew there had been a bad season.
Not this bad.
“How much?”
“Fourteen million in projected losses.”
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“You were busy designing boutique hotels in Denver.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Dad refused outside equity. Grant created North Peak to move costs off the operating statements.”
Laura stared.
“So some of the payments were accounting manipulation.”
“Yes.”
“Illegal?”
“Questionable.”
“And the money you received?”
Celeste’s face hardened.
“I took deferred compensation.”
“Seven figures?”
“I had gone unpaid for years.”
“You authorized it yourself?”
“Dad knew.”
“Prove it.”
Celeste looked away.
Laura stepped closer.
“This started as hiding losses.”
Celeste said nothing.
“Then you realized you could pay yourselves.”
Silence.
“That’s why Dad changed the will.”
Celeste exploded.
“Dad changed the will because you gave him Caleb!”
Laura recoiled.
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“He worshipped that boy.”
“He loved his grandson.”
“He barely saw your son until Mark left you.”
Laura went still.
Caleb’s father, Mark Ellis, had left their marriage when Caleb was five and moved to Seattle. He maintained contact, paid support, and loved Caleb—but the divorce had devastated Laura.
Victor had become more involved afterward.
Celeste continued.
“Dad suddenly decided Caleb represented the future. I represented bills.”
Laura’s anger softened for one second.
She saw the wound.
Then she remembered Caleb outside in the storm.
“You could have hated me.”
“I did.”
“You could have hated Dad.”
“I did.”
“You don’t get to punish Caleb.”
Celeste looked away.
“I wasn’t going to hurt him.”
“You locked him outside in a blizzard.”
“I lost control.”
“Because of a sled.”
“Because that sled could destroy everything!”
Laura whispered, “Your money?”
Celeste looked at her.
“The resort.”
A knock interrupted them.
Sheriff’s deputies entered.
They had found the stolen sled.
Abandoned near an access road.
The hidden compartment had been smashed open.
But there was blood on one runner.
Not Caleb’s.
Not Laura’s.
The thief had injured himself breaking it.
And a deputy had found a resort employee badge in the snow.
Laura recognized the photograph.
Evan Cole.
Snowhaven Ridge’s head of maintenance.
May you like
He had worked for Victor for twenty-two years.
And he had vanished.
