Chapter 5 - The Second Test
The independent testing clinic looked nothing like the private laboratory Margaret had used.
No mahogany reception desk.
No discreet entrance for wealthy clients.
No promises of secrecy.
Just fluorescent light, sealed collection kits and a technician who asked Daniel for identification twice.
Claire sat beside him with Noah on her lap.
Noah had a small bruise near his temple.
Daniel could not stop looking at it.
The technician swabbed Daniel’s cheek.
Then Noah’s.
Each sample was sealed in front of them.
Daniel signed across the tamper-evident labels.
Claire watched everything.
When they finished, the technician placed the samples inside a locked courier container.
“There will be a documented chain of custody from this room to the laboratory,” she explained.
Claire gave Daniel a faint, bitter smile.
“Imagine that.”
Daniel accepted it.
They walked outside.
Rain had begun.
Claire buckled Noah into the back seat of her car.
Daniel stood under the parking garage awning.
“Can we talk?”
“We are talking.”
“About us.”
Claire closed the car door.
“No.”
Daniel nodded.
He deserved that too.
Then Claire leaned against the car.
“But we can talk about Noah.”
“Okay.”
“You need to decide where he will stay.”
“With you.”
Claire looked surprised.
“Not because I’m giving up time with him.”
“I know.”
“Because Whitmore House isn’t safe.”
“I agree.”
Daniel looked toward the rain.
“I’m moving out too.”
Claire studied him.
“You love that house.”
“I loved what I thought it was.”
She looked away.
Daniel continued.
“I should have left when you did.”
“Yes.”
He almost smiled.
“You’re not making this easy.”
“You asked me not to lie.”
“Fair.”
Claire crossed her arms.
“What happens if the test comes back proving you’re Noah’s father?”
“When.”
Her eyes moved toward him.
Daniel repeated it.
“When it proves he’s mine.”
Something in Claire’s expression softened.
Not forgiveness.
But recognition.
Daniel continued.
“I activate Dad’s trust.”
“And Margaret loses control.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“I order the audit.”
Claire was silent.
“You think the two things are connected.”
“I know they are.”
“You don’t know.”
He looked at her.
She was right.
“I strongly suspect they are.”
“That’s better.”
Daniel nodded.
Claire had always disliked Whitmore conversations because everyone in Daniel’s family spoke as though suspicion were evidence and money were truth.
She had spent years trying not to become like them.
Daniel was beginning to understand why.
His phone rang.
Martin Keene.
Daniel answered.
“I found Edward’s original audit instruction,” Martin said.
“What does it say?”
“It requests examination of trustee-directed transactions above five hundred thousand dollars over a ten-year period.”
“Mother’s transactions.”
“Transactions under her authority.”
“Any names?”
“One.”
Daniel waited.
“Marlowe Advisory Group.”
Daniel frowned.
He knew the company vaguely.
“What is it?”
“Consulting.”
“For what?”
“The invoices say strategic family asset management.”
“How much?”
“I only have three invoices.”
“How much, Martin?”
“Four point eight million dollars.”
Daniel stared at the rain.
“Three invoices?”
“Yes.”
“Over what period?”
“Eleven months.”
Claire saw his expression.
“What?”
Daniel put the call on speaker.
Martin continued.
“There may be more.”
“Who owns Marlowe?”
“That is what I’m trying to determine.”
Claire spoke.
“Was Margaret approving the payments?”
A pause.
“Hello, Claire.”
“Hello, Martin.”
“Yes,” he said. “She was trustee at the time.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Daniel asked, “Why didn’t Dad complete the audit?”
“He ordered it in April. His health deteriorated dramatically in May.”
“Who knew about it?”
“Margaret. The chief financial officer. Me. And the outside accountant Edward intended to hire.”
“Name?”
“Samuel Price.”
“Where is he?”
“Retired.”
“Can we reach him?”
“I already did.”
Daniel waited.
“He said Edward gave him preliminary material.”
Daniel’s pulse quickened.
“Does he still have it?”
“Possibly.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he refused to discuss it over the phone.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
Martin continued.
“He wants to meet you.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Arrange it.”
Martin hesitated.
“There is another complication.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“Of course there is.”
“Margaret has called an emergency board meeting for Friday.”
“On what grounds?”
“She intends to argue that your conduct following the incident with Noah shows instability and creates reputational risk to Whitmore Holdings.”
Claire stared at the phone.
Daniel said nothing.
Martin added, “She may seek to remove you as chief executive.”
Daniel’s anger arrived slowly.
His mother had tried to remove Noah from the family.
Now she intended to remove Daniel from the company before he could activate the trust.
Claire touched his arm.
“Don’t react.”
Daniel looked at her.
“She wants you angry,” Claire said. “Angry people make mistakes.”
It was exactly what Daniel’s father used to tell him.
Daniel breathed out.
“You’re right.”
“I know.”
He ended the call.
Claire opened the driver’s door.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“If she gets you removed before the test comes back, what happens?”
“I still own my personal shares.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
He thought.
“If she controls the board and the temporary trust, she can delay access to company records.”
“Then she doesn’t need to win forever.”
Claire looked at him.
“She just needs enough time to hide whatever she thinks you’re going to find.”
Daniel stared at her.
Then he pulled out his phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“Internal audit.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t know who you can trust.”
Daniel stopped dialing.
She was right again.
Daniel looked through the glass at Noah.
The toddler had fallen asleep in his car seat.
Peaceful.
Safe.
Unaware that a billion-dollar company was moving around his existence.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“My father built Whitmore Holdings.”
Claire looked at him.
“Then protect what he built.”
She opened the car door.
“But protect Noah first.”
Daniel watched them drive away.
When the car disappeared into the rain, he received a text from an unknown number.
STOP ASKING ABOUT MARLOWE.
Daniel stared at the screen.
A second message arrived.
YOUR FATHER DID.
May you like
LOOK WHAT IT GOT HIM.
---
