Chapter 6 - The Price of Crossing the Line
Nathan looked from Claire to Diane’s tablet.
“What are you doing?”
Claire locked the screen.
“What your mother has spent months making sure nobody else would do.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I found a message from Martin telling her to delete trust records.”
“And you broke into her tablet?”
Claire hated that he was right.
“I knew the password.”
“That doesn’t make it yours.”
“No.”
Nathan ran both hands through his hair.
“Claire, Rebecca specifically warned us about contaminating evidence.”
“She warned me.”
His face changed.
“You called her without me?”
“I called her because I needed legal advice after my husband slapped me.”
Silence.
Nathan looked as though she had struck him back.
Claire continued.
“I’m not pretending this marriage is normal because we discovered your mother may be stealing millions.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“Then stop behaving as if my biggest mistake is opening a tablet.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“What did you find?”
Claire hated herself for hesitating.
That hesitation proved how quickly trust had been damaged.
“Almost four million in documented Alder Crest losses.”
Nathan stared.
“Losses?”
“It looks like a development investment.”
“In Jackson?”
“Yes.”
Diane’s voice came from behind him.
“What are you doing with my tablet?”
Claire turned.
Diane rushed forward and took it.
“You broke into my private device!”
Nathan said, “Mom, Claire says Martin told you to delete trust scans.”
Diane looked at the screen, then at Claire.
“She committed a crime.”
Claire’s heart sank.
Accessing a device without authorization could create legal exposure depending on what she had done and how the information was used.
Rebecca’s warning echoed painfully.
Diane recognized that fear.
“Didn’t think of that, did you?”
Claire forced herself to stay calm.
“Neither did you when you left Martin’s instruction visible on the lock screen.”
Diane’s expression tightened.
Nathan said, “Show me the message.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because this has become legal harassment.”
Diane placed the tablet beneath her arm.
“I’m calling Martin.”
Claire said, “Excellent. Ask him why he’s ordering destruction of documents.”
Diane walked away.
Nathan turned toward Claire.
“You shouldn’t have done it.”
“I know.”
He blinked.
Claire’s immediate admission surprised him.
“I made a mistake,” she continued. “A real one. And if there are consequences, I’ll deal with them.”
Nathan said nothing.
“You should try it sometime.”
He looked down.
Later that afternoon, Evan Mercer called.
This time Claire joined the conversation.
Evan sounded frightened.
“I shouldn’t be discussing this on an unsecured line.”
Nathan said, “Four million dollars is missing.”
“It isn’t technically missing.”
Claire asked, “Then where is it?”
“In land.”
“Whose land?”
Evan hesitated.
“A resort development outside Jackson, Wyoming.”
“Owned by Alder Crest?”
“Yes.”
Nathan said, “My mother owns seventy-two percent of Alder Crest.”
Another silence.
“You knew,” Nathan said.
Evan whispered, “Not at first.”
“How long?”
“Eleven months.”
Nathan stood so quickly his chair fell backward.
“You let her move trust money into her own company for eleven months?”
“She said Henry approved it.”
“Henry was dead for part of that period!”
“I know.”
Claire heard Evan breathe.
“Why did you continue?”
“Because she had board control.”
“That isn’t a defense,” Claire said.
“No.”
“Then what does she have on you?”
Evan said nothing.
Claire understood.
“Evan.”
“My daughter.”
Nathan frowned.
“What about your daughter?”
“She had a drug possession arrest in college. Charges were dismissed after diversion. Diane found out and threatened to leak everything to the press if I refused to certify the transfers.”
Claire closed her eyes.
That was Diane’s real talent.
Not finance.
Leverage.
Nathan sounded disgusted.
“You committed financial misconduct because you were afraid of embarrassing your family?”
“You don’t understand what she can do.”
Claire looked toward the study door.
“I think we’re beginning to.”
Evan continued.
“Henry found the first transfers.”
“When?”
“Three weeks before he died.”
Nathan became still.
“What did he say?”
“He told me to gather everything. He said, ‘If Diane thinks the family name belongs to her, remind her that prison records have names too.’”
Nathan shut his eyes.
Claire asked, “Did Henry believe anyone else was involved?”
“Martin.”
“Anyone else?”
Evan hesitated.
“Possibly someone at Summit National Bank.”
Nathan stared toward the snow-covered window.
Summit National held the mortgage lines for three Vale properties.
Including the chalet.
Claire asked, “Why would a bank be involved?”
Evan’s voice dropped.
“Because the money Diane lost in Jackson wasn’t the end of it.”
“What did she do?”
“She borrowed against family property to replace it.”
Nathan gripped the desk.
“How much?”
“I’m still finding documents.”
“How much, Evan?”
“Six and a half million.”
Nathan’s face went white.
Claire whispered, “Against what property?”
Evan answered.
“The chalet.”
Behind them, something hit the floor.
Diane stood in the doorway.
Her tablet had slipped from her hand.
May you like
And for the first time, she did not look angry.
She looked cornered.
