Chapter 2 - Maria Saw the Papers
Celeste was taken to the county detention facility after midnight.
The storm delayed everything.
Roads were nearly impassable, so the deputies transported her in a four-wheel-drive sheriff vehicle behind a snowplow convoy.
Before leaving, Celeste turned toward Daniel.
“Do not let Maria poison Emma against me.”
Maria stiffened.
Daniel said, “You did that yourself.”
Celeste’s expression hardened.
Then the deputy guided her outside.
The great room doors closed.
Emma immediately began crying again.
Not because her mother was gone.
Because Daniel had raised his voice.
That realization hurt.
He crouched.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma stared at him.
“Is Mommy coming back?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Is she going to jail?”
Daniel looked toward Maria.
Maria gave him nothing.
This answer had to be his.
“The police are going to decide what happened. A judge will decide other things.”
Emma hugged Bunny.
“Are you mad at me?”
Daniel’s face changed.
“No.”
“I said Maria hit me.”
“You were scared.”
“I lied.”
“You told the truth when you could.”
Emma looked toward the hallway camera.
“Because it saw.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Maria knelt beside them.
“You did nothing wrong, corazón.”
Emma finally leaned into her.
Daniel saw how naturally Maria held her.
Then he remembered that less than an hour earlier, he had considered believing Celeste.
His wife.
Emma’s mother.
Of course he had considered it.
That was what made false accusations powerful.
They used love as fuel.
At two in the morning, Emma finally slept in Daniel’s room.
Maria sat at the kitchen island with Daniel and Grant.
Snow screamed around the chalet.
Daniel placed Maria’s phone between them.
“Start from the beginning.”
Maria rubbed her hands together.
“I went upstairs to get extra linens because the storm was getting worse. I thought the housekeeping staff might need to stay overnight.”
“What did you see?”
“The linen-room door was open.”
“Celeste had papers there?”
Maria nodded.
“They were spread across the folding table.”
“Why did you look?”
“Because I saw Emma’s name.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What exactly?”
“Something about her trust.”
His stomach tightened.
“What else?”
“A company called Crestline. Raven Peak. And numbers.”
“Did you touch anything?”
“I moved one page.”
Celeste’s lawyers would make something of that.
Daniel forced himself not to react.
Maria continued.
“There was a blue folder underneath. It said ‘Hart Family Trust — Special Consent.’”
“The trust is not called that.”
“What?”
“Emma’s trust is the Eleanor Hart Irrevocable Trust.”
Daniel’s late mother had created it before Emma was born.
Maria frowned.
“Then why would the paper say Hart Family Trust?”
“Maybe because somebody expected a person reading quickly not to know the difference.”
Grant spoke.
“Could be a fabricated document package.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Can you preserve all security footage?”
“Already doing it.”
“Every camera.”
“Yes.”
“Every access log.”
“Yes.”
Maria continued.
“I heard someone coming.”
“Celeste?”
“Mr. Cross.”
Daniel stared.
“Julian?”
“Yes.”
“He came into the linen room?”
“He saw me.”
“What did he say?”
Maria’s voice became quieter.
“He asked what I was doing.”
“What did you say?”
“That I was getting sheets.”
“Did he see your phone?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What happened?”
“He closed the folder.”
“Then?”
“Mrs. Hart came upstairs about five minutes later.”
Maria looked guilty.
“I should have told you immediately.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“She told me Emma had a fever and asked me to stay with her.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Emma wasn’t sick.”
“I know that now.”
“What happened after?”
“I went to Emma’s room.”
“Celeste?”
“She stayed in the hallway with Mr. Cross.”
Grant leaned forward.
“Camera?”
“There is one near the west corridor,” Daniel said.
Grant checked the system.
His expression changed.
“What?”
“The west corridor camera was manually disabled at 6:02 P.M.”
“By whom?”
“I’ll need logs.”
Daniel thought of the staircase camera.
“Celeste thought that one was still broken.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why she didn’t care what happened there.”
“Likely.”
Maria looked down.
“About forty minutes later, Mrs. Hart told me to go downstairs because the police were coming.”
“You knew police were coming?”
“No.”
“She said Emma had accused me.”
Maria’s eyes filled.
“I thought I was going crazy.”
Daniel reached for her hand, then stopped.
He did not know if comfort from him would help or insult her.
“I’m sorry.”
Maria looked at him.
“For what?”
“For doubting you.”
“You didn’t accuse me.”
“I almost believed her.”
Maria’s face softened.
“You are Emma’s father. You heard your child was hurt.”
“That doesn’t excuse bad judgment.”
“No.”
The answer was gentle.
That made it hurt more.
Grant’s computer chimed.
He opened an access report.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Your private study was opened at 4:18 P.M.”
“With what credential?”
Grant stared at the screen.
“Yours.”
Daniel stood.
“I was downstairs in the conference room at four-eighteen.”
Grant nodded.
“Your hardware key was removed from the study safe at four-twenty-one.”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“When was it returned?”
“It wasn’t.”
Daniel looked toward the drawer where he normally kept the key.
Empty.
His phone buzzed.
An email from Hart Alpine Lodges’ general counsel.
Daniel opened it.
NOTICE OF EMERGENCY BOARD MEETING.
The meeting had been called by Julian Cross.
Agenda:
Liquidity crisis.
Executive authority.
Pending Crestline transaction.
Daniel stared at the scheduled time.
10:00 A.M.
Less than eight hours away.
Maria whispered, “What is it?”
Daniel looked up.
“My CFO is calling a board meeting to discuss selling assets I never agreed to sell.”
Then Grant’s computer chimed again.
A banking alert.
Daniel opened it.
Someone had attempted to initiate a wire transfer using his corporate credentials.
Amount:
$4,800,000.
Recipient:
White Summit Advisory LLC.
The transfer had been blocked because Daniel’s biometric confirmation was missing.
But the authorization request had originated from inside Raven Peak Chalet.
Daniel looked at the snow-covered windows.
May you like
Julian Cross might no longer be in the house.
But someone inside the chalet had tried to move nearly five million dollars using Daniel’s stolen security key.
