Chapter 4 - The Guest Who Had Been Here Before
Vivian arrived at noon wearing black.
No gold jewelry.
No brooch.
Elena noticed both.
They met in the sunroom with Rachel present.
Vivian looked at the attorney.
“Is this an interrogation?”
Rachel answered.
“It becomes one only if you lie.”
Vivian looked at Elena.
“You really are charming.”
“Where were you on February sixth?”
“I don’t remember.”
Elena slid a printed network log across the table.
Vivian read it.
Her face changed.
“That’s not possible.”
“Your phone connected to my guest network.”
“I hadn’t been here.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can’t.”
“Try.”
Vivian looked toward the ocean.
“Daniel and I were in Santa Barbara that week.”
“Together?”
“Yes.”
“All night?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Are you asking for bedroom details?”
“I’m asking whether your phone could have been here.”
“No.”
Rachel asked, “Did Daniel ever borrow your phone?”
Vivian laughed once.
“That sounds absurd.”
“Did he?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Elena studied her.
The arrogance from the driveway was gone.
In its place was something less predictable.
Fear.
“Why did Daniel tell you the motorcycle was his?” Elena asked.
Vivian’s eyes flicked toward her.
“He didn’t.”
“You said it was yours.”
“I assumed it belonged to the household.”
“My household.”
“I thought Daniel owned this place.”
Silence.
Elena leaned back.
“He told you that?”
Vivian hesitated.
“He said it was a Mercer property.”
“It isn’t.”
“I know that now.”
“He knows that.”
Vivian folded her arms.
“What exactly are you accusing me of?”
“Nothing yet.”
Rachel said, “You told Elena last night that Daniel said the owner would arrive tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
“Why would he call Elena ‘the owner’ if he told you Mariner House belonged to him?”
Vivian’s lips parted.
Then closed.
Elena saw the realization happen.
Daniel’s lies had not been consistent.
Vivian stood.
“I’m leaving.”
Elena did not stop her.
At the doorway, Vivian turned.
“For what it’s worth, Daniel gave me the brooch six months ago. He said it had belonged to his mother and that he wanted his future wife to wear it.”
That hurt more than Elena expected.
“He knew what it meant.”
“I didn’t.”
Vivian’s chin lifted. “I’m many things, Elena. I’m not a grave robber.”
Then she left.
Rachel watched her go.
“She knows more.”
“Yes.”
“But maybe not what we think.”
That afternoon another guest from the previous night requested to see Elena privately.
Maya Chen had served as Mercer Coastal’s corporate controller until she resigned four months earlier.
Daniel had told Elena Maya left for personal reasons.
Maya entered the library carrying no purse, only a folded envelope.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” Elena said.
Maya gave a nervous smile.
“I’ve told myself that about a lot of places lately.”
She placed the envelope on the desk.
Inside was a photocopy of a wire transfer.
TIDEGATE STRATEGIC LLC.
Recipient: VOSS CULTURAL INITIATIVE.
Amount: $2,400,000.
Elena looked up.
“Harrison Voss?”
“His daughter’s foundation.”
Vivian.
The payment had been made eight days after the $160 million credit facility closed.
“What is Tidegate?”
Maya’s voice dropped.
“A company that technically doesn’t belong to Mercer Coastal.”
“Technically?”
“Mercer pays it.”
“For what?”
“Consulting.”
“What consulting?”
“None that I could verify.”
Rachel stepped forward.
“How much?”
“Twenty-three million over eleven months.”
Elena’s pulse accelerated.
“Who approved the payments?”
Maya looked at her.
“Daniel.”
“Anyone else?”
“Paul Sutter signed legal review. Your aunt Margaret approved several as trustee.”
Elena felt another floor move beneath her.
Margaret Mercer had been Richard’s younger sister and one of the trust’s two remaining fiduciaries.
She had always seemed cautious.
Almost painfully cautious.
“Why did you resign?”
“I refused to classify another Tidegate invoice as a land-acquisition expense.”
“What happened?”
“Daniel said I was confused. Paul said I was exposing myself to liability. Then internal audit discovered discrepancies in a reimbursement account under my name.”
“Were they yours?”
“No.”
“Can you prove it?”
Maya’s eyes filled with frustrated tears.
“I tried.”
Rachel asked, “Why come now?”
“Because last night I heard Daniel tell someone you had arrived early. He sounded terrified.”
She looked at Elena.
“And because I saw Vivian wearing your mother’s brooch.”
Elena frowned.
“What does that have to do with Tidegate?”
Maya swallowed.
“I saw Daniel take that brooch from the vault.”
Elena went still.
“You were here?”
“Not inside. I was leaving a budget meeting. I saw him and Paul downstairs.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I thought it was family property. I thought it was none of my business.”
A bitter laugh escaped Elena.
“That sentence is going to be written on our family tombstone.”
Maya almost smiled.
Then her expression darkened.
“Tidegate paid Vivian’s foundation. It also paid three consultants tied to Harrison Voss.”
“Voss Capital?”
“Yes.”
Harrison Voss was a private-equity billionaire famous for distressed-property acquisitions.
He was also Vivian’s father.
Rachel asked, “Do you have the ledgers?”
“Partial copies.”
“Where?”
Maya shook her head.
“Not here.”
Elena said, “Bring them to Rachel.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Maya stood.
“Don’t call me. I’ll contact you.”
Elena wanted to push.
Rachel stopped her with a look.
Maya walked toward the door, then turned.
“There’s one other thing.”
“What?”
“When Daniel realized I was checking Tidegate, he told me something.”
“What?”
Maya repeated the words slowly.
“He said, ‘By the time Elena understands what her father left her, there won’t be anything left to control.’”
Then she left.
At ten that night, Maya had still not called.
At eleven, Rachel called her twice.
No answer.
At midnight, Marcus came into Elena’s bedroom.
“There’s a vehicle at the lower service gate.”
“What vehicle?”
“Maya Chen’s.”
Elena was downstairs in seconds.
Maya’s sedan sat crooked near the stone wall.
The driver’s door was unlocked.
No Maya.
No blood.
No sign of violence.
Only her phone lay broken on the passenger seat.
And beneath it was a single sheet of paper.
A printed notice for an emergency Mercer Coastal board meeting.
Nine o’clock the next morning.
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Agenda Item One:
REMOVAL OF ELENA MERCER’S EXECUTIVE AND VOTING AUTHORITY PENDING INVESTIGATION OF MISAPPROPRIATED FOUNDATION FUNDS.
