Chapter 1 - The Daughter Who Always Paid)
Thirty minutes earlier, Claire Parker had still believed the worst thing her family could do to her was abandon her at an airport.
It almost made her laugh now.
She sat in the back of the black sedan while the airport disappeared behind her.
Her driver, Marcus Hill, glanced at her through the mirror.
“Where to, Ms. Parker?”
Claire looked down at the photograph again.
Grant entering an office.
Daniel Reeves beside him.
Daniel had been her father’s business partner.
He had also been Claire’s first mentor.
Eleven years earlier, Daniel had supposedly died when his small plane disappeared over the Pacific Northwest during a winter storm.
No wreckage had ever been conclusively identified.
Claire had attended his memorial.
Grant had delivered the eulogy.
She remembered every word.
Daniel was the brother I chose.
Now Daniel appeared alive in a photograph dated twenty-three days ago.
Claire enlarged the image.
There was no mistaking him.
Older.
Thinner.
Gray at the temples.
But alive.
“Ms. Parker?”
“Don’t go home.”
Marcus nodded.
“Where would you like to go?”
Claire hesitated.
The obvious answer was her office.
That was exactly where her father would expect her to go.
“Drive downtown.”
“Your office?”
“No.”
She gave him the address of a hotel near Pike Place Market.
Marcus pulled away.
Claire looked through the rear window.
The Parker family SUV was still behind them.
Grant was driving.
Fast.
“He’s following us,” Marcus said.
“I know.”
Claire called Grant.
He answered immediately.
“What did you do?”
No greeting.
No apology.
“What did I do?” Claire repeated.
“You canceled everything.”
“You canceled my ticket first.”
“That was different.”
Claire almost admired the absurdity.
“How?”
“You were being disrespectful.”
“And therefore?”
“You needed a lesson.”
“So I learned one.”
“Claire.”
His voice softened.
That frightened her more than the shouting.
“We’re family.”
There it was.
The phrase Grant used whenever he wanted something.
Claire looked at the approaching skyline.
“Who is Daniel Reeves?”
Silence.
The SUV behind them suddenly slowed.
Claire continued.
“I asked you a question.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I have a photograph.”
Another silence.
Then Grant said, “Where did you get it?”
Wrong answer.
Claire closed her eyes.
Daniel was alive.
And Grant knew.
“Who sent it?”
Claire ended the call.
Her phone rang again immediately.
Linda.
Then Evan.
Then Grant.
Claire ignored all three.
Another message arrived from the unknown number.
YOUR FAMILY TRIP WAS NEVER ABOUT EUROPE.
Claire typed:
Who are you?
No response.
She tried calling.
The number was unreachable.
Marcus turned onto the freeway.
The Parker SUV remained several vehicles behind.
Claire opened her travel account.
The canceled itinerary showed refunds processing.
A little over $84,000.
Grant had told relatives he had paid for everything himself.
Claire had never corrected him.
That was the pattern.
She had paid for Linda’s kitchen renovation.
Grant told everyone he had negotiated the contractor down.
Claire had covered Evan’s business loan when his restaurant failed.
Evan later claimed an investor had rescued him.
Claire had paid the property taxes on her parents’ home twice.
Grant called it temporary.
Temporary had become seven years.
Claire had spent most of her adult life purchasing peace from people who considered her generosity an obligation.
Three months earlier, Grant had called.
Your mother has always dreamed of Europe.
Claire had hesitated.
Then he said Linda’s health had been worrying him.
That had worked.
Claire booked everything.
Business-class flights.
Hotels.
Private transfers.
A villa outside Florence.
The trip was supposed to include Claire.
Until breakfast that morning.
Grant had announced that Evan’s girlfriend, Melissa, would be joining them.
Claire said the villa had six-person occupancy limits and changing reservations would cost thousands.
Grant replied, “You can afford it.”
Claire said no.
Grant exploded.
By the time they reached the airport, he had decided Claire needed to be punished.
Because Grant believed he controlled the reservations.
He didn’t know Claire’s corporate travel account controlled the entire itinerary.
Marcus exited toward downtown.
The Parker SUV followed.
“Lose them,” Claire said.
Marcus glanced at her.
“Legally?”
Claire almost smiled.
“Preferably.”
Marcus made three quick turns through downtown traffic.
The SUV disappeared.
Claire’s phone buzzed again.
This time the message contained a document.
A bank statement.
She opened it.
PARKER FAMILY HOLDINGS.
Claire frowned.
She had never heard of the account.
Then she saw the balance.
$4,780,221.
Her breathing stopped.
Deposits were listed beside abbreviated descriptions.
CP CONSULTING DISTRIBUTION.
CP TECHNOLOGY LICENSING.
CP EQUITY TRANSFER.
CP.
Claire Parker.
She scrolled faster.
The transfers went back eight years.
Small amounts initially.
Then larger.
$18,000.
$42,000.
$110,000.
$300,000.
Claire felt suddenly cold.
Her father hadn’t simply relied on her money.
Someone had been moving money connected to her businesses into an account she didn’t know existed.
She downloaded the statement.
Then another message appeared.
THE $84,000 TRIP IS NOTHING.
Claire stared at the words.
May you like
A final message followed.
CHECK YOUR SIGNATURES.
