Chapter 4 - The First Threat
Claire returned home before sunrise.
Grant was waiting in the kitchen.
He stood beside the windows overlooking Manhattan, still wearing yesterday's suit.
There were two glasses on the counter.
One contained whiskey.
The other was empty.
Claire removed her coat.
"You look tired."
Grant turned.
"Where were you?"
"Out."
"With Daniel?"
"Why?"
"Don't play games."
Claire walked past him.
Grant grabbed the counter.
"You met Rebecca."
Claire stopped.
"Did she tell you that?"
"No."
"Then you're guessing."
"My mother received a photograph."
"Your mother receives photographs of your wife?"
Grant's expression changed.
Claire continued.
"That should concern you more than where I spent the night."
"Claire."
"What?"
"Tell me what Rebecca said."
There it was.
Fear again.
Claire turned fully toward him.
"What are you afraid she told me?"
Grant's jaw tightened.
"Nothing."
"Then why are you standing here?"
He looked away.
Claire had known him too long.
His anger had always been loud.
His fear made him quiet.
"Are you the father of her baby?"
Grant did not answer immediately.
That hesitation was the final cruelty.
Claire had already known.
But hearing silence where truth should be still hurt.
"Yes," he said.
Claire nodded once.
"How long?"
"Claire."
"How long?"
"Eighteen months."
She absorbed it.
"Did you ever plan to tell me?"
"I was going to."
"When?"
"I don't know."
"After the birth?"
"I was trying to handle it."
Claire laughed softly.
"Handle it."
Grant stepped toward her.
"I made a mistake."
"Eighteen months is not a mistake."
"I know."
"Buying her an eleven-million-dollar apartment with company money is not a mistake."
Grant froze.
Claire watched his face.
That was the moment everything changed.
Not because Grant learned Claire knew about Rebecca.
Because he learned Claire knew about the money.
"Who told you that?"
"No one."
"Claire."
"Why did you do it?"
Grant's eyes shifted.
"It isn't what you think."
"Then explain it."
"I can't."
"Can't or won't?"
Grant walked toward the windows.
Claire waited.
Finally he said, "The money was temporary."
"Forty-eight million dollars is temporary?"
Grant turned sharply.
"Lower your voice."
Claire stared at him.
They were alone in a penthouse seventy floors above the city.
Still, Grant sounded frightened of being overheard.
"Who are you afraid of?"
"No one."
"Your mother?"
His face changed.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But Claire saw it.
"Leave my mother out of this."
"Rebecca says Victoria threatened her."
"Rebecca doesn't understand."
"Then help me understand."
Grant rubbed both hands over his face.
"I was trying to fix something."
"What?"
"Something old."
"Vale Biomedical?"
Grant's hand stopped.
Claire knew.
He stared at her.
"How do you know about Vale?"
Claire said nothing.
Grant walked toward her.
"Claire, listen to me carefully. Whatever Daniel is telling you, stop."
"Why?"
"Because you have no idea what you're walking into."
"Then tell me."
"I can't."
"Again."
"Because it isn't just about me."
"Who else?"
Grant looked toward the door.
Claire almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Then he said, "Take some money. Go somewhere for a few weeks."
Claire stared.
"Excuse me?"
"Paris. Switzerland. Anywhere. I'll arrange security."
"You want me to disappear?"
"I want you safe."
"From your mother?"
"Stop saying that."
Claire stepped closer.
"What did Victoria do?"
Grant's voice dropped.
"You need to trust me."
Claire laughed.
The sound hurt both of them.
"Trust you?"
Grant closed his eyes.
"I deserved that."
"You deserve much worse."
"I know."
"Do you?"
"Yes."
"Then answer one question."
Grant looked at her.
"Did you steal Northstar's money?"
He did not answer.
Claire felt her stomach turn.
"Grant."
"I moved funds."
"Without board authorization."
"Yes."
"To hide Rebecca?"
"Partly."
"What was the rest for?"
His phone rang.
Grant looked at the screen.
Claire saw the name.
Mother.
Grant declined the call.
It immediately rang again.
He declined it again.
Then Claire's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
She opened the message.
One photograph.
Rebecca leaving Daniel's office.
A second photograph arrived.
Claire entering her building.
A third.
Claire sitting in Daniel's car.
Then the text.
Your curiosity is becoming dangerous.
Grant saw her expression.
"What?"
Claire showed him.
Color disappeared from his face.
"Pack a bag."
"Why?"
"Now."
"Grant."
"Claire, for once in your life, don't argue with me."
Her eyes hardened.
"For once?"
Grant realized the mistake.
"I'm sorry."
Claire lifted the phone.
"Did your mother send this?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I don't know."
"Who would?"
Grant's own phone rang again.
This time he answered.
"What?"
Claire could not hear Victoria's words.
But Grant's face changed.
"Where is she?"
Pause.
"No."
Pause.
"Mother, don't touch Rebecca."
Claire moved closer.
Grant turned away.
"What did you do?"
He listened.
Then shouted.
"She is carrying my son!"
Silence.
Claire's heart started pounding.
Grant ended the call.
"Where is Rebecca?"
Grant stared at the screen.
"Grant."
He grabbed his coat.
"She isn't at the apartment."
Claire called Daniel.
No answer.
She called again.
Nothing.
Grant moved toward the elevator.
Claire followed.
"Where are you going?"
"To find her."
"I'm coming."
"No."
"You're not deciding anything for me anymore."
Grant looked at her.
For one second, husband and wife stood together again.
Not as lovers.
As two people suddenly aware that the danger around them was larger than either had believed.
Grant nodded.
They entered the elevator.
Halfway down, Daniel called.
Claire answered immediately.
"Where are you?"
Daniel's breathing was heavy.
"Hospital."
"What happened?"
"Rebecca collapsed."
Grant grabbed the phone.
"Is the baby okay?"
Daniel paused.
"They're performing an emergency delivery."
Grant went pale.
"Which hospital?"
Daniel told him.
The elevator doors opened.
Grant ran.
Claire followed.
Neither noticed the black sedan parked across the street.
Neither saw Nathan Cole sitting inside.
And neither knew that Nathan had just sent Victoria Whitmore a message.
They know about Vale.
May you like
Victoria's reply arrived almost immediately.
Then we move tonight.
