Chapter 11 - the son gerald did not know)
Gerald called Andrew twelve times.
No answer.
On the thirteenth, the number had been disconnected.
“I spoke to him Sunday,” Gerald said.
Nora watched him pace the office.
“What did you talk about?”
“His daughter’s school. Boston traffic. Nothing.”
“Did he mention Bellweather?”
“No.”
“Crown Meridian?”
“No.”
“Samuel?”
“No.”
Gerald sat.
For the first time since Nora had known him, the attorney looked lost.
Marcus leaned against the bookshelf.
“Welcome to the club.”
Gerald did not react.
Nora examined the corporate records Dean had brought.
Andrew had become chairman eighteen months earlier.
Before that, Crown Meridian had been controlled through a series of trusts.
The oldest trustee listed was Henry Whitmore.
Gerald’s father.
After Henry’s death, control became increasingly obscure.
Nominee directors.
Offshore partnerships.
Delaware entities.
Then Andrew.
Nora turned her laptop toward Gerald.
“Your son didn’t accidentally become chairman of a company worth hundreds of millions.”
“I know.”
“Did he know Samuel?”
“Of course.”
“How well?”
“Samuel was his godfather.”
Nora stared at him.
Gerald closed his eyes.
“I realize how that sounds.”
“It sounds like I’m living inside a lawsuit.”
Marcus said, “That should be the family motto.”
Nora’s phone rang.
Brooke.
She answered immediately.
“Hey.”
Her niece sounded shaken.
“Aunt Nora?”
“What happened?”
“There’s a car outside Mom’s house.”
Nora stood.
“What car?”
“Black. It’s been there since this morning.”
“Is your mom home?”
“She went to work.”
“Where’s Sophie?”
“Upstairs.”
“Lock every door.”
Marcus was already moving.
Nora put the phone on speaker.
“Brooke, listen to me. Do not go near any windows. I’m calling police.”
Someone knocked on Brooke’s door.
Brooke gasped.
Marcus grabbed his keys.
“I’m going.”
Nora caught him.
“No. Calvin.”
She called.
He answered on the first ring.
Twenty minutes later, Calvin reported the vehicle empty.
Registered to a rental company.
No sign of the driver.
Brooke and Sophie were moved to Hawthorne Ridge.
Marcus hugged both daughters so tightly that Brooke complained she could not breathe.
Nora watched.
For the first time, Marcus’s debts stopped being an abstract insult.
His choices had brought danger to two children.
He knew it too.
That night he found Nora in Samuel’s workshop.
“I’m going to fix it.”
Nora did not look up.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“That has historically been the problem.”
Marcus sat across from her.
“I sold the condo.”
Nora looked at him.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“For how much?”
“Six-eighty.”
“Mortgage?”
“Four-ten.”
“So you have around two-seventy before taxes and fees.”
“Yes.”
“You owe two-point-four million.”
“I know math, Nora.”
“I’ve seen little evidence.”
He almost smiled.
Then his face tightened.
“I’m giving Dean everything.”
“No.”
“What?”
“You need legal counsel before transferring anything.”
“They threatened my kids.”
“And panicked transfers are how you ended up here.”
Marcus looked down.
“I didn’t always gamble.”
Nora remained silent.
“After Lisa left, I got into private poker games.”
“Lisa left because you were gambling.”
“Not at first.”
“What happened first?”
Marcus rubbed his hands together.
“Dad cut me off.”
Nora frowned.
“When?”
“Five years ago.”
The same year Marcus had discovered Evelyn.
“Why?”
“I found the basement entrance.”
Nora stared.
“You told me you found papers.”
“I found the room.”
“And?”
“Dad caught me.”
“What were you doing?”
“Looking for something.”
“What?”
Marcus looked ashamed.
“Money.”
Nora closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
“I was in trouble already. Not like now.”
“What did Dad do?”
“He told me the room could get us all killed.”
Nora opened her eyes.
“And then?”
“He gave me fifty thousand.”
“What?”
“To pay what I owed. He made me promise I would never gamble again and never tell you what I saw.”
Nora’s jaw tightened.
“He paid your debt.”
“Yes.”
“And you started again.”
Marcus nodded.
Nora looked away.
For years she had resented Samuel for rescuing Marcus.
Now she understood Samuel had known exactly what Marcus was.
“Why did you think selling the house would work?”
“Because I knew Dad had hidden something valuable.”
“So you offered Dean access.”
“Yes.”
“What exactly did you tell him?”
“That there were documents downstairs.”
“Anything else?”
Marcus hesitated.
Nora stared.
“What?”
“I showed him one photograph.”
“Which photograph?”
“The woman.”
“Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
Nora stood.
“Why?”
“Dean recognized her.”
The room went still.
“What did he say?”
Marcus swallowed.
“He said she wasn’t dead.”
Nora stepped closer.
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
“And you never told me.”
“I thought he was manipulating me.”
“Did he say where she was?”
“No.”
“Did you ask?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Marcus looked toward the stairs.
“He said if I wanted Evelyn Mercer, I needed to ask Dad where he buried Caroline Vale.”
Nora frowned.
“Who the hell is Caroline Vale?”
May you like
From the doorway, Elaine answered.
“My sister.”
