Chapter 10 - THE FIRST GUARANTEE
Mercer traced the anonymous message.
Prepaid number.
No useful subscriber information.
The photograph’s metadata had been stripped.
But it was real.
Clara recognized Richard’s shirt from family pictures posted the same evening.
Someone on the cruise had been watching them.
Or one of the family’s guests was cooperating with someone else.
The message mattered because of three words.
The first guarantee.
Meaning there were others.
Daniel searched records again.
Nothing.
Maya contacted Meridian Crest counsel.
They denied knowledge of an earlier guarantee.
Riverside denied it too.
Then Grant Holloway called.
“Richard contacted me.”
Clara put him on speaker.
“What did he say?”
“He wants to accelerate our closing.”
Maya asked, “When?”
“Tomorrow. Electronically.”
Clara frowned.
“He’s still overseas.”
“He claims that’s why he needs remote closing.”
“Perfect,” Mercer said.
Clara looked at him.
Grant continued.
“He also sent an updated proof of interest.”
“What kind?”
“A notarized declaration.”
Clara felt the room tighten.
Grant emailed it.
They opened the document.
DECLARATION OF FAMILY EQUITY OWNERSHIP.
Richard claimed forty percent beneficial interest in the mansion.
Victoria claimed twenty percent.
Clara supposedly retained forty percent.
At the bottom were signatures.
Richard.
Victoria.
Clara.
Again forged.
But something else was different.
This document was dated only eight months earlier.
And the notary was active.
Mercer leaned closer.
“Who is the notary?”
Daniel searched.
Laura Wexler.
A real estate paralegal.
Employed by Peter Caldwell.
Richard’s attorney.
Maya swore under her breath.
“This is bigger.”
Mercer nodded.
“A professional may be involved.”
Clara stared at her forged signature.
“Can you arrest them now?”
Mercer looked at her.
“You wanted us to wait.”
“I’m changing my mind.”
“Because?”
Clara pointed at the paper.
“They’re still doing it.”
Mercer remained calm.
“That’s exactly why waiting forty-eight hours may help.”
She hated that he was right.
Grant agreed to proceed with the fake closing.
Federal investigators would monitor communications.
Richard would believe he was selling beneficial interest in a mansion Grant already owned.
But before that happened, Clara received another anonymous text.
THE FIRST GUARANTEE WASN’T FOR A LOAN.
Then a number.
$5,000,000.
Clara stared.
Five million.
Maya looked at Mercer.
“What kind of guarantee?”
Another message appeared.
LOOK AT THE PARKER CONTRACT.
Clara’s stomach turned.
The Parker contract.
Two years earlier, Clara’s firm had designed a luxury boutique hotel owned by Parker Hospitality Group.
It had been one of her largest projects.
The contract value exceeded five million dollars.
But there had been a dispute.
Six months into the project, Parker Hospitality accused Clara’s firm of missing procurement deadlines.
Clara had almost lost the client.
Richard had stepped in.
He said he knew someone on Parker’s board.
The dispute disappeared.
Clara always believed her father had helped.
Now she wondered what help had cost.
Daniel pulled archived accounting files.
The original Parker contract.
Change orders.
Insurance certificates.
Then a strange document.
Performance assurance.
Clara opened it.
Her company guaranteed completion.
Normal.
But attached was a secondary indemnity.
Clara Bennett personally indemnified Parker Hospitality up to five million dollars in the event of “fraudulent procurement representations.”
Her signature appeared at the bottom.
She had never seen it.
Clara’s mouth went dry.
“What does this mean?”
Maya read quickly.
“It means someone created enormous personal exposure.”
“Why?”
Daniel searched further.
Then stopped.
“There was a vendor issue.”
“What?”
“One of the furniture suppliers on Parker was BC Procurement Solutions.”
Clara frowned.
“I don’t know that company.”
Daniel searched state records.
The company had dissolved eighteen months earlier.
Manager:
Julian Bennett.
Clara stared.
“Julian was a vendor on my project?”
Apparently.
Invoices totaled $780,000.
Paid by Parker Hospitality through Clara’s project procurement system.
Clara whispered, “He stole from the project.”
Maya corrected carefully.
“We don’t know that yet.”
Daniel opened vendor records.
The furniture supplier listed on Julian’s invoices did not exist.
The address belonged to a storage warehouse.
Mercer’s face hardened.
“Now we know.”
Clara felt sick.
Julian had used her project.
Richard had created a guarantee to protect the scheme.
Then apparently intervened when Parker noticed irregularities.
“How much was fake?”
Daniel continued calculating.
“Potentially hundreds of thousands.”
The anonymous sender knew.
Whoever it was knew details buried years earlier.
Clara typed a response.
WHO ARE YOU?
No answer.
She tried again.
WHY ARE YOU HELPING ME?
Nothing.
Then one final message arrived.
May you like
I’M NOT HELPING YOU.
I’M TRYING TO SURVIVE HIM.
