Chapter 9 - Building the Trap
Evelyn decided the annual investor dinner would proceed.
Miriam objected immediately.
“You are knowingly walking into a controlled environment.”
“Exactly.”
“That is generally what attorneys advise clients not to do.”
“Jonathan expects me to cancel.”
“Probably.”
“So I won’t.”
Nathan looked at her across the conference table.
“What are you planning?”
“To give Clara what she wants.”
“No.”
“You don’t know what that is.”
“The archive.”
“I don’t have the archive.”
Nathan frowned.
“Then what are you giving her?”
“Confidence.”
Evelyn’s plan required three things.
First, Clara had to believe Evelyn remained socially powerful but financially ignorant.
Second, Nathan had to behave exactly as he had for the previous six months.
Third, Margaret had to return.
The third occurred unexpectedly.
Four days before the dinner, Margaret walked into Grant Meridian headquarters at noon.
Alone.
She demanded to see Nathan.
Security called Evelyn first.
Margaret arrived at Hartwell Tower thirty minutes later furious.
“You had no right to intercept me.”
Evelyn sat behind Samuel’s old desk.
It was the first time Margaret had ever seen her there.
She stopped.
The room itself made the point Evelyn did not need to make.
“You sit in your father’s chair now?”
“I always could.”
Margaret recovered.
“Nathan needs me.”
“Nathan needed you when he was a child.”
“He still listens to me.”
“That may be one of his problems.”
Margaret approached the desk.
“You think you’ve won because you found some old paperwork.”
“No.”
Evelyn folded her hands.
“I think you’re afraid because Jonathan no longer trusts you.”
Margaret’s face changed.
Only slightly.
Enough.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“He left you.”
Margaret looked away.
Evelyn understood.
Jonathan had done it before.
Used Margaret when useful.
Discarded her when risky.
And even after decades, she had returned when he called.
“You still love him,” Evelyn said.
Margaret’s eyes flashed.
“You know nothing.”
“I know you built Nathan’s entire life around a man who abandoned you.”
“Jonathan is his father.”
“Robert raised him.”
“For three years.”
“And what did Jonathan do?”
Margaret slammed her handbag onto the desk.
“He was trying to build something!”
“He was committing crimes.”
“So did Samuel!”
The room went silent.
There it was.
The bitterness beneath thirty years of polished manners.
Margaret continued.
“Your sainted father destroyed Jonathan and kept everything.”
“Everything?”
“The company. The contracts. The network.”
“The network?”
Margaret realized her mistake.
Evelyn leaned forward.
“What network?”
Margaret grabbed her bag.
“I’m leaving.”
“No.”
“You cannot detain me.”
“I don’t need to.”
Evelyn pressed a button.
The office doors locked.
Margaret stared.
Evelyn said calmly, “My security system is excellent.”
“You arrogant little…”
“Sit.”
Something in Evelyn’s voice stopped her.
Margaret sat.
“Where are the Christmas cards?”
Margaret’s expression remained blank.
“Jonathan took them.”
“So you stole them.”
“Yes.”
“Did he find the archive?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“The recipes were only half the code.”
Evelyn’s heartbeat changed.
“What is the other half?”
Margaret laughed.
“You think I’ll tell you?”
Evelyn slid a document across the desk.
Margaret looked down.
Her face drained.
“What is this?”
“Your immunity option.”
“What?”
“Miriam Wolfe has prepared a cooperation agreement. You give federal investigators everything you know about Jonathan, and we petition for consideration regarding your involvement.”
Margaret stared.
“You went to federal authorities?”
“Not yet.”
Margaret looked up quickly.
Evelyn smiled.
“Now I know that frightens you.”
Margaret stood.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Then educate me.”
“If Meridian Circle knows you have the archive…”
“I don’t.”
“They won’t believe you.”
“Who are they?”
Margaret’s lips trembled.
Evelyn had never seen her genuinely terrified.
“People Jonathan himself fears.”
The doors unlocked.
Margaret grabbed the paper.
“Come to dinner,” Evelyn said.
Margaret turned.
“What?”
“Sunday. Wear silver. You like silver.”
“Why?”
“Because Clara expects to humiliate me.”
Margaret stared.
“And you’re going to let her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Evelyn looked toward the city.
“Because powerful people reveal themselves when they believe someone else has become powerless.”
Margaret hesitated at the door.
Then said:
“Clara is not what you think.”
Evelyn looked back.
“What do I think?”
“That she works for Jonathan.”
“She does.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
May you like
Then she whispered:
“Jonathan works for Clara.”
