Chapter 8 - The Trap She Chose to Enter
Jonah wanted the family removed from the resort immediately.
Eleanor refused.
They stood in the security office with Mr. Bennett and the head of resort security.
Camera feeds displayed every public area of Lake Ardent.
“We have the threat,” Jonah said. “We have evidence of financial fraud. There is no reason to let them continue.”
“We don’t have the sender.”
“We can trace it.”
“Eventually.”
“And until then?”
“We let Maya answer.”
Mr. Bennett looked uneasy.
“You intend to attend breakfast?”
“Yes.”
“They may attempt to harm you.”
“They want humiliation, not injury.”
“You can’t know that.”
Eleanor looked at the terrace camera.
“I know my family.”
Jonah crossed his arms.
“That has never made me feel better.”
Eleanor asked security to preserve every recording from the weekend and place two plainclothes guards inside the dining area.
“They stay invisible unless someone is in danger,” she said.
Mr. Bennett nodded.
“What about the staff?”
“Give them the option to avoid the terrace.”
“The morning waiter is Theo. He volunteered to remain.”
“Why?”
“He says he remembers your father.”
Eleanor found Theo polishing glasses in the empty dining room.
He was twenty-two, a hospitality student working his final summer before graduation.
“Mr. Bennett said you wanted to speak with me,” he said.
“You don’t have to work my family’s table tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“They may create a scene.”
“I know that too.”
“Then why stay?”
Theo placed the glass down.
“Your father paid my tuition.”
Eleanor blinked.
“He met me here two years ago. I was planning to leave school because my mother was ill and we couldn’t afford both tuition and treatment. He arranged a scholarship.”
“That sounds like him.”
“He told me no one should know.”
“That also sounds like him.”
Theo hesitated.
“He came back before he died. He seemed frightened.”
“Did he tell you why?”
“He asked whether the old dock cameras still worked.”
“Do they?”
“One does.”
“Which one?”
“The camera facing boathouse three.”
“Can you access the recordings?”
“Only security can.”
Eleanor returned to the security office.
The system contained archived footage from the date of Harold’s final visit.
At 11:47 p.m., a vehicle approached the old dock.
Harold stepped from the passenger side.
The driver remained hidden beneath the shadow of the trees.
Harold carried the red ledger.
He entered boathouse three and returned without it.
Twenty minutes later, Vivian’s car arrived.
She was not alone.
Adrian Morrow, chief financial officer of Lattice North, stepped out beside her.
Jonah stared at the screen.
“That’s impossible.”
Eleanor replayed the footage.
Adrian and Vivian entered the boathouse together.
When they emerged, Adrian carried a black case.
Vivian held the red ledger.
The timestamp showed that this happened nearly a year before Harold died.
“But the ledger was in room 614,” Jonah said.
“A copy was in room 614.”
“Why would Harold make two?”
“Because he knew one would be taken.”
Eleanor watched Adrian’s face on the grainy footage.
The man had helped her raise capital.
He had stood beside her through regulatory investigations and acquisition offers.
He had negotiated the Meridian sale.
Now she knew he had met Vivian secretly at Lake Ardent.
“Adrian leaked the sale,” she said.
Jonah’s phone rang.
He looked at the caller ID.
“Speak of the devil.”
“Answer it.”
Jonah put the call on speaker.
Adrian’s voice filled the room.
“I just heard Eleanor is at the resort. She needs to leave immediately.”
“Why?” Jonah asked.
“The Meridian board is concerned about a possible family dispute.”
“Who told them?”
A pause.
“I don’t know.”
Eleanor stepped closer to the phone.
“Adrian.”
Silence.
Then he said, “Eleanor, you’re there.”
“Yes.”
“This weekend is a mistake.”
“For whom?”
Another pause.
“You don’t understand what Vivian has.”
“Then tell me.”
“I can’t discuss it on an unsecured line.”
“Come to the resort.”
“I’m in New York.”
The dock footage showed otherwise.
A live security camera near the resort’s eastern gate captured a dark sedan parked beyond the trees.
The vehicle was registered to Adrian Morrow.
Eleanor watched it through the monitor.
May you like
“You’re much closer than New York,” she said.
The call ended.
