Chapter 6 - The Partner Who Knew Too Much
Mason Trent answered my video call on the second ring.
He was in my office.
My chair was visible behind him.
That irritated me more than it should have.
“Ev.” He looked relieved. “Thank God. I heard about Margaret.”
“From whom?”
His expression shifted.
“Daniel called.”
“Why?”
“He’s frantic. Says you’ve accused him of abuse.”
“Did he tell you why?”
“He said Margaret’s confused.”
“Do you believe him?”
Mason rubbed a hand over his face.
“I don’t know what to believe.”
He had always been good at looking sincere. That quality had helped us win clients. It had helped nervous compliance officers tell us where bodies were buried, financially speaking.
Now every gesture looked rehearsed.
“I need you to freeze all discretionary transfers,” I said.
“Already did.”
“Remove Daniel from every vendor authorization.”
“He was never authorized.”
“Then how did eight hundred thousand leave our reserve?”
Mason went still.
“What?”
I watched him carefully.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
“Reed says you did.”
That landed.
He leaned toward the camera.
“You spoke to Reed?”
“This morning.”
“Where is he?”
“Why do you care?”
“Because he vanished with client files.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“You sound certain.”
“I checked his office.”
“Why were you in his office?”
Mason exhaled.
“Evelyn, this is going off the rails.”
“It was already off the rails when someone opened a fake brokerage account in my name.”
His face paled.
That reaction looked real.
Or I wanted it to.
“Listen to me,” he said. “Do not talk to Daniel without a lawyer.”
“I have Nina.”
“Good.”
“Do not access the reserve account.”
“I just told you I froze it.”
“Send me the freeze confirmation.”
“I will.”
“Now.”
He stared at me.
Then he reached toward his keyboard.
A minute later, the email arrived.
The confirmation was legitimate.
I knew the bank’s format.
But legitimacy had become a flexible concept.
“Mason,” I said, “what is Blackwater Ridge Holdings?”
His eyes lifted.
“I’ve never heard of it.”
Reed had lied, then.
Or Mason had.
“Okay.”
“Ev, where are you?”
“Hospital.”
“With Margaret?”
“Yes.”
“Is Daniel there?”
“No.”
“Keep it that way.”
He sounded scared.
After we disconnected, Nina said, “I hate him.”
“You hate everyone.”
“Occupationally.”
“Reed named him.”
“Reed is under coercion.”
“Which means he could be telling the truth because he’s desperate, or lying because someone told him to.”
Nina nodded. “Exactly.”
A nurse entered.
“Mrs. Hale? Your grandmother is asking for you.”
Margaret was propped upright when I returned.
Color had begun to come back into her face.
“You look less dead,” I said.
“Charming.”
“It’s affection.”
She pointed to the chair.
“Sit.”
I did.
“Tell me about Mason Trent.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“You know him?”
“I met him before you did.”
I stared.
“When?”
“Thirteen years ago.”
“That’s before I founded the company.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He came to me looking for an investment.”
“In what?”
“In you.”
For several seconds I could only hear the monitor.
Margaret folded her hands over the blanket.
“You thought your first three clients came from referrals.”
“They did.”
“No. They came from me.”
I stood.
“What?”
“I knew executives at two banks and a hospital network. I told them to hire you.”
“You secretly built my company?”
“No. You built it. I opened three doors.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel told me you were going to fail.”
The sentence hurt in a place I did not expect.
“When?”
“Before your wedding.”
I laughed once, without humor.
“He told me he believed in me.”
“He told me you were stubborn, ambitious, and likely to embarrass him.”
I looked away.
Margaret continued.
“Mason came to me later. He said he could make sure you succeeded. He wanted ten percent.”
“Of my company?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“No.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I wanted to see what he did without my money.”
“What did he do?”
“He became your partner.”
I sat again.
A memory surfaced: Mason quitting a prestigious consulting firm to join me in a rented office above a dental supply store. I had thought it was loyalty.
Maybe it had been positioning.
“Did Daniel know you referred those clients?”
“No.”
“Did Mason know?”
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
“So he knew you were watching me.”
“He knew I considered you valuable.”
“Valuable enough to control the Hale trust.”
Margaret gave a small nod.
The pieces rearranged.
If Mason knew about the trust—or suspected—then the attack on me might not be only about eight hundred thousand dollars.
“Who inherits if I’m disqualified and Daniel is disqualified?”
Margaret did not answer.
“Margaret.”
She looked toward the closed door.
“The trust has a third successor.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
I stared at her.
“You wrote it.”
“No. Henry did.”
“How can you not know?”
“The identity is sealed in a letter held by the trustee. It is opened only if the first two successors are unable to serve.”
“Why would Henry do that?”
“Because he enjoyed controlling people from the grave.”
“That sounds healthy.”
“He was a difficult man.”
“So someone may be trying to eliminate both Daniel and me.”
“Yes.”
“And you never thought to mention this?”
“I was drugged in a bedroom.”
“Fair.”
Nina entered holding her laptop.
“The decoy file beaconed.”
My pulse jumped.
“Where?”
“Not Daniel’s phone.”
“Then whose?”
She turned the screen.
The access came from an IP address registered to Voss Compliance Group.
Our headquarters.
Someone inside my company had opened the files Daniel stole.
“Can we identify the machine?”
“Workstation M-17.”
I knew the asset number.
Mason’s office.
I closed my eyes.
Margaret spoke quietly.
“Now you know.”
“No,” I said. “Now I know one thing.”
“What?”
“Daniel stole the files.”
I looked at Nina.
“And Mason opened them.”
Two betrayals.
One bridge between them.
I picked up my coat.
“Where are you going?” Nina demanded.
“To my office.”
“Absolutely not.”
“I’m not confronting Mason.”
“Then what?”
“I’m going to find out what he was searching for.”
Margaret smiled faintly.
“Be careful, Evelyn.”
I paused at the door.
“Of certainty?”
“No.”
May you like
Her expression turned grim.
“Of people who need you to believe there are only two sides.”
