Chương 9
My phone buzzed in my purse.
I took it out.
Daniel.
I answered without leaving the hallway.
“Hey.”
“Are you home?”
“Yes.”
“Find it?”
“No.”
Ethan stared at me.
Daniel was silent for half a second.
“Is Ethan there?”
“Yes.”
“Can you talk?”
“Not freely.”
Ethan let out a bitter laugh.
“Tell him I said hello.”
Daniel heard him.
“I’m guessing that answers the second question.”
“What did you find?”
“My assistant got a return call from Martin Hale.”
I looked at Ethan.
His eyes narrowed.
“What did Martin say?”
“He wasn’t contacted by anyone last night.”
I felt the floor disappear beneath the conversation.
“What?”
“He says no outside inquiry came in.”
Ethan’s face changed.
He took one step toward me.
“Give me the phone.”
I moved back.
Daniel continued.
“Martin called Ethan because Halpern’s internal compliance team flagged an old file during a routine review connected to their fund restructuring.”
I watched Ethan.
He was breathing through his mouth now.
“So Ethan lied about the inquiry.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I have an idea.”
Ethan reached for the phone.
I turned away.
“Emily, stop.”
I kept listening.
Daniel said, “The file includes a representation that you were an active strategic advisor to Cole Systems during the Series B process.”
The hallway went silent.
My hand gripped the phone so tightly it hurt.
“What kind of representation?”
“A signed investor questionnaire.”
“Signed by who?”
Daniel paused.
I already knew.
“Ethan.”
I looked at my husband.
He did not deny it.
Daniel continued.
“There may be more.”
“What does that mean?”
“Martin wouldn’t send me documents.”
“He shouldn’t.”
“I know.”
“But he confirmed your name was used as part of a disclosed advisory network.”
I leaned against the wall.
Ethan said, “You’re blowing this out of proportion.”
Daniel heard him.
His voice sharpened.
“I’m not talking to you.”
Ethan laughed.
“Still waiting for your chance, Mercer?”
“Ethan.”
I said his name quietly.
He stopped.
Daniel said, “Emily, there’s one more thing.”
I closed my eyes.
“Of course there is.”
“Martin asked whether you had ever been compensated by Cole Systems.”
I opened my eyes.
“No.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Why would he ask?”
“Because one of the documents apparently refers to an advisory allocation.”
My mouth went dry.
“What allocation?”
“Equity.”
Ethan moved toward the stairs.
I blocked his path before I even thought about it.
He stopped inches from me.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
“What equity?”
His eyes dropped to my stomach, then back to my face.
“Move.”
I stepped sideways only enough to put my back against the banister.
“You told investors I was an advisor and allocated equity to me?”
“It wasn’t to you.”
Daniel said my name through the phone.
I barely heard him.
“What does that mean?”
Ethan’s face had gone flat.
The way it did when he decided emotion was inefficient.
“It was an internal designation.”
“In whose name?”
“No one’s.”
“That is impossible.”
“It was reserved.”
“For what?”
He rubbed his jaw.
“For strategic relationships.”
“You used my name to justify a pool of equity?”
“That’s not what happened.”
“What happened?”
He looked downstairs.
I followed his gaze.
For a second I thought he was looking for an escape.
Then I heard the front door open.
Someone had a key.
My whole body went cold.
Ethan shut his eyes.
The door closed downstairs.
A woman’s heels crossed the entry floor.
Not fast.
Not hesitant.
Familiar enough to move through my house without asking permission.
Vanessa appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
She stopped when she saw me.
No office skirt today.
Black pants.
Cream sweater.
Her hair tied back.
She looked pale and exhausted.
In one hand, she held a small brass key.
In the other, a padded gray envelope.
Ethan’s voice dropped.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“You told me to come.”
He went still.
I looked at the envelope.
Then at the key.
My cabinet key.
Vanessa’s fingers tightened around both.
“I didn’t know she’d be home.”
I descended one step.
“Funny.”
Neither of them moved.
“I live here.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“I know.”
“Apparently better than I do.”
Ethan walked down two steps.
“Give me the envelope.”
Vanessa stepped backward.
“No.”
His face changed.
“Vanessa.”
“No.”
I had never heard her speak to him like that.
Not at the office.
Not yesterday.
There was fear in her voice, but there was anger too.
She looked at me.
“I need to tell you something.”
Ethan said, “Don’t.”
She flinched.
That single reaction told me more than any accusation could have.
I lowered the phone.
Daniel’s voice was still faintly audible.
“Emily?”
I said, “Stay on the line.”
Ethan pointed at the phone.
“Hang up.”
“No.”
“This is our house.”
I looked at Vanessa.
“Apparently not just ours.”
His face hardened.
Vanessa stared at the floor.
“I came here because he asked me to get something before you could.”
The hallway became very quiet.
Ethan said, “That is not what I said.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“You said she was asking questions and that the drive could destroy everything.”
My daughter kicked hard.
I gripped the banister.
Ethan’s voice lowered.
“You’re confused.”
Vanessa laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“You always say that when somebody remembers exactly what you said.”
I looked at the padded envelope.
“Is the drive in there?”
She nodded.
Ethan moved.
Not toward me.
Toward her.
Vanessa stepped back again.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
She looked at me.
“I took it two months ago.”
My skin prickled.
“Why?”
“Because he told me to.”
Ethan said, “You volunteered.”
Vanessa turned on him.
“You gave me the key.”
“I asked you to retrieve archived business materials.”
“You told me Emily never used them and wouldn’t care.”
I stared at him.
He looked at me with something almost like pleading now.
“Emily, listen to me.”
“No.”
Vanessa’s hand shook around the envelope.
“I thought it belonged to the company.”
“Why?”
May you like
“Because that’s what he told me.”
I looked at the drive’s outline beneath the padding.
