Chương 11
"Still stupid."
Jared nodded.
"Fair."
He handed me a small cream envelope.
It was already open.
My father's handwriting was on the front.
Johnny.
I looked inside.
Three pages.
Dad's handwriting covered the first two.
The third contained only half a page.
"Did you read it?"
Jared looked away.
"Some."
"All of it?"
"Most."
I wanted to be angry.
I was angry.
But there were too many things competing for the same space.
I unfolded the pages.
Johnny, I don't know how to explain this without making it worse.
I almost stopped.
That sentence sounded exactly like Dad.
His entire life had been built around making bad things sound temporary.
I continued.
Susan will say we acted to preserve the company.
That is partly true.
It is also true that we crossed lines I knew were lines when we crossed them.
I looked toward the front window.
Dad's car was gone.
For some reason I had expected to see it there anyway.
The next paragraph was harder to read because Dad had pressed the pen so deeply into the paper that some letters tore through.
Harold's estate was not failing.
That was the first lie.
My breath caught.
Jared whispered, "Yeah."
I kept reading.
He left enough debt to make the estate inconvenient, not insolvent.
Susan was terrified that control of the company would pass outside us once the trusts matured.
She said the children were too young to understand what they owned.
I agreed with her.
At first, that was all I agreed to.
Claire muttered, "Jesus."
The letter continued.
We used trust assets to secure financing.
Then the lenders required cleaner ownership.
Susan arranged transfers.
I signed documents I should not have signed.
Some signatures attributed to Naomi and Jared were not theirs.
I knew that.
I told myself the value would be restored later.
It was not restored.
I sat down.
My knees had started to tremble again.
Jared remained standing.
His face had gone colorless.
"He admitted it."
"Yes."
"That means we can prove it."
Claire looked at him.
"It proves your father wrote a letter admitting things."
"That's proof."
"It's evidence."
He frowned.
"What's the difference?"
"The difference lawyers get paid to explain."
He looked at me.
"I hate her."
Claire sipped her coffee.
"Get in line."
I went back to the letter.
The worst part was not the money.
The worst part was how ordinary Dad made it sound.
One bad decision.
Then another.
Then another.
Not a grand plan.
Not a criminal mastermind.
Just two people moving a boundary each time the old one became inconvenient.
He wrote that Mom had created management agreements.
That accountants had been replaced.
That distributions were redirected.
That some trust income had been reported in ways he no longer understood.
Then came the line that made my stomach twist.
When Naomi became an adult, Susan said telling her would destroy the company and split the family.
I let myself believe silence was protection.
I lowered the page.
"Protection."
Jared gave a bitter laugh.
"They love that word."
Claire said, "It sounds better than control."
I read the final page.
Johnny, I think you are right that this cannot stay buried.
I also think you underestimate what Susan will do to keep control.
Please do not confront her alone again.
I looked up.
"Again?"
Jared's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"Again."
I pointed at the sentence.
"He says don't confront her alone again."
Claire was already reaching for the page.
I handed it to her.
She read the line.
"That means there was another confrontation."
Jared said, "Dad told us about January."
"With both of them."
I stood.
"Maybe Johnny met Mom separately."
Claire looked at me.
"Do not jump."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm reading words."
"You're also filling in spaces."
I hated that she was right.
I walked into the kitchen and poured water into a glass.
My hand shook against the faucet.
The glass overflowed.
I didn't notice until water ran over my fingers.
Jared came into the kitchen.
"Do you want me to leave?"
"No."
He leaned against the doorway.
"That's the first time you've said that to me in years."
I turned off the faucet.
"I usually don't say it out loud."
"Fair."
I drank.
The water tasted metallic.
"Did Dad ever talk about Johnny coming to the office more than once?"
"No."
"Did Mom?"
"No."
"Did Johnny ever call you?"
Jared stared at me.
"Me?"
"About the company."
"No."
"About the restaurant."
"Sometimes."
"When?"
"I don't know."
"Think."
He rubbed his forehead.
"Last year."
"About what?"
"Insurance."
My hand stopped halfway to the counter.
"What insurance?"
"Restaurant coverage."
"Why?"
"He thought I was underinsured."
"Johnny wasn't your accountant."
"No, but he was Johnny."
That was true.
Johnny inserted himself into problems the way some people collected hobbies.
"What else?"
"He asked who owned the building."
"Which building?"
"The restaurant."
"Who does?"
"My landlord."
"Who is your landlord?"
Jared opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
"I don't know."
Claire walked into the kitchen holding Dad's letter.
"You don't know your landlord?"
"It's an LLC."
"What LLC?"
He pulled out his phone.
"Give me a second."
His thumbs moved quickly.
I felt Rebecca's warning again.
Do not confront Jared yet.
Now we were investigating together.
Probably worse.
He found an old email.
"Marwick Property Group."
The name meant nothing.
Claire said, "Search it."
Jared did.
"Registered agent is some law office."
"Members?"
"Not public."
I put down the glass.
"Send the name to Rebecca."
"Rebecca who?"
"The forensic accountant."
He stared at me.
"Johnny hired a forensic accountant?"
I looked at him.
"We covered this."
"I thought you meant regular accountant with extra drama."
Claire said, "That's not what forensic means."
"I know that now."
He texted the company name to me.
I forwarded it to Rebecca with one sentence.
Can you tell me whether Marwick Property Group connects to Hale Family Holdings?
She replied almost immediately.
May you like
Looking.
That word frightened me more than a long answer would have.
