Chương 10
Arthur was quiet.
Sarah’s face hardened.
“There was work happening.”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“Electrical and interior demolition.”
Genevieve felt sick.
“Was the building supposed to be occupied during demolition?”
“I don’t know.”
“That means yes,” she said.
“No.”
Arthur’s voice sharpened for the first time.
“It means I don’t know.”
Genevieve stopped.
He continued.
“Richard told me counsel concluded Kestrel bore responsibility.”
“Kessler was counsel.”
“Yes.”
“And the indemnification agreement protected Vance.”
“Yes.”
“From a project Vance supposedly didn’t own.”
Another silence.
Sarah looked at Genevieve.
“That contradiction matters.”
Arthur sighed.
“I know.”
Genevieve rubbed her forehead.
“Why would Dad hide this from me?”
“He believed he was protecting the company.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
Arthur’s voice became softer.
“He was protecting your opinion of him.”
Genevieve looked down.
That answer hurt because she believed it.
Richard Vance had tolerated losing money better than losing respect.
Especially hers.
“What did he do?”
Arthur did not respond immediately.
“I never saw proof.”
“Arthur.”
“I heard an allegation.”
“From whom?”
“Kessler.”
“What allegation?”
Arthur exhaled.
“That Richard had approved preliminary electrical work before the acquisition closed.”
Sarah’s pen stopped.
Genevieve felt the room tilt slightly.
“Was that legal?”
“Depends on the agreements and permits.”
Sarah answered before Arthur could.
“Don’t simplify it.”
Genevieve looked at her.
“I need something simple right now.”
“You’re not going to get it.”
Sarah’s voice was gentle, which somehow made it worse.
“If work was performed improperly and contributed to a fatal fire, responsibility could turn on multiple facts we don’t have.”
Genevieve swallowed.
“Did my father know the work was unsafe?”
Arthur answered quickly.
“I never heard that.”
“But Kessler threatened him.”
“Yes.”
“With exposure.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad paid him?”
“I don’t know.”
Sarah looked at the disciplinary summary again.
“Client funds.”
Genevieve followed her eyes.
“Kessler’s license.”
Sarah nodded.
“Failure to safeguard client funds.”
Arthur said, “That happened years later.”
“Patterns often start before disciplinary boards notice them.”
Genevieve leaned back against the pillow.
“So Julian finds the old settlement file.”
“Probably,” Sarah said.
“He discovers something that could damage the company.”
“Or your father’s reputation.”
“Then instead of telling me, he creates a memo saying he takes control if I’m incapacitated.”
Sarah nodded slowly.
“Which suggests the contents gave him leverage, but not necessarily lawful authority.”
“And then I go into emergency surgery.”
Arthur spoke from the phone.
“And he accelerates.”
Genevieve looked toward the wheelchair again.
The black frame seemed less threatening now than it had ten minutes earlier.
She had a different enemy at the moment.
Not paralysis.
Uncertainty.
“What does he gain by controlling the company?”
Sarah answered.
“Ability to manage disclosure, negotiate with the bank, control internal records, influence the board, possibly contain whatever the file reveals.”
“Or bury it.”
“Yes.”
Genevieve looked at the forged memorandum.
“And the lake house?”
No one answered.
Sarah opened a map on her phone.
“What town is Kessler in?”
Arthur said, “I thought Sarah said Wisconsin.”
“She did.”
Sarah typed.
His listed address was in Williams Bay.
Genevieve stopped breathing.
The lake house was twelve miles away.
“There.”
Sarah looked at her.
“What?”
“The token.”
Genevieve’s memory returned all at once.
Her father’s study at the lake house.
A sticky summer afternoon.
She had been twenty-eight and searching for jumper cables.
Richard had been kneeling beside an old steel filing cabinet, swearing at a drawer that would not close.
A gray plastic device had hung from a brass key ring.
She had picked it up.
“What’s this?”
He had taken it from her too quickly.
“Boring insurance.”
Then he had put it into a small green tackle box on the top shelf of the closet.
Genevieve stared at Sarah.
“I know where the duplicate was.”
Sarah straightened.
“Was?”
“Dad kept it at the lake house.”
Arthur swore.
Sarah stood.
“Where exactly?”
“In his study.”
“Specific location.”
“Closet, top shelf, green tackle box.”
“How long ago did you see it?”
“About nine years.”
Sarah stopped.
“That is not remotely recent.”
“I know.”
“Who has keys to the house?”
“Me.”
“Who else?”
“Property manager.”
“Julian?”
Genevieve said nothing.
Sarah closed her eyes.
“Genevieve.”
“He had a key.”
“Had?”
“I don’t know if he still does.”
Arthur spoke quickly.
“Do not go there.”
Genevieve almost laughed.
“I can’t go to the bathroom by myself, Arthur.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Sarah was already messaging someone.
“I’m contacting local counsel and asking for preservation of the property if necessary.”
Genevieve looked at her.
“You can’t turn my house into a crime scene based on a nine-year-old memory.”
“No.”
Sarah typed.
“But I can tell the property manager not to admit anyone and request that nothing be removed.”
Genevieve’s phone vibrated.
A text from the property manager appeared.
Speak of the devil.
She opened it.
Mrs. Vance, Julian stopped by earlier asking about Richard’s old fishing gear.
Her blood went cold.
Below it was a second message.
I told him the study closet still had some boxes.
A third arrived.
He said you wanted them cleared out.
Sarah read over her shoulder.
“When?”
Genevieve typed with one hand.
What time was he there?
The reply came almost immediately.
Around 7:30.
Sarah checked the deletion timestamp.
“He had more than an hour.”
Genevieve called the property manager.
An older man answered breathlessly.
“Mrs. Vance?”
“Frank, is Julian still there?”
“No, ma’am.”
“When did he leave?”
“Maybe twenty minutes ago.”
“Did he take anything?”
“I didn’t see.”
“Did you go inside with him?”
“No.”
Genevieve closed her eyes.
“Frank, go to the main house.”
Sarah shook her head violently.
Genevieve stopped.
“No.”
She corrected herself.
“Stay where you are.”
“All right.”
“Do not enter the house.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Yes.”
She looked at Sarah.
“Call the county sheriff’s non-emergency line and tell them the owner is concerned about unauthorized removal of property.”
Sarah nodded.
Frank sounded alarmed.
“Should I lock the gate?”
“If you can do it without approaching anyone, yes.”
May you like
“I’m at the caretaker cottage.”
“Stay there.”
