Chương 8
“Neither did I.”
The pain medication began softening the edges of the room.
Genevieve rested her head against the pillow.
“Find out whether Kessler is still practicing.”
“I already did.”
“Of course you did.”
“He isn’t.”
“Retired?”
“Suspended license, then resigned.”
Genevieve opened her eyes.
“When?”
“2017.”
“For what?”
Sarah turned her phone toward herself.
“I’m reading the disciplinary summary now.”
She scrolled.
“Failure to safeguard client funds, false statements during an inquiry, and recordkeeping violations.”
“Anything criminal?”
“Not according to this.”
“Where is he?”
“Current address listed in Wisconsin.”
“The lake house.”
Sarah looked up.
“What about it?”
Genevieve stared toward the window.
“Eleanor asked about transferring the lake house specifically.”
“She could simply want the property.”
“She hates it.”
“Why?”
“No central air in the original wing, terrible cell service, too many mosquitoes.”
“Compelling.”
“She complains every time she visits.”
Sarah considered that.
“Julian asked whether it had been refinanced.”
“Yes.”
“And now we have an old lawyer living in Wisconsin.”
Genevieve nodded.
“Kessler could be near it.”
“That is geography, not evidence.”
“I know.”
“But I’m writing it down.”
Sarah did.
Genevieve closed her eyes again.
A minute later, her phone vibrated.
She ignored it.
Then it vibrated again.
Sarah checked the screen.
“Daniel.”
Genevieve held out her hand.
Sarah gave her the phone.
Daniel’s message contained no greeting.
Someone sent the reporter an internal board memo at 5:12 PM.
A second message followed.
Metadata suggests it was exported from Victoria Hale’s account.
Genevieve stared at the screen.
“That’s too easy.”
Sarah leaned in.
“Agreed.”
“Victoria was with us.”
“At five twelve?”
Genevieve tried to reconstruct the afternoon.
She had no idea.
The clock had become meaningless after surgery.
Sarah checked the hospital incident timeline.
“She entered this room at approximately four fifty-eight.”
“So she could have scheduled it.”
“Or somebody had access to her account.”
Genevieve thought about Victoria’s reaction when the recording was mentioned.
She had looked frightened, but not calculating.
Then again, Genevieve had promoted her, trusted her, invited her to a company retreat, and apparently missed an affair happening under her own roof.
Her judgment no longer felt like a reliable instrument.
“Daniel says there’s more,” Sarah said.
Another message arrived.
He found an outgoing email from Victoria to Julian two nights earlier.
Subject line: RICHARD FILE.
Genevieve’s pulse accelerated.
“Can he open it?”
“Not without authorization.”
“Authorize it.”
Sarah hesitated.
“It’s company email, but because this is now an internal investigation involving senior officers, I want outside counsel preserving and reviewing rather than Daniel digging through executive accounts.”
“You just told me we need facts.”
“We do.”
“Then get them.”
“I am trying to make sure the facts survive scrutiny.”
Genevieve’s frustration rose too fast.
“My husband is running around with an encrypted company archive while somebody tells reporters I’m incapacitated, and you’re worried about making the evidence tidy.”
Sarah’s face hardened.
“Yes.”
Genevieve stopped.
“Yes?”
“Yes, because six months from now, if this becomes litigation, nobody will care how frightened you were tonight.”
Sarah lowered her voice.
“They will care whether records were preserved properly, whether access was authorized, whether evidence was altered, and whether your own people contaminated the investigation by rummaging around because they were angry.”
Genevieve looked away.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“I just snapped at you.”
“You’re allowed.”
“I dislike being allowed.”
“That is one of your more exhausting traits.”
Genevieve nearly smiled.
Sarah sent Daniel instructions to stop all further review and preserve the accounts for forensic collection.
A response came back immediately.
Already done.
Sarah nodded once.
“I like him.”
“You said he was twenty-nine.”
“I contain multitudes.”
Genevieve’s phone rang before she could answer.
The caller ID showed Julian.
Sarah reached for it.
Genevieve pulled the phone away.
“Let it ring.”
It stopped.
Three seconds later, he called again.
Then again.
On the fourth attempt, Hazel stirred.
Genevieve silenced the phone.
A voicemail notification appeared.
Sarah watched her.
“Do you want me to listen first?”
“No.”
Genevieve put the call on speaker at low volume.
Julian’s voice filled the room.
“Gen, I know you’re angry.”
He sounded breathless.
There was traffic behind him.
“This is not about taking the company from you.”
Sarah made a note.
“I should have told you about Victoria.”
Genevieve’s jaw tightened.
“I should have told you a lot of things.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“But Sarah doesn’t know what your father did.”
Genevieve looked at her.
Sarah showed no reaction.
Julian continued.
“If that file gets out, the bank won’t be the problem.”
A horn sounded in the background.
“You need to stop the forensic review.”
Genevieve sat straighter.
Sarah’s pen stopped.
Julian breathed into the phone.
“They cannot open Richard’s settlement file.”
The message ended.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Then Sarah said, “That is the first useful thing your husband has done all day.”
“He warned us.”
“He admitted he knows what’s in the file.”
Genevieve replayed the message.
They cannot open Richard’s settlement file.
Not don’t.
Cannot.
She looked at Sarah.
“He thinks the company is exposed.”
“Possibly.”
“No.”
Genevieve shook her head.
“He said the bank won’t be the problem.”
Sarah’s eyes narrowed.
“That could mean legal exposure.”
“Or something worse.”
A knock came at the door.
Marisol entered with another nurse and a wheelchair.
Genevieve stared at it.
“What is that for?”
Marisol smiled.
“Physical therapy wants to evaluate your transfer ability tomorrow, so we’re measuring fit tonight.”
Genevieve looked at the chair.
Its black seat seemed impossibly low.
For the first time since surgery, the paralysis stopped being an abstract diagnosis.
There it was.
A piece of equipment waiting for her body.
She turned her face away.
Marisol’s smile faded.
“We can come back.”
“No.”
Genevieve swallowed.
“Do it.”
The nurses measured the chair beside the bed and discussed footrest height.
Genevieve listened without speaking.
Sarah quietly closed the files.
After they left, Genevieve kept staring at the wheelchair.
“I hate it.”
May you like
“I know.”
“No, I hate that they brought it in here like it belongs to me.”
