Chương 9
“Please,” she added.
It might have been the first time I had ever heard her use the word when she needed something.
I called Mercer’s office again.
“Hold public release.”
Mercer nodded.
“Maintain preservation, lender notice, and board notice?”
“Yes.”
“Transfer remains frozen?”
“Yes.”
Ethan started to speak.
I raised one hand.
“No.”
He stopped.
“The transfer stays frozen until the signature issue is resolved.”
Daniel Cho said, “That aligns with our position.”
I ended the call.
Olivia exhaled.
For one second, gratitude almost appeared.
Then she looked toward the house.
“We need Richard.”
Leonard said, “We need records.”
“We need my husband.”
“We may need both.”
Ethan took out his phone.
Priya watched him.
“I’m calling Dad.”
“No objection.”
He dialed.
A ringing tone sounded faintly through his speaker.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then someone answered.
No one spoke.
Ethan’s face changed.
“Dad?”
A male voice came through, distant but audible.
“Ethan.”
Richard Sterling sounded perfectly calm.
“Where are you?”
“That isn’t important.”
“It’s very important.”
“Is Clara there?”
Every face turned toward me.
Ethan swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Put me on speaker.”
He did.
Richard’s voice emerged into the terrace.
“Clara, do not release the compliance package.”
I looked at the forged authorization in Priya’s hand.
“Why?”
A pause followed.
Then Richard said, “Because if you release it, you won’t just destroy Sterling Development.”
His breathing sounded heavy for the first time.
“You’ll expose Northline too.”
The terrace went silent in a different way this time.
Not shocked.
Listening.
Mercer looked at me.
Priya stopped folding the transfer notice.
Ethan stared at his phone as though his father had changed languages.
I said, “Explain.”
Richard breathed once into the receiver.
“You know what Northline certified.”
“I know what we certified.”
“No, Clara.”
His voice remained calm.
“You know what you were given to certify.”
Priya stepped closer to Ethan’s phone.
“Richard, this is Priya Shah.”
“I know who you are.”
“Then be precise.”
“I am being precise.”
“You are making an allegation about my client’s firm.”
“I’m making an observation.”
Mercer’s mouth tightened.
I had seen that expression during depositions.
It meant someone had just chosen a sentence they would regret later.
“What was withheld?” Mercer asked.
Richard paused.
“That depends on which file you’re holding.”
“Don’t do that,” I said.
“Do what?”
“Make us guess so you can decide which truth is safest.”
For the first time, his voice sharpened.
“You think this is safe for me?”
“I think you left through a service gate.”
“I left because I was told the lenders were already on the property.”
“That tends to happen when someone submits altered control documents.”
Another pause.
Ethan rubbed his forehead.
“Dad, did you change the authorization page?”
“No.”
Olivia said, “Richard.”
He went silent.
She stepped closer to the phone in Ethan’s hand.
“Did you know it was changed?”
“Olivia.”
“Answer me.”
“This is not the place.”
A strange expression crossed her face.
It was almost a smile.
Not because anything was funny.
Because she had just heard her own language returned to her.
“Apparently that sentence runs in the family.”
Richard did not respond.
Olivia’s jaw trembled once.
She turned away before anyone could study her.
I looked at Ethan.
He saw me notice.
Something like shame passed between us, but it was too late to be useful.
Priya said, “Richard, what did Northline receive that was materially incomplete?”
“Ask Clara about the soil reports.”
My stomach tightened.
Mercer looked at me.
I said, “Which soil reports?”
“The western parcel.”
“There were four.”
“Five.”
I stopped breathing normally.
Mercer’s eyes narrowed.
I looked at him.
“We received four.”
“I know.”
Richard said it softly.
That was worse.
Priya asked, “What was the fifth?”
“Supplemental sampling from the southern retaining area.”
I pictured the file index from months earlier.
Environmental engineering summaries.
Groundwater.
Vapor intrusion.
Remediation estimates.
Four appendices.
No fifth supplemental report.
“Who commissioned it?” I asked.
“Sterling Development.”
“When?”
“Last August.”
My fingers went cold.
Our initial certification work had begun in September.
“You had it before Northline’s review.”
“Yes.”
“And it wasn’t produced.”
“No.”
Leonard swore under his breath.
Daniel Cho turned away and said something quietly to the other lender representative.
Priya raised a hand.
“Please don’t make calls yet.”
Daniel looked back at her.
“If there is an undisclosed environmental report, I have obligations.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t tell me not to act.”
“I’m asking you not to act on an unverified statement from a man who just left the property after a questionable transfer attempt.”
Daniel’s mouth tightened.
“That is fair.”
He stayed where he was.
I said, “Richard, what did the fifth report show?”
His breathing changed.
“That the southern retaining area had contamination above projected remediation assumptions.”
“How far above?”
“Enough.”
“That isn’t a number.”
“I don’t have the report in front of me.”
“Where is it?”
“With counsel.”
Priya looked toward the house.
“Martin Vale?”
“Yes.”
Leonard said, “And Martin left with you.”
“No.”
Richard’s answer came quickly.
“He left separately.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect us to believe that?”
“I don’t particularly care what you believe right now.”
There he was.
The Richard Sterling I knew.
Quiet.
Controlled.
Offended by the existence of other people’s judgment.
Ethan leaned toward the phone.
“Dad, why wasn’t the report produced?”
Richard said nothing.
Ethan waited.
“Dad.”
“Because it would have delayed financing.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Olivia turned back.
“What did you do?”
Richard ignored her.
I asked, “Did Northline request all environmental reports?”
“Yes.”
“Did Sterling certify production was complete?”
“Yes.”
“Who signed that certification?”
A long pause followed.
Leonard answered before Richard did.
“Martin.”
Priya’s eyes shifted toward him.
“How do you know?”
“I countersigned the board acknowledgment.”
“Did you know production was incomplete?”
“No.”
He looked furious now, but the fury was directed partly at himself.
“I saw the certification and assumed counsel had verified it.”
Mercer said, “Who besides Martin knew the fifth report existed?”
Richard exhaled.
“Me.”
May you like
“Anyone else?”
Another pause.
