Part 13
“Because he asked me not to.”
“He asks because you encourage him.”
“He asks because he is afraid when you close the door.”
Arthur made a sound from the room.
Claire turned immediately and went back inside.
Evelyn watched her go.
“She has made me monstrous in his mind.”
Nathaniel looked at the brush. “Did she put that in your hand?”
“No.”
“Did she disable the camera?”
“No.”
“Did she hide the paperwork?”
“No.”
“Did she force Dad’s hand?”
Evelyn’s voice sharpened. “I did not force him to sign.”
“You tried.”
“I guided the pen.”
“Against his refusal.”
“He had agreed earlier.”
“Consent can change.”
“You sound like her.”
“She sounds correct.”
Evelyn picked up the authorization.
Nathaniel’s hand moved, but she did not tear it or hide it. She held it by the edges and stared at the blank signature line.
“I was going to save this family,” she said.
“By taking control of it.”
“Someone has to.”
“Not like this.”
“And what will you do? Open the drive, call a meeting, hire experts, and return to Chicago while everyone else lives inside the damage?”
“I’m not returning tomorrow.”
The words surprised him.
Evelyn looked up.
Nathaniel had a board meeting at nine, the final hotel negotiation at noon, and a dinner with lenders at seven. His calendar existed on his phone as a sequence of obligations that had felt immovable until that second.
He could miss them.
The sale might suffer. His reputation might suffer. People might lose confidence in him.
Consequences.
Real ones.
“I’m staying,” he said.
“For how long?”
“As long as Dad needs.”
“He has needed you for months.”
“Yes.”
She waited for him to defend himself.
He did not.
Her anger lost some of its structure.
Nathaniel held out his hand for the document.
After a moment, Evelyn gave it to him.
He placed it flat on the table beside the brush.
“You should sit in the west suite,” he said.
“While you examine evidence against me.”
“While Claire treats her head and Dad settles.”
“And after?”
“We review the corridor recording together.”
“We already did.”
“No. You watched a few seconds on my phone. We preserve the full segment. Then we deal with the drive.”
“You’re speaking as though this is a board inquiry.”
“It may become more serious than that.”
Fear returned.
“You said you wouldn’t call anyone.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“The camera saw a mistake.”
“The camera saw an assault.”
Evelyn’s lips parted.
Nathaniel heard the weight of the word after he said it. So did she.
Claire appeared again, this time pushing Arthur’s wheelchair into the doorway. “He wants to come out.”
Nathaniel approached. “Dad, you should rest.”
Arthur shook his head.
“He became agitated when he heard Mrs. Mercer,” Claire said. “I think excluding him from decisions may make it worse.”
Evelyn stared at her husband.
Arthur’s face looked gray beneath the amber light, but his eyes were clear.
Nathaniel crouched beside him. “Do you want to stay here?”
One blink.
“Do you understand we’re discussing the recording and the trust?”
One blink.
“Do you want Evelyn to remain in the corridor?”
Arthur looked at her.
For several seconds, he gave no answer.
Then one blink.
Evelyn’s shoulders dropped.
Claire watched him carefully. “Do you want her close to you?”
Two blinks.
“One blink to stay where she is,” Nathaniel said. “Two to send her to the west suite.”
Arthur blinked once.
Evelyn remained near the console, ten feet away.
Nathaniel moved behind the wheelchair but did not push it farther into the corridor.
Arthur pointed toward the phone.
“You want to see the recording?”
One blink.
Claire said, “It may upset him.”
Arthur tapped the armrest, impatient.
Nathaniel looked at her.
“He can choose,” she said. “But stop if his breathing changes.”
Nathaniel opened the clip.
He crouched and held the phone where Arthur could see. Claire stood beside him. Evelyn remained by the brush, her face turned away.
The footage began.
Arthur watched himself refuse the document. His mouth moved on the tiny screen. Evelyn bent toward him. Claire entered. The arm rose.
When the brush struck, Arthur’s right hand seized the wheelchair arm in the present.
Claire touched his shoulder. “We can stop.”
He shook his head.
The video continued. Claire collapsed against the wall. Arthur reached for her. Evelyn retrieved the brush.
Then something happened Nathaniel had not noticed during the first view.
Evelyn bent down after picking up the brush.
Her hand went beneath Arthur’s cardigan.
She removed a folded paper from his pocket.
Nathaniel froze the image.
“What is that?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Claire looked at Arthur. “The document?”
He blinked twice.
Nathaniel enlarged the frame. The paper was smaller than the authorization. White, folded twice.
“Where is it?” he asked.
Evelyn said nothing.
He stood.
“Where is the paper you took from his pocket?”
“It’s not relevant.”
“Where?”
She looked toward the west staircase.
“In my room.”
“What is it?”
“A note.”
“From whom?”
“Arthur.”
“To whom?”
Evelyn’s face became rigid.
Nathaniel looked at his father.
Arthur pointed at him.
The note was for Nathaniel.
“Bring it,” he said.
Evelyn shook her head.
“Why?”
“Because he wrote it while confused.”
Arthur struck the armrest.
Nathaniel’s voice sharpened. “Bring it.”
“No.”
The single syllable restored the confrontation.
Claire moved closer to the wheelchair. Arthur gripped her sleeve again.
Nathaniel stepped toward Evelyn.
He did not touch her. He stopped within arm’s reach.
“The camera shows you taking it.”
“That does not give you the right to read private correspondence.”
“It was addressed to me.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Dad says it was.”
“He cannot say anything clearly tonight.”
Arthur made a furious sound.
Evelyn flinched but did not look at him.
Nathaniel kept his voice low. “You are going to the west suite. You are bringing back the note. You will place it on this table without opening or destroying it.”
“I already opened it.”
May you like
“What did it say?”
She shook her head.
