Chapter 13 - The Witness Who Disappeared.
Police confirmed Richard Sloan had left the residence voluntarily.
That fact did nothing to calm Evelyn.
The authorization form carried Richard's real signature, but the staff member who witnessed it remembered him appearing nervous.
Grant denied contacting Richard.
His attorneys claimed the signed authorization had been fabricated to embarrass him.
The denial arrived so quickly that Naomi suspected it had been prepared in advance.
Marcus traced Richard's mobile phone to a highway rest area before it went offline.
A traffic camera captured him entering a dark sedan.
The driver was not Grant.
It was Helen's longtime chauffeur, Thomas Keene.
Helen stared at the photograph in disbelief.
"I fired Thomas last month."
"Why?"
"Grant told me he had been stealing."
Marcus almost laughed.
"Grant seems to have a favorite accusation."
Thomas's bank records showed a seventy-five-thousand-dollar payment from a Northwind subsidiary two weeks earlier.
Naomi obtained an emergency warrant request through law enforcement contacts already reviewing the financial evidence.
Before authorities located Thomas, Evelyn received a call from Richard.
His voice was weak but controlled.
"I am safe."
"Where are you?"
"I cannot tell you yet."
Evelyn closed her eyes.
"Did Grant threaten you?"
"Grant offered me money."
"How much?"
"Enough to make a dishonest man comfortable."
"And you?"
Richard gave a dry laugh.
"I am too old to learn dishonesty properly."
He explained that Thomas had arrived with what appeared to be a legitimate request from Naomi's office to relocate him for security.
By the time Richard realized the paperwork was false, they were hours away.
Thomas then told him Grant wanted every remaining copy of Margaret's records in exchange for safe passage and money.
"Where are you now?"
"Somewhere Thomas cannot reach me."
Richard had escaped when Thomas stopped for fuel.
He refused to return to Maine.
Instead, he agreed to appear by secure video at the next hearing.
"I also found something in the lining of Margaret's document pouch years ago."
Evelyn gripped the phone.
"What?"
"A notarized memorandum she wrote the same week as the shareholder agreement."
"Do you still have it?"
"Yes."
"What does it say?"
Richard paused.
"That depends on whether Grant's father was telling the truth before he died."
The next morning, Richard testified remotely.
He authenticated Margaret's copies and explained the thirty-five-percent ownership interest.
Grant's attorney attacked his memory, age, and motives.
Richard remained calm.
Then Naomi played the restored cassette.
Grant stared straight ahead while his father's voice filled the courtroom.
The judge ordered a full freeze on Grant-controlled entities and appointed an independent financial monitor over Hartwell Capital.
For the first time, Grant lost operational control of the company.
Outside the hearing room, he did not approach Evelyn.
He approached Helen.
"You gave them the tape."
Helen stepped back.
"You gave me no choice."
"You always had a choice."
Grant's face was frighteningly calm.
"You chose her."
Evelyn moved between them.
Grant looked at her and smiled without warmth.
"You want half?"
"I want what is mine."
"There won't be anything left."
He walked away.
Naomi watched him enter the elevator.
"That sounded like a threat against the assets."
Marcus's phone rang seconds later.
He listened, cursed, and ran toward the stairs.
Hartwell's primary data center had just gone offline.
Backup servers were being wiped remotely.
The independent monitor had been locked out.
Someone was trying to erase the financial records while Grant stood twenty feet from a courtroom.
Then Celeste's phone lit up.
May you like
One message appeared from Grant.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN THE CHAMPAGNE DRESS.
