Chapter 9 - The Missing Shares
The missing certificates could not simply be cashed like checks.
Lydia explained that three times.
“They are evidence of ownership, not bearer bonds.”
Ryan paced anyway.
“So stealing them accomplishes what?”
“Possibly nothing legally.”
“Then why take them?”
“Because people committing fraud often prefer original documents. They can be used to support forged transfer paperwork.”
Marcus agreed.
“If the scheme involved presenting a false chain of authority to a lender or buyer, originals make the packet look more credible.”
Ryan stopped pacing.
“The Whitmore Hotel sale.”
“Exactly.”
Grace’s trust did not own the hotel directly.
It owned shares in a holding company that controlled the property.
A fraudulent transfer of those shares could create enough confusion to facilitate financing or a sale before anyone challenged it.
“And Daniel was trying to get me to sign,” Ryan said.
“Your signature would have made everything cleaner.”
“But if I refused—”
“They may have had a forged version ready.”
Ryan felt sick.
Every document he signed as CEO had suddenly become suspicious.
Marcus began a broader review.
Within forty-eight hours he identified nearly seven million dollars in questionable transactions over four years.
The earliest predated Claire’s death.
The newest had occurred that week.
Police and prosecutors were notified.
Because payments crossed state lines and involved electronic banking, federal investigators also became interested.
Ryan's life divided into two investigations.
One concerned what Monica did to Grace.
The other concerned what Monica and Daniel may have done to everyone else.
Grace cared about neither.
She wanted to go home.
The hotel scared her.
Every hallway sounded unfamiliar.
Every knock made her hide.
Ryan brought her back to the mansion only after private security was increased.
Monica remained under a no-contact order.
Daniel had not been charged.
He continued working.
That arrangement became impossible.
The board placed him on administrative leave once the initial audit findings were disclosed.
Daniel reacted with outrage.
He called Ryan twenty-three times.
Ryan answered the twenty-fourth.
“You owe me a conversation.”
Ryan stood alone in Claire’s study.
“I owe you nothing.”
“Twenty years, Ryan.”
“You knew Monica before I met her.”
Silence.
There it was.
Not denial.
Silence.
Daniel finally said, “It's complicated.”
“Did you introduce her into my life?”
“No.”
Ryan laughed.
“That answer took too long.”
“Listen to me.”
“Did you know she was Marissa Pierce?”
Another silence.
Ryan closed his eyes.
“Jesus Christ.”
“It wasn't what you think.”
“What do I think?”
“That we planned your marriage.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
Daniel exhaled.
“I met Marissa years ago through event contracts.”
“Monica.”
“She was using Marissa then.”
“Keep going.”
“She connected me with vendors who could move fast on property renovations. We used them.”
“They stole millions.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know enough.”
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“Claire didn't understand how development accounting works.”
Ryan gripped the phone.
“Do not blame my dead wife.”
“I'm telling you, she saw irregularities and assumed criminal intent.”
“She was right.”
“No, she was suspicious.”
“Why was Monica paid before she met me?”
Daniel did not answer.
Ryan lowered his voice.
“Why did she have a Halcyon card?”
“Ryan—”
“Why did she marry me?”
“I don't know.”
“You knew her.”
“Yes.”
“You hid that.”
“Yes.”
“You approved companies connected to her.”
“Yes.”
“And you want me to believe you don't know why she married me?”
Daniel’s breath came through the phone.
Then he said, “Because at first, she wasn't supposed to.”
Ryan stopped.
“What?”
“She was supposed to get close enough to learn what Claire had saved.”
Ryan felt the room tilt.
Daniel continued.
“After Claire died, we knew she'd left records somewhere. Marissa said she could get into the social circle around you.”
“Why?”
“To figure out what Claire gave Lydia.”
Ryan could barely speak.
“And then?”
“She met you.”
“Then what?”
“She changed the plan.”
Ryan stared at Claire’s empty cabinet.
“She married me.”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell her to?”
“No.”
“Did you stop her?”
“No.”
Ryan's voice cracked with fury.
“You stood beside me at the wedding.”
Daniel whispered, “I know.”
Ryan remembered Daniel giving a toast.
To second chances.
He nearly threw the phone.
Instead he asked the question that mattered most.
“Did Monica plan to hurt Grace?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because that was never part of anything.”
“Anything?”
Daniel realized his mistake.
Ryan seized it.
“What exactly was part of it?”
Daniel hung up.
Ryan stared at the phone.
The conversation had not been recorded by him.
May you like
But on Lydia’s advice, investigators had arranged lawful preservation procedures for communications relevant to the corporate inquiry.
And Daniel had just admitted more than he understood.
