Chapter 19 - The Night the Lights Went Out
At 9:15 that evening, Corinne arrived at an empty office building near the marina.
She had rented the meeting room under a false business name.
Martin was already there.
He hadn't brought a briefcase.
He hadn't brought his usual coffee.
He sat beside the window, staring at the parking lot.
Corinne closed the door.
"You're late."
"No. You are."
She checked her watch.
He was right.
That annoyed her more than it should have.
She sat across from him.
"Simon talked."
Martin didn't move.
"To whom?"
"An attorney. Possibly the police."
"What did he tell them?"
Corinne folded her arms.
"He thinks I pushed Lila."
Martin looked at her.
"Did you?"
She stared back.
"Not you too."
"I asked a question."
"And I heard it."
He leaned forward.
"Corinne, I'm facing a serious corporate investigation. I need to know whether you told me the truth after the accident."
She laughed.
"Now you're worried about truth?"
"Yes."
"That's adorable."
He didn't smile.
Corinne looked away.
"She was being difficult. I pushed her back. She lost her balance."
Martin closed his eyes.
"Jesus."
"Don't be dramatic."
"A little girl fell off the side of a yacht."
"And she's alive."
"That doesn't make it all right."
Corinne stared at him.
For the first time, she seemed genuinely astonished by his response.
"You've spent months helping Reed buy Adrian's company using numbers you knew were incomplete, and now you're giving me a lecture?"
Martin's voice hardened.
"Those are not the same thing."
"No. You're right. Your lies come with invoices."
He stood.
"I'm leaving."
"Sit down."
"No."
Corinne rose.
"If you walk out, I'm telling Adrian everything."
Martin turned.
"About what?"
"Your fees. The report. Reed. All the things you wanted buried."
He watched her.
Then he said quietly, "I've retained counsel."
Her expression changed.
"You what?"
"And I've begun cooperating with the board's investigation."
Corinne stared.
"You're selling me out."
"I'm trying to stop making things worse."
She stepped closer.
"You think they'll forgive you because you cry and give them a few emails?"
"No."
"Then why?"
Martin looked exhausted.
"Because my wife asked me whether I could still look my children in the eye."
Corinne laughed bitterly.
"Good for Caroline."
Martin picked up his coat.
"Don't contact me again."
She blocked his path.
"You're not walking away from this."
He stopped.
"Move."
For a moment, Corinne didn't.
Then she stepped aside.
Martin walked out.
Corinne remained in the room, trembling with anger.
She looked at the empty chair.
At the abandoned glass of water.
At the door Martin had closed.
People kept leaving.
Adrian.
Simon.
Martin.
And every time, they acted as though she were the problem.
She picked up the glass and hurled it against the wall.
It shattered.
The sound echoed through the empty office.
Then the motion-sensitive lights switched off, leaving her standing in darkness.
At Evelyn's house, Adrian was having a different kind of terrible evening.
Lila had woken from a nightmare.
He found her sitting upright, sobbing.
"No shoe! No shoe!"
He knelt beside the sofa.
"Hey. Hey, bug. It's Daddy."
She clawed at his sleeve.
"Don't step!"
Adrian gathered her into his arms.
"Nobody's stepping on you."
She shook her head.
"Cor'inne shoe."
He froze.
Lila cried against his shoulder.
He remembered the raised foot.
The cream-colored shoe hanging above the rim.
He'd been so focused on her hands that he'd barely registered it.
Now his daughter was dreaming about it.
He rocked her gently.
"You're safe."
"She was gonna—"
Her voice dissolved into sobs.
Adrian didn't ask her to finish.
He held her until she fell asleep.
Then he wrote down her exact words, the time, and the circumstances, as the specialists had instructed.
He sent the information to Detective Donnelly.
He didn't embellish it.
He didn't add what he believed.
Only what his daughter had said.
At eleven-thirty, Naomi called.
"I received something unusual."
Adrian stepped into the hallway.
"What?"
"An unsigned letter delivered to my office."
"About West Pier?"
"Yes."
"From whom?"
"No return address."
She paused.
"It contains a copy of an internal payment schedule."
Adrian leaned against the wall.
"Bell Advisory?"
"Partly. There's a proposed payment to another entity if the sale closes."
"What entity?"
Naomi read the name.
Harbor Bridge Strategies LLC.
Adrian frowned.
"Never heard of it."
"Neither had I."
"Who's behind it?"
"We're checking."
A pause.
Then Naomi said, "Adrian, the attached schedule appears to allocate more than a million dollars to Martin Keene."
Adrian closed his eyes.
He'd known Martin for fifteen years.
They'd been at each other's children's birthday parties.
Martin had visited Eleanor in the hospital.
He'd stood beside Adrian at her funeral.
And somewhere between those memories, he'd helped build a transaction that might have cheated the company and its smallest owner.
Lila.
Naomi spoke again.
"Are you still there?"
"Yeah."
"There's one more line on the schedule."
Adrian opened his eyes.
"What?"
"It says the payment is contingent on the trust interest being brought into the sale."
He looked toward the room where his daughter slept.
"Corinne knew about that trust."
"Yes."
"She knew I couldn't sell without your approval."
"She did."
Adrian stood very still.
For the first time, he saw how his daughter's existence affected the deal.
Not because Lila could sign documents.
May you like
But because Eleanor had protected her ownership interest from people who might pressure Adrian.
And Corinne had hated every protection Eleanor left behind.
