Chapter 10 - The Theft
Daniel chased Ethan through two yards before losing him behind a row of garages.
Police arrived within minutes.
Too late.
The notebook was gone.
Emma sat wrapped in a blanket while Detective Ortiz questioned her gently.
“He told me Grandma sent him,” Emma said.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Did he ask you anything?”
“He asked where Mom keeps old papers.”
Claire’s stomach turned.
Emma continued.
“I told him Dad has lots of papers in the office.”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“He knew exactly what he wanted.”
Ortiz nodded.
“He also knew where Margaret hid it.”
Margaret stood near the window.
“I never told Victor.”
Claire looked at her.
“Who else knew?”
“Raymond.”
“And?”
“No one.”
Sophie asked the obvious question.
“Then how did Ethan know?”
Margaret whispered, “Maybe Raymond told him.”
Ortiz shook her head.
“Or Ethan found something in Raymond’s records.”
The police put out an alert for Ethan.
Victor denied knowing where his son was.
By afternoon, his attorneys were issuing statements accusing the Mercer family of harassment and financial extortion.
The battle had moved into public view.
News vans appeared outside Hawthorne House.
Claire hated them.
Emma loved seeing the satellite trucks until she understood why they were there.
“Did Grandma steal money?”
Claire sat beside her.
“Grandma made serious mistakes.”
“Is she bad?”
Claire struggled.
People were easier when reduced to categories.
Good.
Bad.
Victim.
Villain.
But Margaret had been a mother who stole from her daughters.
A woman manipulated by Victor.
A woman who chose wealth over truth.
A woman now trying, perhaps too late, to repair damage.
“She did bad things,” Claire said. “That doesn’t mean every part of her is bad.”
Emma thought about that.
“Did Dad do bad things?”
Daniel stood in the doorway.
Claire looked at him.
“He lied.”
Daniel nodded.
“I did.”
Emma stared at her father.
“Why?”
“Because I was scared.”
“That’s not a good reason.”
“No.”
“Are you going to lie again?”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“I’m going to try very hard not to.”
Emma looked at Claire.
“Are you mad at him?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still love him?”
Claire did not answer immediately.
“Yes.”
Daniel looked away.
Love and trust, Claire realized, were not the same thing.
That evening Sophie found something useful in Peter’s old letter.
A line Claire had overlooked:
Raymond understood the second book matters more than the first. The first proves theft. The second proves ownership.
Daniel frowned.
“Second book?”
Margaret sat up.
“There were two ledgers.”
“What was in the second?”
“Original investor allocations.”
“Including Hawthorne?”
“Yes.”
“If Ethan stole your notebook, why does that matter?”
Margaret shook her head.
“My notebook wasn’t Raymond’s ledger.”
Claire stared.
“You let us think it was.”
“I said notebook.”
Sophie exploded.
“Mom!”
Margaret held up a hand.
“Because if Victor was listening, I wanted him chasing the wrong thing.”
Claire could hardly believe her.
“Where is the second ledger?”
Margaret looked toward Hawthorne House.
“Peter had it.”
“Dad?”
“Raymond gave it to him two years ago.”
Sophie shook her head.
“He never told me.”
“He wouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because it identifies someone else.”
“Who?”
Margaret looked at Daniel.
“Victor wasn’t the only person moving trust money.”
Daniel frowned.
Margaret continued.
“Someone inside the Mercer family helped him.”
Claire’s skin prickled.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Sophie laughed bitterly.
“You expect us to believe that?”
“I know the initials.”
“What initials?”
Margaret whispered:
C.M.
Claire Mercer.
Everyone looked at Claire.
She stared back.
“I was sixteen.”
Margaret nodded.
“I know.”
“Then it can’t be me.”
“Unless someone used your identity.”
Daniel went pale.
Claire noticed.
“What?”
He walked to his laptop.
“I saw those initials in an old deed index.”
“And?”
Daniel looked at her.
“There was a limited partnership created in 2008.”
“What was it called?”
He swallowed.
“Claire Mercer Properties.”
Claire stared.
“I never owned a company.”
Daniel turned the screen toward her.
May you like
According to state records, she had.
And it had received $4.8 million from the Hawthorne Family Trust.
