Chapter 9 - Vivian’s Father
Gordon Cross did not deny the ten-percent stake.
He denied that anything was wrong with it.
“It was compensation for risk.”
Daniel sat across from him in the conference room at Cross Development.
Vivian was beside Daniel.
That alone angered Gordon.
“You were not invited,” he told his daughter.
“I’m staying.”
Gordon ignored her.
Daniel placed James’s letter on the table.
“My father called it temporary security.”
“Your father called many things many things depending on the day.”
“Did you agree to return the shares?”
“No.”
“Did he think you did?”
Gordon leaned back.
“James was dying.”
Margaret’s warning echoed in Daniel’s head.
Dead people cannot answer.
“So you’re saying his memory was unreliable?”
“I’m saying he changed decisions constantly.”
“Convenient.”
“It is also true.”
Daniel disliked the possibility.
Gordon continued.
“I put money into Bennett when no one else would.”
“So did my mother.”
“Yes.”
The easy acknowledgment surprised Daniel.
“You knew.”
“Of course.”
“You helped create a deed she says she never signed.”
Gordon’s face changed.
“I helped finance transactions based on documents presented to me.”
“Elaine Mercer says you gave her the document to notarize.”
Silence.
Vivian turned toward her father.
“Dad?”
Gordon looked at her.
“Do not participate in matters you do not understand.”
Her face hardened.
“That answer worked when I was sixteen.”
Daniel almost smiled.
Gordon’s patience broke.
“Your mother is about to lose the company she built because you decided to play investigator.”
Vivian stared.
“My mother died when I was twenty.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No. I don’t.”
Cross Development had always been Gordon’s identity.
Vivian had worked there because she believed she would inherit leadership.
Now she saw what Daniel had begun seeing in Bennett.
Family businesses often called control “legacy.”
Gordon looked back at Daniel.
“The merger solves Riverstone.”
“By absorbing a claim from a vendor you partly own.”
“It is a legal investment.”
“It also solves your debt.”
“Yes.”
“At our expense.”
“At combined scale.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I’m withdrawing Bennett from the merger.”
For the first time, Gordon lost composure.
“You cannot.”
“I can.”
“The board has already—”
“The board has not approved final terms.”
“You announced market expectations.”
“No announcement occurred.”
Gordon glanced at Vivian.
Because she had humiliated Margaret before Daniel could announce anything.
The garden hose may have accidentally prevented one of the biggest business mistakes of Daniel’s life.
The irony was obscene.
Gordon stood.
“If you walk away, Mason will pursue the full Riverstone claim.”
“Let them.”
“Your lenders will react.”
“We’ll deal with them.”
“You think your mother will save you?”
Daniel looked at him.
“No.”
That was the first thing he felt certain about.
“I think I need to save myself.”
Vivian inhaled softly.
Gordon stared at Daniel.
Then his expression chilled.
“You have no idea what your father did to keep Bennett alive.”
“Neither did I.”
Gordon smiled without warmth.
“Then perhaps Margaret should explain why James was desperate enough to forge anything.”
Margaret’s name in his mouth angered Daniel.
“What do you mean?”
Gordon gathered his papers.
“Ask her about October 2003.”
Daniel looked at Vivian.
She seemed equally confused.
“What happened?”
Gordon walked toward the door.
Before leaving he said:
“Your mother threatened to take Alderwick and force Bennett Properties into bankruptcy.”
Then he left.
Daniel drove directly to Margaret’s house.
She was in the garden.
A green hose lay across the grass.
He stopped when he saw it.
Margaret noticed.
“So did I,” she said.
“What?”
“The color.”
She turned off the water.
Daniel almost laughed.
Then remembered why he had come.
“What happened in October 2003?”
Margaret’s face changed.
“Gordon told you.”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
“Did you threaten to bankrupt Dad?”
Margaret looked toward the house.
“No.”
“Did you threaten to take Alderwick?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She wrapped the hose carefully around its stand.
“Because your father had used your college trust as collateral without telling me.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“My what?”
“Your grandfather left money for your education.”
“I know. Dad said the market wiped most of it out.”
Margaret met his eyes.
“The market didn’t.”
Daniel stared.
May you like
“Your father did.”
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