Chapter 8 - Nora Makes Her First Mistake
Calvin Price had worked with Carter & Bloom for six years.
He was careful, quiet, and so allergic to drama that employees joked he could make a fire alarm sound like a compliance memo.
Jessica called him at seven the next morning.
He answered on the first ring.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
That frightened her.
“Why is your name on a safe-deposit box with Daniel and Nora?”
Calvin did not respond immediately.
“Because Nora asked me to witness an inventory.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“What was inside?”
“I saw corporate seals and several sealed packets. I did not see share certificates.”
“Did you authorize any transfer involving my equity?”
“No.”
“Did you know about Northstar Meridian?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
Jessica gripped the phone.
Marcus leaned closer.
Calvin continued.
“Nora presented it as a potential acquisition vehicle. She said you wanted confidentiality until valuation was complete.”
“She lied.”
“I know that now.”
“How?”
“Because she sent me an emergency board memo at four this morning asking me to certify that you were medically unfit to serve.”
Jessica went still.
“Can you do that?”
“No. And I told her so.”
Calvin had then reviewed the supporting documents.
One was Jessica’s old leave paperwork.
Another was a letter supposedly written by a psychiatrist.
Calvin had called the doctor.
The doctor had never written it.
Nora’s case against Jessica was built on forged medical evidence.
Marcus asked Calvin to preserve every message.
Calvin agreed.
Then he said something that changed the direction of the entire morning.
“Nora also asked me yesterday whether the company’s cyber-insurance policy covered executive fraud committed under coercion.”
Jessica frowned.
“Why would she ask that?”
“I assumed she was reviewing coverage.”
“Now?”
“Now I think she was preparing an explanation.”
For herself.
Jessica understood.
Nora might be planning to claim Daniel forced her.
Daniel, meanwhile, was already preparing to blame Nora.
Their alliance was cracking under pressure.
That gave Jessica something she had not possessed the day before.
Time.
At ten fifty, the emergency board meeting began by video.
Jessica attended from Marcus’s conference room.
Nora appeared from her office at Carter & Bloom.
She wore the pearl-and-sapphire necklace Jessica had given her.
The same necklace visible in Emilee’s photograph.
“Jessica,” Nora said softly, “I’m glad you joined.”
The tenderness in her voice was almost perfect.
Almost.
Jessica said nothing.
Five directors appeared in separate windows.
Daniel joined from an undisclosed location.
Nora opened with concern.
She described Jessica’s “distressing public confrontation” at the airport.
She described “erratic accusations.”
She mentioned Jessica’s past medical leave without naming the miscarriage.
Jessica listened.
Every word was designed to sound compassionate.
That made it crueler.
Then Nora made her mistake.
She said, “The situation became especially concerning when Jessica accused Daniel of moving seven million dollars through Northstar Meridian.”
Marcus’s pen stopped.
Jessica looked at him.
The board members did not react.
But Marcus did.
Jessica had never publicly named the seven-million-dollar amount.
The bank had disclosed it only to Jessica, Marcus, Anna, and the fraud investigators.
Daniel had not mentioned the number during the airport confrontation.
Nora could only know it from inside the scheme.
Jessica leaned toward the camera.
“How much did I accuse him of moving?”
Nora blinked.
“Seven million.”
“I never told you that.”
Silence.
Nora recovered quickly.
“Daniel told me.”
Jessica looked at Daniel’s window.
Daniel’s expression hardened.
Marcus typed a message to Jessica.
ASK WHEN.
Jessica did.
“When did Daniel tell you?”
Nora answered, “Yesterday afternoon.”
Daniel interrupted.
“No, I didn’t.”
Every face on the screen shifted.
Nora stared at him.
Daniel continued.
“I haven’t spoken to Nora since I left the airport.”
It was a lie.
Jessica knew he had received Nora’s call at the house.
But Daniel had just chosen to contradict his partner in front of the entire board.
Nora’s composure cracked for half a second.
That was enough.
Jessica asked Calvin to speak.
He confirmed the psychiatrist letter was false.
Then Marcus displayed metadata linking Nora’s company computer to the documents Anna had been tricked into signing.
Nora muted herself.
A minute later, her video disappeared.
The board meeting dissolved into chaos.
Jessica thought they had finally cornered her.
Then Priya’s phone buzzed.
She read the message and looked at Jessica.
“Someone just logged into the company treasury account using your credentials.”
Jessica’s blood turned cold.
“From where?”
Priya checked.
“Carter & Bloom headquarters.”
May you like
Nora was still inside the building.
And she was trying to move the money again.
