Chapter 5 - The Missing Ledger Changes Everything
Emily did not look surprised to see the documents.
That was the first thing Clara noticed.
The second was that Emily’s hands were trembling.
Lisa positioned herself between Emily and the desk.
“Stay where you are.”
Emily laughed softly.
“Who are you?”
“Someone who doesn’t work for your family.”
That answer wiped the smile from Emily’s face.
Arthur sank into his chair.
“Emily, don’t.”
“Don’t what?” she snapped. “Don’t try to fix the mess you created?”
Clara looked at the forged signature again.
“Did you know about this?”
Emily’s gaze moved to the paper.
For one second, her expression became unreadable.
Then she said, “Daniel handled the accounts.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Emily looked at Clara.
“No. I didn’t know he forged your signature.”
Clara almost believed her.
Almost.
Naomi stepped forward.
“Then what did you know?”
Emily’s eyes narrowed.
“I don’t answer to you.”
“No,” Naomi said. “But eventually you may answer to someone with subpoena power.”
The room changed again.
Emily went pale.
Arthur whispered her name.
She turned on him.
“You should have destroyed those files.”
Clara heard it.
So did everyone else.
The admission hung between them.
Emily realized too late what she had said.
Lisa folded her arms.
“That sounded important.”
Emily reached for the door.
“Get out of my father’s house.”
Arthur straightened.
“No.”
His daughter stared at him.
Arthur’s voice shook, but he continued.
“They stay.”
Emily looked almost offended.
“You’re choosing her?”
Arthur’s face twisted with something close to grief.
“I should have chosen what was right years ago.”
Then the study lights went out.
The entire house dropped into silence.
A second later, the security alarm began to beep.
Lisa pulled out her phone flashlight.
“Everybody stay where you are.”
The backup generator did not start.
That was wrong.
Arthur’s estate had two independent generators because he hated power interruptions.
Naomi moved toward the desk.
“The flash drive.”
It was gone.
Clara’s blood turned cold.
“It was right there.”
Lisa swung the light across the room.
Emily stood near the door with both hands visible.
Arthur had not moved.
Naomi checked the floor.
Nothing.
Then they heard a door slam somewhere downstairs.
Lisa ran into the hall.
Clara followed despite Naomi telling her not to.
At the bottom of the stairs, the front door stood open.
Rain blew across the marble floor.
A dark SUV was pulling away from the circular drive.
Clara recognized it.
Daniel’s.
Arthur gripped the banister.
“He came back.”
Emily’s voice sounded strange behind them.
“He never left.”
Clara turned.
“What does that mean?”
Emily’s face was tight.
“He was in the guest wing.”
Arthur stared at her.
“You knew?”
“He called me at six.”
Clara stepped toward Emily.
“And you didn’t think that mattered?”
Emily flinched.
For the first time, Clara saw something beneath the polished cruelty.
Panic.
“Daniel said he only wanted to talk to Dad.”
Lisa returned to the study and checked the remaining papers.
“The flash drive may be gone, but the hard copies remain.”
Naomi shook her head.
“Unless the drive had records Arthur didn’t print.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“It did.”
Clara looked at him.
“What records?”
Arthur swallowed.
“Audio.”
“Of who?”
“Martin Keene. Daniel. Two city officials.”
Naomi cursed again.
Lisa’s expression hardened.
“Those recordings could have established conspiracy.”
Arthur nodded.
Clara felt fury rise through the fear.
“Why didn’t you make copies?”
“I did.”
Everyone froze.
Arthur looked at Clara.
“One copy.”
“Where?”
He hesitated.
“With someone I trusted.”
Emily laughed bitterly.
“You don’t trust anyone.”
Arthur looked directly at her.
“That’s not true.”
Then his eyes shifted to Clara.
The realization hit Emily first.
“No,” she said.
Arthur nodded toward the blue notebook tucked inside Clara’s bag.
“The notebook isn’t just numbers.”
Clara opened it.
She had looked through every page with Naomi.
At least she thought she had.
Arthur pointed to the inside back cover.
The cardboard lining was thicker than the front.
Naomi used a butter knife from the study bar to pry it apart.
Inside was a microSD card taped beneath the paper.
Clara stared at Arthur.
“You put this there?”
“In February.”
“The same day you hid the key?”
“Yes.”
Arthur looked ashamed.
“I thought if I died before I found the courage to expose them, you were the only person in this family who might still do the right thing.”
Clara’s throat tightened.
Then Emily whispered, “You have no idea what you just handed her.”
Arthur looked at his daughter.
“I know exactly what I handed her.”
Emily shook her head.
“No. You don’t.”
She turned to Clara.
“Because those recordings don’t just implicate Daniel.”
May you like
Her eyes filled with something that looked almost like hatred.
“They implicate Arthur too.”
