Chapter 8 - The $180 Million Trap
The Baltimore property was overpriced.
Not slightly.
By nearly forty million dollars.
Rebecca traced intermediary fees to companies connected to Harrison.
Martin Keller joined the investigation.
Together, we discovered Harrison expected millions after closing.
Had I boarded my original flight, I would probably have signed.
Finding Rosalind had stopped me.
The board suspended Harrison from all company matters.
He responded by threatening to expose “private Hawthorne secrets.”
I told the board to let him.
Secrets had already cost enough.
Then Harrison disappeared.
His office was empty.
His phone was disconnected.
But he left something behind.
A scheduled email arrived in my inbox.
Attached was a photograph of Rosalind from six years earlier.
Pregnant.
Standing outside a medical clinic.
On the back was a message:
Ask her who took this picture.
Rosalind saw it and froze.
“I remember that day.”
“Who was there?”
“Your brother.”
Nathan.
Again.
I called him.
No answer.
I drove to his apartment.
The door was open.
Nathan was gone.
On his kitchen counter sat a handwritten note.
May you like
Chris, I lied about one thing. I didn't just know. I helped.
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