Chapter 5 - The Man My Father Trusted
I did not confront Samuel.
Not immediately.
That was the advantage of learning to live beside Daniel.
I had become very good at hiding what I knew.
Samuel looked at my face.
“Something wrong?”
“Board meeting.”
Not technically a lie.
There was a board meeting in forty minutes.
He nodded.
“I’ll speak with the trust administrator.”
“About what?”
“Activating the safeguard.”
“No.”
Samuel frowned.
“If Daniel attempted to incapacitate you—”
“We don’t have formal proof yet.”
“The charter doesn’t require a criminal conviction.”
“I know.”
“Then why wait?”
Because Evelyn had just warned me about him.
“I don’t want Hawthorne thrown into emergency governance while the press is already circling.”
Samuel studied me.
Then smiled faintly.
“Your father would say the same thing.”
That should have comforted me.
Instead it made me more suspicious.
At noon, nine members of Hawthorne’s board joined an emergency meeting.
Three in person.
Six remotely.
Board chairman Leonard Shaw opened the meeting.
“Claire, nobody here is presuming wrongdoing.”
Which usually meant someone was.
“However,” he continued, “the situation creates substantial reputational exposure.”
I looked at each face on the screen.
“I was the intended victim.”
General counsel Rebecca Lin spoke.
“Police have not publicly said that.”
“They will.”
“When?”
“I don’t control the police.”
Board member Cynthia Rhodes leaned forward.
“The footage circulating online is damaging.”
“Then our communications department should correct the timeline.”
“They have.”
“Good.”
Leonard sighed.
“Claire, we’re not attacking you.”
“Then stop speaking as if removing me is the responsible option.”
Nobody answered.
There it was.
I leaned back.
“Has someone suggested I take temporary leave?”
Silence again.
Finally Leonard said, “Daniel contacted several directors.”
Of course he had.
“When?”
“This morning.”
“What did he say?”
“That you were experiencing significant emotional instability before the dinner incident.”
Rebecca closed her eyes briefly.
She knew how bad that sounded.
I smiled.
“Did Daniel happen to mention that he has no formal position at Hawthorne Logistics?”
“He said he was speaking as your husband.”
“Soon-to-be ex-husband.”
The room froze.
I continued.
“Daniel Mercer has never held an executive position here. He does not speak for me, my shares, or this company.”
Cynthia adjusted her glasses.
“Are you filing for divorce?”
“Yes.”
That would leak within twenty minutes.
I didn’t care.
“Furthermore, I have provided law enforcement with evidence indicating Daniel may have attempted to obtain temporary control of my voting rights through disputed medical incapacity.”
Rebecca sat forward.
“What evidence?”
“Legal documents.”
Leonard swore under his breath.
I continued.
“My father anticipated this exact category of threat. There are corporate protections in place.”
Several directors looked surprised.
Good.
Not everybody knew.
Samuel did.
Rebecca did.
Leonard apparently did not.
Then something unexpected happened.
Rebecca said, “Claire, we should speak privately after this meeting.”
Her tone was wrong.
“What is it?”
“After.”
“Now.”
She hesitated.
“Someone attempted to access the corporate charter archive at 3:42 this morning.”
Samuel looked sharply toward her.
“Using whose credentials?” I asked.
Rebecca glanced at Samuel.
His face changed.
“Mine,” she said.
Rebecca had been home asleep.
Security logs showed her credentials had been used from a terminal in the executive legal suite.
Someone wasn’t just after my father’s physical letter.
They were searching for the electronic version of his protections.
The board meeting ended quickly after that.
Rebecca joined me in my office.
Samuel started to follow.
I stopped him.
“Give us ten minutes.”
His expression remained neutral.
“Of course.”
When the door closed, Rebecca pulled a flash drive from her jacket.
“I found something six months ago.”
My pulse quickened.
“What?”
“I didn’t know what it meant.”
She plugged the drive into my offline laptop.
A scanned agreement appeared.
MRC STRATEGIC PARTNERS.
The same firm that had paid Evelyn.
“Where did you find this?”
“Archived files from the Mercer Freight acquisition review.”
My father’s signature appeared on the bottom.
So did Samuel Price’s.
The agreement authorized MRC Strategic Partners to investigate accounting irregularities at Mercer Freight.
The consulting company was secretly controlled by—
I stared at the name.
“Evelyn?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Your father paid Evelyn Mercer to provide evidence against her husband.”
I sat back.
That changed everything.
Evelyn had betrayed Charles Mercer.
Not my father.
My father simply paid for the information.
“Daniel knows?”
“I don’t know.”
“Samuel?”
“His signature is on the agreement.”
Evelyn’s warning echoed.
DO NOT TRUST SAMUEL PRICE.
Rebecca clicked another document.
A confidentiality agreement signed by Evelyn.
Then another.
A handwritten memorandum from Samuel to my father.
EVELYN REQUESTS ADDITIONAL PROTECTION. SHE FEARS CHARLES WILL DISCOVER HER COOPERATION.
I looked up.
“Samuel knew she was an informant.”
“Yes.”
“So why did he tell me my father destroyed Mercer Freight?”
Rebecca’s face tightened.
“Technically, Hawthorne’s investigation triggered the exposure.”
“But Charles’s company collapsed because he was committing fraud.”
“That appears to be what the files show.”
My anger sharpened.
Samuel had given me the truth with one crucial piece missing.
The kind of omission that changes everything.
I opened the office door.
Samuel was gone.
His phone went directly to voicemail.
Then Evelyn called.
I answered immediately.
“Why shouldn’t I trust Samuel?”
Her voice was weak.
“Because Daniel isn’t the only person who wants those shares.”
“What does Samuel want?”
“You still think this is about revenge.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
“What is it about?”
“Your father discovered something before he died.”
“What?”
“A network inside Hawthorne.”
My blood chilled.
“Employees?”
“Executives.”
“Who?”
“I only know one name.”
“Samuel?”
“No.”
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“Leonard Shaw.”
Our board chairman.
I looked through the glass wall toward the executive corridor.
Leonard was standing at the far end.
Watching me.
Evelyn continued.
“Your father believed someone inside Hawthorne helped Mercer Freight hide illegal shipments.”
“What shipments?”
“I never knew.”
“Why didn’t you tell police?”
“Because Charles threatened Daniel and Monica when they were children.”
I shut my eyes.
This story had started years before my marriage.
“Where is Samuel?”
Evelyn asked suddenly.
“I don’t know.”
“Find him.”
“Why?”
“Because if Leonard knows you opened your father’s envelope, Samuel is in danger.”
A loud knock struck my office door.
I looked up.
Two federal agents stood outside.
One raised his badge.
“Claire Hawthorne?”
“Yes.”
May you like
“We need to speak with you regarding an ongoing federal investigation into Hawthorne Logistics.”
Behind them, Leonard disappeared around the corner.
