Chapter 9 - The Tape From Twenty-One Years Ago
The videotape was converted digitally under supervision.
Maren watched it with Calder, Genevieve, Griffin, Vivian, Easton, and two attorneys.
The date stamp read three days after she had been thrown out.
Alden appeared first.
Younger.
Sharper.
Easton's father sat across from him.
The recording had apparently been made accidentally by a conference-room security system.
Alden's voice came through clearly.
“She'll come back.”
Easton's father asked, “And if she doesn't?”
“Then I'll make certain she can't interfere.”
Maren felt Griffin shift beside her.
The tape continued.
Alden discussed terminating Maren's financial accounts.
Blocking access to family contacts.
Intercepting correspondence.
Then came something none of them expected.
Easton's father said, “What about the Navy recruiter?”
Maren froze.
Alden answered.
“I'll handle it.”
The video ended shortly afterward.
Maren stared at the screen.
She remembered the recruiter.
Chief Petty Officer Daniel Mercer.
He had been one of the first people who treated nineteen-year-old Maren as if her future belonged to her.
He helped her navigate applications.
Scholarships.
Training opportunities.
Then, without explanation, Mercer disappeared from contact.
Another recruiter eventually helped Maren continue.
She had assumed Mercer transferred.
Now she wondered.
Calder searched.
Daniel Mercer was alive.
Retired.
Living in Virginia.
Maren called.
When he heard her name, he became silent.
“Admiral Rowe.”
“You remember me.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Did my father contact you?”
Long pause.
“Yes.”
Maren closed her eyes.
“What did he say?”
“That you were unstable.”
Her stomach tightened.
“He claimed you had stolen money from the family and run away.”
Griffin swore.
Mercer continued.
“He told me your application would embarrass the service.”
“What did you do?”
“I checked.”
Maren opened her eyes.
Mercer's voice softened.
“And I found no evidence.”
“Why didn't you contact me?”
“I tried.”
Alden had changed her number.
Maren remembered.
Mercer continued.
“Then I received orders overseas. Before leaving, I transferred your file to another recruiter with a note.”
“What note?”
“That you deserved a chance.”
Maren smiled faintly.
“I got it.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“I followed your career.”
His voice carried pride.
“Everyone did.”
Maren thanked him.
When the call ended, she looked at Alden's image frozen on the screen.
He hadn't simply abandoned her.
He had tried to sabotage her future.
And failed.
Griffin stood.
“I can't defend him anymore.”
Maren looked at him.
“You shouldn't have defended him before.”
“I know.”
Vivian began crying.
Again.
Maren had become tired of tears without action.
“Mom.”
Vivian looked up.
“What are you going to do?”
“I don't understand.”
“You spent decades saying you were afraid. Fine. What are you going to do now?”
Vivian looked toward the frozen image of her husband.
Then she removed her wedding ring.
She placed it on the table.
“I'm leaving him.”
Nobody spoke.
Vivian looked at Maren.
“I should have left twenty-one years ago.”
“Yes.”
“I can't fix that.”
“No.”
“But I can stop choosing the same mistake.”
Maren nodded.
That was the first thing her mother had said that sounded like accountability.
The investigation continued.
Federal authorities eventually determined some financial matters fell outside prosecutable time limits, while newer transactions remained under review.
Maren refused to celebrate.
She wanted facts, not punishment for its own sake.
Then Alden disappeared.
His driver found the family car at a private airfield.
No flight plan.
No Alden.
Calder called Maren.
“Do you think he's running?”
“I don't know.”
Griffin sounded frightened.
“He has accounts overseas.”
Maren's instincts sharpened.
“Notify the attorneys and investigators. Don't chase him.”
But Alden hadn't gone overseas.
Three hours later, Genevieve received a phone call.
From her brother.
She put it on speaker.
Alden sounded exhausted.
“Genevieve.”
“Where are you?”
“The lake house.”
The Rowe family owned an abandoned property where Alden and Genevieve had spent childhood summers.
“Why?”
“I need to talk to Maren.”
Maren shook her head.
Genevieve relayed it.
“She says no.”
Alden laughed weakly.
“Of course.”
Then he said something that made Maren reconsider.
“Tell her I found Father's original ledger.”
Genevieve's face changed.
“What ledger?”
“The one he kept before he died.”
“What does it contain?”
Alden was silent.
Then:
“The truth about why Maren got those shares.”
Maren took the phone.
“What truth?”
Alden answered:
“Your grandfather didn't leave you twelve percent because he trusted you.”
Maren waited.
“He left it because it never belonged to him.”
“What are you talking about?”
Alden took a shaky breath.
“The shares belonged to your grandmother.”
Maren frowned.
“So?”
“And before they belonged to Eleanor…”
He paused.
“They belonged to someone else.”
“Who?”
Alden said a name Maren had never heard.
Then Genevieve dropped her cane.
May you like
Because she knew exactly who it was.
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