Chapter 3 - THE TRUST
Marissa laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
"You're telling me my husband died without health insurance, and our son owns part of a company?"
Graham looked ashamed.
"Potentially."
"Don't say potentially."
Adrian agreed.
"Show us the trust."
Graham opened his briefcase.
The Whitmore voting trust had been written by Adrian's grandfather in the 1980s. Thomas inherited control. If Thomas had more than one legally recognized child, his voting interest divided equally by bloodline.
Adrian had always been treated as the only son.
Daniel changed that.
If Daniel was acknowledged, his share passed to Owen.
Marissa stood so fast her chair scraped the floor.
"Did Daniel know?"
"Near the end," Graham said.
"Near the end of what? His life?"
Silence.
Marissa's eyes narrowed.
"My husband died at a Whitmore job site fourteen months ago."
Adrian's stomach dropped.
He knew the accident.
Harbor Point Expansion. A structural engineer fell from an elevated inspection platform after a harness failure.
The report called it a tragic equipment malfunction.
Adrian had sent flowers to the widow.
He had not remembered her name.
He hated himself for that.
"Daniel was the engineer?"
Marissa stared at him.
"You signed the company statement after he died."
Adrian remembered the statement now.
We mourn the loss of a valued member of the Whitmore family.
The words suddenly tasted rotten.
Graham said Daniel contacted him six weeks before the fall.
He wanted paternity records opened and the trust corrected.
"Why didn't you do it?" Adrian asked.
Graham looked at the floor.
"Richard convinced me to wait."
"My uncle?"
"He said Daniel was trying to pressure the company during a major public bond issue."
Marissa moved toward Graham.
"My husband wasn't asking for money."
"I know that now."
"What was he asking for?"
Graham hesitated.
Then he removed a second envelope from his briefcase.
"For protection."
Inside was a copy of Daniel's last email.
Subject: HARBOR POINT TESTS ARE FALSE.
May you like
Adrian read the first line.
If they pour the east foundation, someone is going to die.
