Chapter 7 - Claire's Fear
"I have to go," Claire whispered.
"No. Tell me what Richard planned."
"He said you were changing the trust because pregnancy made you irrational. He said he needed temporary authority to protect the company."
"So you forged my name?"
"He told me you had approved it privately."
"And the notary?"
"My cousin. She thought you had signed earlier."
Another knock hit Claire's door.
A man's voice called her name.
Richard.
Claire lowered her voice until I could barely hear.
"There is a folder in my office safe. Your father left it there years ago. Richard doesn't know."
"What's in it?"
"Something about a woman named Rebecca Sloan."
The line went dead.
Marcus was already standing.
"We get that folder before Richard does."
Rebecca Sloan meant nothing to me.
At 2:10 a.m., Marcus entered Hayes Technologies with a court-authorized investigator and company counsel. Claire's safe was open.
Empty.
But a shredder bin beside her desk contained one narrow strip of paper missed by whoever cleaned the room.
Marcus photographed it and sent it to me.
Three readable words remained.
Rebecca Sloan - beneficiary.
"Beneficiary of what?" I asked.
Evelyn searched our records.
No Rebecca Sloan appeared anywhere in my trust.
Then Marcus called again.
"We found Claire's car in the parking garage."
"And Claire?"
"Gone."
"Richard took her?"
"Maybe. But her phone is still inside the car."
My stomach tightened.
May you like
Marcus paused.
"There is blood on the driver's seat."
