Chapter 7 - THE REAL TARGET
I wanted to believe Grant was bluffing.
Then James showed me the corporate succession documents.
If I died before Lily turned eighteen, my voting shares passed into her trust.
If Lily were declared incompetent, the trustee named in the most recent filing could vote those shares on her behalf.
Claire.
If both happened, Grant and Claire could effectively control Bennett Medical Systems.
My daughter had been a doorway.
I was the target on the other side.
“Claire was hurting Lily to create a medical record,” James said. “Grant needed that record before anything happened to you.”
Detective Ortiz asked, “Any recent accidents?”
I almost said no.
Then I remembered the brake warning on my car two weeks earlier.
The mechanic had called it a sensor issue.
And the gas smell in my home office last month.
A furnace technician found a loose fitting.
Coincidences suddenly looked organized.
We returned to the hospital under police escort.
Lily was awake, eating applesauce.
She smiled when she saw me.
That almost destroyed me.
I sat beside her and said, “Sweetheart, I need to ask you something. Did anyone ever tell you not to tell Daddy about things that happened at home?”
She nodded.
“Who?”
“Claire.”
“What did she say?”
Lily looked at Maria, then whispered, “She said Daddy would go away like Mommy if I made trouble.”
I had to turn my face.
Maria started crying silently.
Then Lily added, “The red car man said it too.”
Detective Ortiz leaned closer. “What red car man?”
“The man who comes when Daddy sleeps at the office.”
She described Grant’s red vintage Porsche.
“Where did he go?” I asked.
Lily pointed downward.
“Downstairs.”
My house didn’t have a finished basement.
At least, I thought it didn’t.
Maria looked at me.
“There’s a locked storage room behind the wine cellar.”
I stared at her.
“I don’t have a key to that room.”
May you like
She swallowed.
“Claire does.”
