Chapter 7 - ROBERT’S SECRET
Robert answered on the first ring.
“Emma.”
“Why were you in my safe-deposit box?”
Silence.
Then: “Where are you?”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Not on the phone.”
We met at a diner near O’Hare because Robert said Patricia tracked the location of his car.
He arrived without a jacket, looking like he had aged overnight.
“I should have told you years ago,” he said.
I slid the access log across the table.
“Start now.”
Robert rubbed both hands over his face.
“Patricia has been moving money through my company since before Michael married you. At first I thought it was tax games. Then I learned Michael was using client deposits to cover losses.”
“What losses?”
“Sports betting. Options. Crypto. Whatever made him feel smarter than everyone else.”
My stomach dropped.
“Why my inheritance?”
“Because they needed clean collateral.”
Robert said he discovered the forged power of attorney last year. He accessed my box hoping to remove the originals before Patricia did.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because Michael threatened to report me as part of the scheme.”
“Were you?”
Robert looked at his coffee.
“Years ago, I signed things I shouldn’t have.”
There it was.
Not innocence. Cowardice.
He pushed a small key across the table.
“Before Patricia emptied your box, I removed one envelope.”
“What envelope?”
“Your father’s shareholder agreement.”
I stared at him.
“It has a transfer restriction. Your shares can’t be pledged without approval from the Hale board.”
“So their plan couldn’t work.”
“Not legally.”
He swallowed.
“But Michael already submitted documents saying the board approved it.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Who signed for the board?”
Robert looked miserable.
May you like
“Your brother, Daniel.”
My brother had died three years earlier.
