Chapter 9 - My Brother Came Home
Michael placed the laptop on the table.
“Grant took it.”
Mom frowned.
“Grant said he didn’t.”
“He lied.”
Michael had followed Grant after getting a strange voicemail.
He watched him leave our side door carrying the laptop.
Before Michael could confront him, another car pulled up.
Grant handed the laptop to a man Michael recognized from Dad’s old company.
Former chief operating officer.
Retired two years earlier.
“Richard signed half the Westbridge vendor approvals.”
Mom whispered, “No.”
Michael looked at her.
“You told me Richard was helping Dad.”
“He was.”
“Then why did he have Claire’s laptop?”
Noah corrected him.
“My laptop.”
Michael shrugged.
“Whatever. He had it.”
Michael followed Richard to a storage facility outside town. When Richard left, Grant stayed behind.
Michael confronted Grant.
Grant panicked.
Gave up the laptop.
Then disappeared before police arrived.
“Why bring it here?” I asked.
Michael looked at me for a long moment.
“Because I’m tired of being paid to stay away.”
He admitted taking the $300,000.
“I told myself it was what Dad would have left me if he hadn’t hated me.”
“Dad didn’t hate you.”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“Then he had a strange way of showing it.”
Family pain tried to take over the room.
“Later. Storage unit first.”
Police obtained access that afternoon after Grant’s attorney arranged cooperation.
The unit contained old Harper boxes.
And a small fireproof safe.
Inside was a video recorder.
Noah found a memory card labeled:
IF I DON’T GET TO FIX THIS.
My hands shook as we watched.
Dad appeared on screen looking older than I remembered.
“Claire,” he said. “If you’re watching this, I waited too long.”
I started crying immediately.
“Your mother made mistakes. So did I. But Richard turned those mistakes into a business.”
Noah leaned closer.
Dad said:
“Westbridge stopped being a temporary bridge the day Richard realized Diane would sign anything to keep the company alive.”
Then the video froze.
The memory card was damaged.
May you like
Only one final sentence played.
“And Claire must never be allowed to think Noah started this.”
