Chapter 5 - The Girl Who Made Him Believe
"She knew exactly where to hurt us," Nate said.
Rachel wanted to take the footage straight to the police. Owen told them to preserve the original, identify the cameras, and keep the video away from social media. A public accusation might feel good for five minutes and damage the investigation for five years.
"You're protecting her," Rachel snapped.
"I'm protecting the case."
Nate stared at Sloane's face frozen on the screen. She looked happy. Not worried, not trapped, not sorry. Happy.
They had met at a charity auction two years earlier. She bid on an ugly painting because it reminded her of her grandmother's kitchen. Nate loved that she'd chosen a memory over money.
Sloane remembered staff birthdays. When his mother died, she sat with him through nights he couldn't sleep.
Now he couldn't decide which memories were lies. The uncertainty hurt worse than the insult.
A hotel employee brought a padded envelope addressed to him. Inside was a copy of the prenuptial agreement Sloane had signed, with three pages highlighted. On top sat a handwritten note: THE PRENUP DOESN'T SAVE YOUR SISTER.
Owen studied it. "The prenup protects your separate property. It never gave Sloane control of Harbor Light. Whoever sent this wants you frightened enough to negotiate."
"So what is Graham buying with that wire?" Nate asked.
Rachel lifted the invoice again. "Marsh Point. A contractor I've never seen. But someone approved them as a preferred vendor at the last board meeting."
"Who?"
"The meeting minutes say I did." Rachel swallowed. "I wasn't there. I was in the hospital with our aunt."
Nate looked at the clock. A little after noon. Less than four hours before the bank's temporary hold expired.
Then Rachel opened the final attachment and made a sound he'd never heard from her before.
May you like
It was a board resolution authorizing the sale of Willow Court itself. Beneath it was her signature, beautifully copied.
And beside that signature sat the name of a witness: Nathan Whitcomb.
