Chapter 13 - The Exit Plan
The spreadsheet listed every Hartwell property, an estimated sale price, and a column marked DISPOSAL PRIORITY. At the top sat the warehouse. Below it was Daniel's house. Across the final column, someone had calculated how much cash could be transferred once the refinancing closed.
A message accompanied the file: Ask Daniel why the numbers don't reach the tenants.
Mara warned me not to assume the sender was trustworthy. She preserved the email and forwarded it for forensic review. Still, it matched the redevelopment notice Luis had shown me.
“Vanessa presented a very different plan to me. She promised long-term growth, not selling off your buildings.”
“Will you testify to that?”
“Yes,” he said. “But Ellie, I'm ashamed she thought my money was worth deceiving you.”
Celia spoke from the background. “It's not your shame to carry, Richard.”
Near midnight, Daniel texted a short message: Meet me at the old catering kitchen. Come alone.
I showed Mara. She advised against it. We agreed that she would wait nearby, and that I would leave at the first sign of a threat.
Thomas's old kitchen stood empty beside a church hall. When I arrived, Daniel was sitting on an overturned bucket, holding the framed photograph we'd displayed at the restaurant opening. In it, he was twelve and covered in flour, and Thomas was laughing beside him.
“I used to be proud of you,” Daniel said, unable to look up.
“Then tell me what happened.”
May you like
He reached into his coat and handed me a flash drive.
“Everything Vanessa kept off the company computers,” he said. “And one recording you won't want to hear.”
