Chapter 8 - PLAN B
The west warehouse was dark when police arrived.
A forklift idled near the loading bay.
On a pallet sat Frank's metal document case.
Inside were original loan papers, forged signatures, and a list of three dates.
Beside each date was one word:
CLAIRE.
The first was the day my brake light came on.
The second was the memorial dinner.
The third was tomorrow.
"Carter Logistics shareholder vote," Noah said.
A printed email from Evan lay beneath the list.
If Claire attends the vote, Plan B is exposed.
"What is Plan B?" Vega asked.
The lights went out.
A man ran between the shelves.
Police tackled him at the loading door.
Evan Shaw.
"Don't let Ryan find me," he gasped.
Vega cuffed him. "What's Plan B?"
Evan looked at Mom.
"Her."
Mom went still.
"Ryan thinks if Ruth signs away Carter Family Holdings, Diane can control the estate and protect him."
Noah laughed bitterly. "That's not how ownership works."
"Ryan doesn't care. He wants a recorded signature."
"Where?"
"The old Whitmore restaurant."
Police searched it.
In the back office, documents waited on a table beside a notary stamp.
A camera faced the chair where Mom would sit.
"They planned to force you," I said.
My phone buzzed.
A photograph of Noah's twelve-year-old daughter, Emma, outside school.
Noah went white.
A message followed.
TOMORROW. RUTH SIGNS. CLAIRE MISSES THE VOTE.
Emma was safe at home, but someone had been watching her.
Then another video arrived.
Ryan sat in a dark room.
"Claire, you made this uglier than it had to be."
He held up a copy of my father's trust.
"Tomorrow, you choose."
Then he showed Emma's photograph.
"Your father's company or your brother's daughter."
Noah grabbed my phone.
"I'll kill him."
Mom stopped him.
"No."
Her voice was steady.
"That is what people like Ryan count on. They make us angry, then use the anger as evidence."
She looked at me.
"We go to the vote."
"And Emma?"
"Police protect her."
May you like
Mom picked up the forged transfer documents.
"Tomorrow, we stop letting him choose the table."
