Chapter 12 - Claire’s Secret
I forgot the flash drive in my hand.
“What do you mean Claire worked for you?”
Rebecca walked around Ethan slowly.
“Claire was never supposed to marry Alexander.”
My skin prickled.
“She joined Whitmore Dynamics as outside counsel. I contacted her because I needed proof of what my father had done.”
“Then she fell in love with Alexander.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca sounded almost offended by it.
“She chose him over the investigation.”
Ethan pulled against the rope.
“Rachel, don’t give her anything.”
Rebecca ignored him.
“Claire kept digging anyway. She found accounts your precious Alexander never knew existed.”
“So you killed her?”
Rebecca’s eyes sharpened.
“No.”
“Vanessa did.”
“Vanessa panicked.”
“You funded Vanessa.”
“I funded pressure.”
I laughed in disbelief.
“You people have a word for everything except what it really is.”
Rebecca stepped closer.
“Give me the drive.”
“Let Ethan go first.”
“No.”
Behind her, I saw the barn door move one inch.
Vincent.
I needed time.
“What’s on the drive that scares you?”
Rebecca smiled again.
“My father’s original ledgers. The ones proving Whitmore Dynamics was built with stolen pension money.”
That was the real weapon.
Not the trust.
Not Noah.
The entire company.
“If those records surface,” she said, “Alexander loses everything.”
“So you were protecting him?”
“No.”
Her face hardened.
“I was waiting to take it back.”
A board creaked behind her.
Rebecca turned.
Vincent moved.
Everything exploded at once.
Ethan kicked his chair sideways.
I dropped.
Rebecca pulled a gun.
May you like
A shot cracked through the barn.
And Vincent fell.
