Chapter 8 - Thomas
Thomas was alive.
Barely conscious, but alive.
Paramedics found a bruise behind his ear and a sedative in his bloodstream that he swore he had not taken.
Before the ambulance left, he grabbed Daniel's sleeve.
"The drive."
"We have it."
Thomas looked past him toward me.
"Don't let my father get it."
At the hospital, Thomas refused to speak with police until I arrived.
I went with Daniel.
Vanessa followed despite her father's order to stay.
Thomas looked at his sister first.
"You made a mess."
"I pushed a waitress into a fountain. Apparently you built shell companies."
"I didn't build them."
"Your name is on the bank files."
"Because Dad used my portfolio access."
Grant wasn't there to deny it.
Thomas told us he discovered the first suspicious transfers four months earlier.
At first, he thought Peter Lang was moving money to cover hospital cash-flow problems.
Then he found donor conditions tied to vendor awards.
The Carlisles donated publicly, then private companies connected to them received contracts worth several times the donation.
"Why didn't you come to me?" I asked.
"Because I thought I could fix it without destroying my family."
"What did you put on the drive?"
"Internal bank correspondence. Payment routing. Copies of messages between Dad and Lang."
"And why my name?"
"Because you were the only board member Peter couldn't control."
"Did you know I was working the gala?"
"No."
"But someone did."
He told us about a private security vendor Grant had hired three weeks earlier.
Daniel's voice went cold.
"Name?"
"Greyson Risk."
Daniel knew it.
So did I.
Greyson Risk had been recommended to the foundation by our own board vice chair, Evelyn Shaw.
I had trusted Evelyn for nine years.
She had held my hand at my father's funeral.
Thomas looked at me.
"Amelia, the money isn't the worst part."
"What is?"
"The contracts were written to make the foundation dependent on Carlisle-backed vendors."
"Why?"
"Because once your reserve fell below the covenant threshold, control of the hospital real estate fund could transfer."
My mouth went dry.
"Transfer to whom?"
Thomas closed his eyes.
"A company called Meridian Legacy."
Daniel whispered, "Who owns it?"
May you like
Thomas looked at me again.
"Your board vice chair."
