Chapter 4 - My Mother's Missing Company
Luca caught the vault door before it sealed.
The bank manager shouted from the corridor.
Security alarms erupted.
Norah shoved the ledger into her bag while Luca forced the heavy door outward.
A man in a maintenance uniform ran toward the rear exit.
One of Luca's security men intercepted him.
The stranger dropped a phone.
Then he disappeared through an alarmed stairwell before anyone could stop him.
The phone remained unlocked.
Only one outgoing message was visible.
SHE FOUND THE LEDGER.
Recipient:
DANIEL BENNETT.
Norah stared at the name.
Her father's younger brother had been part of her life for as long as she remembered.
Uncle Daniel brought birthday presents.
Uncle Daniel taught her to drive.
Uncle Daniel had sat beside her at Eleanor's funeral.
And Uncle Daniel had apparently been stealing from Eleanor's company for nearly two decades.
They returned to Luca's office.
Norah connected the flash drive.
Folders filled the screen.
Invoices.
Bank records.
Recorded board meetings.
Scans of deeds.
Eleanor had built a case.
Not merely against Daniel.
Against Richard too.
The brothers had siphoned money through subcontractors, consulting companies, and land transactions.
But one file was different.
A video.
Eleanor appeared on screen.
"If you're watching this, Norah, you found the ledger."
Norah's throat tightened.
"I need you to understand something. Your father will tell you he did everything for the family. Daniel will tell you Richard made him do it. Grant may tell you he didn't understand."
Eleanor paused.
"Believe documents before apologies."
Norah almost laughed through her tears.
That was her mother.
Even from the grave, she was practical.
"The company you know as Bennett Construction is not entirely Richard's. My shares were placed into a trust before my death."
Norah sat forward.
"The beneficiary is you."
Grant had always been told he would inherit the company.
So had Norah.
She hadn't cared.
Until now.
"Richard cannot legally sell certain assets without your consent. If he has done so, your signature was either obtained under false pretenses or forged."
Norah looked at Luca.
Everything fit.
The video continued.
"There is one person who can prove the trust remained active after my death."
A name appeared.
MARGARET SLOAN.
Norah knew it.
Their former corporate attorney.
Margaret had retired six years ago.
Norah found her address.
Connecticut.
Three hours away.
Before leaving, she called Grant.
He answered immediately.
"Where are you?"
"Did you know Mom left her shares to me?"
Silence.
"Grant?"
"Dad said the trust was dissolved."
"When?"
"I don't know."
"Did you ever see dissolution papers?"
"No."
"Then why did you believe him?"
Grant exploded.
"Because he's our father!"
Norah closed her eyes.
There it was.
The excuse that had governed their entire family.
Richard was their father.
Therefore questions were betrayal.
"Did you create Hian Consulting?"
Another silence.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Dad told me to."
"Did you receive $875,000?"
"It wasn't for me."
"Where did it go?"
Grant breathed heavily.
"I can't tell you."
"Then I'm going to assume you stole it."
"I didn't."
"Prove it."
"I can't."
"Goodbye, Grant."
"Wait."
Norah stopped.
His voice changed.
Fear.
"Dad doesn't know you're talking to Daniel, does he?"
"I'm not."
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Because Uncle Daniel isn't what you think."
Norah almost laughed.
"That lesson is arriving a little late."
"No. You don't understand."
"What don't I understand?"
Grant lowered his voice.
"The $875,000 wasn't paid to me."
"You own Hian Consulting."
"On paper."
"Who got the money?"
Grant whispered, "Daniel."
Norah looked at Luca.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Grant."
"I swear."
"Then why transfer it?"
"Because Dad told me Daniel could stop the Moretti deal if we didn't."
Norah's mind raced.
"How?"
"I don't know."
A crash sounded through Grant's phone.
He stopped speaking.
"Grant?"
Nothing.
Then breathing.
Not Grant's.
A man's voice came onto the line.
"Norah."
She recognized it instantly.
Daniel.
"Uncle Daniel."
"Your brother talks too much."
"Where is he?"
"Safe."
"If you hurt him—"
"Stop pretending Grant is innocent."
"I didn't say he was."
Daniel laughed softly.
"You sound exactly like Eleanor."
"Where are you?"
"You found her ledger."
Not a question.
Norah said nothing.
"That ledger contains things your mother misunderstood."
"Then explain them."
"I will."
"When?"
"Tonight."
"Where?"
"The original Hian property office."
Luca shook his head.
Norah ignored him.
"Grant comes too."
"If that's what you want."
The call ended.
Luca stared at her.
"You're not going."
"Yes, I am."
"Daniel just demonstrated he can reach your brother."
"Which is why I'm going."
"Norah."
She turned toward him.
"Everyone keeps telling me where I can go, what I can know, what I can sign, what I'm supposed to protect. I'm done."
Luca studied her.
Then nodded.
"Fine."
"Fine?"
"I'm coming."
"He said—"
"I don't care what Daniel said."
For the first time, Norah understood why powerful men feared Luca Moretti.
It wasn't because he shouted.
It was because once he decided something, negotiation simply ended.
They reached the abandoned Hian office after dark.
The front door stood open.
Norah entered.
"Grant?"
No answer.
A light burned upstairs.
They climbed.
An office door waited at the end of the corridor.
Norah pushed it open.
Grant sat in a chair.
Alive.
Unrestrained.
And beside him stood Richard Bennett.
Norah stopped.
Her father looked at Daniel.
Then at her.
"You weren't supposed to find the ledger this soon."
Norah stared at all three men.
Grant wouldn't meet her eyes.
Then Daniel placed one document on the desk.
It carried Eleanor's signature.
May you like
And Norah's.
Dated six months after Eleanor died.
