Chapter 2 - The Second Folder
Rachel ran.
Claire had never expected that.
The blonde woman who had been lying against Daniel only minutes earlier came through the revolving doors barefoot, clutching a black folder against her chest.
Daniel followed.
"Rachel!"
Claire backed toward the curb.
Rachel reached her first.
"Take this."
She shoved the folder into Claire's hands.
Daniel stopped several yards away.
"Don't."
Rachel turned toward him.
"You said she would never be involved."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Go upstairs."
"No."
"Rachel."
"No!"
The word echoed between the buildings.
A taxi slowed near the curb.
Claire raised her hand.
Daniel moved toward her.
"Claire, if you leave with those files, people who have nothing to do with us could get hurt."
"That sounds like a threat."
"It's a warning."
The taxi stopped.
Claire opened the rear door.
Rachel grabbed her wrist.
"Don't take a cab."
Claire stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because he knows where you're going."
Daniel swore.
Rachel looked toward the corner.
"My car is in the garage across the street."
Claire hesitated.
Trusting the woman she had just found in bed with her husband seemed insane.
But returning upstairs seemed worse.
Rachel held out her hand.
"Please."
Claire followed her.
They crossed the street.
Daniel didn't chase them.
That frightened Claire more than if he had.
Ten minutes later, they were driving south through Manhattan.
Claire sat in the passenger seat with both folders on her lap.
"Start talking."
Rachel gripped the steering wheel.
"My name is Rachel Monroe."
"I know your first name."
"I work for Meridian."
Claire turned.
"Doing what?"
"Compliance."
That explained why Rachel knew Arthur Cole.
It didn't explain Daniel's bed.
"How long?"
Rachel understood.
"Three months."
Claire looked out the window.
Three months.
There was no clever explanation that could make those words harmless.
Rachel continued.
"It wasn't supposed to happen."
Claire laughed once.
"Please don't insult me with that sentence."
"I'm not asking you to forgive either of us."
"Good."
Rachel's voice became smaller.
"I thought Daniel was going to leave you."
Claire looked at her.
"He told you that?"
"He told me your marriage had been over for a year."
Claire felt physically sick.
Daniel had taken her to Napa six months ago for their anniversary.
He had held her beside a vineyard and told her he wanted to grow old with her.
Two lives.
Perhaps more.
"What changed?"
"I found something."
Rachel glanced at the folders.
"Account 17."
"What is it?"
"A holding account registered through three shell companies. Money from several Meridian-controlled charities was being routed through it."
Claire's fingers tightened.
"My mother's foundation?"
Rachel nodded.
"Not yet. Yours was going to be the biggest transfer."
"Four-point-eight million."
"That's only the first one."
Claire turned toward her.
"First?"
Rachel swallowed.
"The authorization package allows them to move up to eighteen million over eighteen months."
Claire stopped breathing.
Her mother's foundation held just over twenty-three million in protected assets.
It was nearly everything.
"Who is 'them'?"
"Daniel and Arthur."
"Anyone else?"
Rachel hesitated.
"Ethan's name appears on one corporate filing."
Claire remembered the anonymous message.
Her brother.
No.
"Ethan isn't involved."
"I hope you're right."
"Why were you in Daniel's bed tonight?"
Rachel flinched.
It was the question neither of them wanted to discuss.
"Because I made a terrible decision."
"That's not an answer."
"I confronted him about Account 17 three weeks ago. He told me Arthur had created it without his knowledge. He said he needed time to prove it."
"And you believed him."
"I wanted to."
"Because you were sleeping with him."
Rachel's silence answered.
Claire stared through the windshield.
She hated Rachel.
At least part of her did.
But another part recognized the humiliating truth: Rachel had been lied to as well.
Not in the same way.
Not with the same history.
But Daniel had manipulated both women.
"Tonight," Rachel continued, "I brought copies of everything I'd found. Daniel told me to come here because he finally had proof against Arthur."
"Instead?"
"He tried to convince me to delete it."
Claire looked at Rachel's wrist.
"The bruise?"
"He grabbed me when I tried to leave."
"Then why were you sleeping beside him?"
Rachel's face tightened with shame.
"I wasn't sleeping at first. We argued for hours. He apologized. He cried. He told me he was terrified and said he had made mistakes but hadn't stolen anything yet."
Claire looked away.
Rachel continued quietly.
"I was exhausted. I made another terrible choice. Nothing I say makes it better."
No, Claire thought.
It didn't.
But the explanation sounded painfully human rather than conveniently mysterious.
Rachel drove into an underground parking garage beneath a hotel.
"We shouldn't go to anyone's home."
Claire checked her phone.
Twelve missed calls.
Eight from Daniel.
Two from Ethan.
Two from Rebecca.
She called Rebecca.
The attorney answered.
"Claire, Ethan called me. Where are you?"
Claire looked at Rachel.
"I don't know who I can trust."
Rebecca became silent.
"What happened?"
"I found documents with my forged signature authorizing transfers from Mom's foundation."
"How much?"
"Potentially eighteen million."
Rebecca inhaled sharply.
"Do not sign anything. Do not send photographs. Do not confront anyone else."
"Daniel already knows."
"Where are the originals?"
"With me."
"Claire, listen carefully. Put them somewhere secure. Then meet me in a public place."
"Is Ethan involved?"
Silence.
Too long.
"Rebecca?"
"I don't know."
"That's not what I asked."
"I found his name on something six weeks ago."
Claire closed her eyes.
"What?"
"A board consent form connected to Meridian."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was trying to determine whether his signature was genuine."
Claire's eyes opened.
"And?"
"I haven't determined that."
Rachel looked toward her.
Rebecca continued.
"Where are you?"
Claire gave her the hotel name.
"I'll be there in thirty minutes."
The call ended.
Claire turned to Rachel.
"We're getting a room."
They checked in using Rachel's card.
Inside, Claire locked the door and spread both folders across the desk.
Rachel opened her laptop.
For the next twenty minutes, they examined the documents.
The pattern was worse than Claire expected.
Transfers from charities.
Consulting invoices.
Companies that appeared to exist only on paper.
Then Claire found something personal.
A life insurance policy.
Her life insurance policy.
She had a $2 million policy.
This one said $15 million.
Beneficiary:
Daniel Bennett.
"Rachel."
Rachel came closer.
"I've never seen that."
Claire checked the effective date.
Eleven months earlier.
Her signature appeared at the bottom.
Forged again.
A chill moved through her.
"Why would Daniel take out a fifteen-million-dollar policy on me without telling me?"
Rachel didn't answer.
Someone knocked.
Both women froze.
"Claire?" Rebecca called.
Claire checked through the peephole.
Rebecca stood alone.
Claire opened the door.
The sixty-two-year-old attorney entered carrying a leather briefcase.
She hugged Claire once.
Then she saw Rachel.
"You."
Rachel stiffened.
"You know me?" Claire asked.
Rebecca looked between them.
"I've seen her photograph."
"Where?"
Rebecca slowly placed her briefcase on the desk.
"In a file your mother left with me."
Claire stared.
"My mother died twelve years ago."
"I know."
Rachel looked equally stunned.
Rebecca opened her briefcase.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
Claire's name was written across the front in her mother's handwriting.
Claire forgot Daniel.
Forgot the affair.
Forgot the money.
Her knees nearly weakened.
"What is that?"
"Your mother instructed me not to give it to you unless someone attempted to take control of the foundation."
Claire reached for it.
Rebecca stopped her.
"Before you read it, there's something you need to understand."
"What?"
"Your mother didn't create that foundation alone."
Claire frowned.
Rebecca looked toward Rachel.
"Rachel's father helped her."
Rachel went pale.
"My father?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Thomas Monroe."
Rachel stepped backward.
"My father died when I was eight."
Rebecca's expression changed.
"No, Rachel."
Silence filled the room.
Rebecca reached into her briefcase again.
"He disappeared."
A knock sounded at the hotel door.
Three slow knocks.
Nobody moved.
Then Claire's phone buzzed.
ETHAN: I'm outside. Don't open the door for Rebecca.
Claire looked at the attorney.
Another message arrived.
ETHAN: Mom warned me about her before she died.
May you like
The door handle moved.
Someone had a key.
