Chapter 8: The Woman They Tried to Break
The image of Ethan being led from Maya’s apartment in handcuffs appeared on every major news network within twenty minutes.
Ava watched from behind the locked door.
The television showed the same footage repeatedly.
Ethan’s face.
The handcuffs.
The agents.
The headline beneath him.
BILLIONAIRE CEO ARRESTED IN CHARITY FRAUD SCANDAL.
No mention appeared of the assault.
No mention of the forged confession.
No mention of Northstar’s nonexistent shelters or the missing sixty-two million dollars.
Conrad had converted the truth into a simpler story.
A wealthy man and his ambitious wife had stolen from vulnerable families.
It was perfect because the public already knew how to hate it.
Maya turned off the television.
“You need to disappear for a few days.”
“No.”
“Ava, Conrad has Ethan.”
“Which means he expects me to hide.”
“You are pregnant and injured.”
“And I am the only foundation director who can publicly explain the records.”
“You will be called a liar.”
“I’m already being called a liar.”
Daniel Brooks arranged for an attorney named Rebecca Shaw to represent Ethan.
Rebecca had prosecuted financial crimes before entering private practice. She was known for refusing cases involving clients she believed were guilty.
She met Ava in the apartment two hours later.
“Ethan will remain in custody until the detention hearing,” Rebecca said. “Pike’s office is arguing he has resources to flee.”
“He voluntarily opened the door.”
“They’ll say he knew escape was impossible.”
“What evidence do they claim to have?”
“Digital authorizations, emails, foundation transfers, and Rosa’s statement.”
“Rosa was threatened.”
“We need to prove that.”
“They have her son.”
“Again, we need proof.”
Ava felt frustration rising.
Everything required proof except Conrad’s accusations.
Those were accepted immediately because they arrived on official paper.
Rebecca studied her.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The government claims Ethan ordered a payment to Adrian three months ago.”
“That’s impossible. Ethan believed Adrian was dead.”
“The payment came from a private account controlled by Ethan.”
“Who received it?”
“A consulting company registered under one of Adrian’s aliases.”
Maya looked up from her computer.
“Mason had authority over Ethan’s private investment office.”
Rebecca nodded.
“That creates reasonable doubt, but it also allows the government to argue Ethan used Mason to hide the transaction.”
Ava paced toward the window.
“What does Conrad want?”
“For Ethan to remain silent.”
“No. He could have controlled Ethan through the company. Arresting him creates risk.”
“He wants the ledger,” Maya said.
Rebecca glanced between them.
“What ledger?”
Ava hesitated.
Trust had become a dangerous currency.
Rebecca noticed.
“If I am defending your husband, I cannot do it blind.”
Ava explained the storage box, Adrian’s recording, and the coded Northstar transactions.
Rebecca listened without interruption.
When Ava finished, she said, “Do not bring the original ledger anywhere near Ethan’s case until we can authenticate it.”
“It could clear him.”
“It could also become evidence of possession of stolen corporate records.”
“So Conrad gets to use forged documents, and we hide real ones?”
“We preserve real ones until they can survive an attack.”
Ava understood the distinction.
Truth was not enough.
Truth needed protection.
A message arrived from Margaret.
Please meet me alone.
Ava showed it to the others.
“It could be a trap,” Maya said.
“It probably is.”
“Then don’t go.”
Ava read the message again.
Margaret had attacked her.
But Margaret had also appeared terrified in Conrad’s video.
“You said Conrad expected me to hide,” Ava replied. “I’m done giving him what he expects.”
They arranged the meeting in a chapel inside St. Catherine’s Hospital. Maya monitored from a nearby room. Rebecca informed a trusted detective.
Margaret entered wearing a dark coat and large sunglasses.
Without makeup, she looked exhausted.
Her gaze immediately dropped to Ava’s bruised wrist.
“I did that.”
“Yes.”
“I have replayed it every minute since.”
“That doesn’t change it.”
“I know.”
Margaret sat in the last pew.
Ava remained standing.
“Why did you ask me here?”
“To tell you that Ethan will be killed if Adrian appears.”
Ava’s expression did not change.
“Conrad is already trying to destroy him.”
“Destroying someone publicly is different from killing him.”
“Is that how you justified what happened to Adrian?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Adrian refused to leave the country. Charles arranged a false accident because he believed it would keep him alive. Conrad changed the plan.”
“You knew Adrian was held at the clinic?”
“Not until years later.”
“Did you look for him?”
“Charles told me he died during an escape attempt.”
“And you believed him?”
“I needed to.”
Ava sat several feet away.
“Why did you push me?”
Margaret’s hands tightened around her handbag.
“Conrad showed us evidence that Ethan authorized the Northstar transfers. He said that if you contacted the government, Ethan would be arrested.”
“He was arrested anyway.”
“I thought the confession would protect him.”
“By sending me to prison.”
“He promised probation.”
Ava laughed bitterly.
“You believed the man who made your son disappear?”
“No.”
Margaret removed her sunglasses.
Her eyes were swollen.
“But I believed he could do worse.”
“What is worse than losing one son?”
“Losing all three of my children.”
Natalie.
Margaret explained that Conrad had controlled Natalie since Thomas Bell’s death. Whenever Natalie attempted to leave the family or seek treatment for alcohol dependency, Conrad reminded her that he possessed the original collision photographs.
Recently, Natalie had threatened to confess.
Conrad responded by showing Margaret surveillance photographs of Ethan and Ava.
“He told me that if Natalie spoke, he would make Ethan responsible for Northstar and Ava responsible for the foundation.”
“He had already prepared the evidence.”
“Yes.”
“And Mason?”
“Mason prepared most of it.”
“Why does Mason obey Conrad?”
Margaret looked toward the chapel entrance.
“Because Conrad is his father.”
Ava stared at her.
“Mason Reed is Conrad Vale’s son?”
“His mother worked in Conrad’s office. Charles knew. He hired Mason because Conrad insisted, but we never told Ethan.”
Everything became clearer.
Mason had not simply been a loyal employee.
He had been placed beside Ethan as Conrad’s eyes and hands.
“Does Mason want to protect his father?” Ava asked.
Margaret shook her head.
“Mason hates him.”
“Then why help him?”
“Because he wants to inherit what Conrad built.”
Ava thought of the tension in the boardroom.
Mason was not planning to remain Conrad’s servant.
He was preparing to replace him.
Margaret reached into her handbag and removed a small gold pendant.
“This belongs to Natalie.”
Ava did not take it.
“What is it?”
“A recording device.”
“Natalie recorded Conrad?”
“She began months ago.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know. Conrad forced her to identify Ethan for the agents, then took her away.”
“Why give this to me?”
“Because it contains proof that Mason fabricated the foundation emails.”
Ava picked up the pendant.
“Why not give it to the police?”
“Which police?”
Margaret’s question carried years of defeat.
Ava closed her fingers around the pendant.
“You need to publicly admit what you did to me.”
Margaret recoiled.
“I will.”
“When?”
“When Natalie is safe.”
“That is not accountability.”
“I am trying to save my daughter.”
“And I am trying to save your son.”
Margaret began crying.
Ava did not comfort her.
“I will testify,” Margaret said. “But first you must help me find Natalie.”
A door opened near the altar.
Maya entered, holding her phone.
“We may already know where she is.”
She displayed traffic-camera footage showing Natalie in the passenger seat of a black sedan.
Mason was driving.
The vehicle was headed north toward Cold Spring.
Toward the Northstar clinic.
Margaret stood.
“We have to go.”
“No,” Maya said. “We contact Brooks.”
“Pike may intercept the call.”
Ava looked at the pendant.
“How long before the recording can be copied?”
“Minutes.”
“Then copy it and send it to Rebecca.”
Margaret stared at her.
“What are you going to do?”
Ava placed one hand over her stomach.
“I’m going to the clinic.”
“You cannot.”
“That facility may contain witnesses, records, and your daughter.”
“It also contains people who made Adrian disappear.”
Ava met her eyes.
“Then they already know what I’m capable of surviving.”
As they left the chapel, Ava’s phone vibrated.
A message from Natalie appeared.
It contained a photograph of a locked medical room.
On the wall behind her was a countdown clock.
Fifty-nine minutes remained.
May you like
The text beneath the photograph read:
MASON SAYS BRING THE LEDGER OR HE OPENS THE GAS LINE.
