Chapter 13 - Nine O'Clock on Christmas Eve
Rebecca examined the draft statement while Marcus phoned the lodge's public-relations adviser.
The allegations were specific enough to cause damage and vague enough to be difficult to answer immediately.
Vale claimed that I had diverted staff retirement funds and hidden liabilities from investors.
The opposite was true.
Thomas and I had established a separate employee retirement reserve after our third profitable winter, and independent audits had tracked every contribution.
"We can disprove this," Marcus said.
"Yes," Rebecca answered, "but we must decide how much information to release and when."
I asked them to prepare verified records, not angry denials.
I had no intention of fighting a lie with a louder lie.
Madison sat on the sofa with her arms wrapped around herself.
"If he publishes it, he'll blame me too," she said.
"You helped him," Daniel replied.
"I didn't know he would go this far."
"You knew far enough to cancel my mother's room."
The words landed hard because they came from him.
For the first time, Daniel wasn't excusing his wife's behavior.
Rebecca proposed a practical sequence: revoke compromised credentials, document the attempted transfers, inform the bank, and provide the deputy with new evidence of possible fraud and coercion.
No one promised instant justice.
Each step was slower than rage, but stronger than a shouting match.
At 7:40 the next morning, Christmas Eve, Marcus confirmed that the vendor payment had been frozen for review before final release.
The ownership register remained unchanged.
I felt a brief rush of relief.
Then he took a call from the front desk and closed his eyes.
"A group of investors just arrived," he said.
Vale had invited them to a breakfast briefing in the lodge ballroom.
He planned to introduce Daniel as the incoming owner.
My son looked horrified.
"I never agreed to that."
"Then you should tell them," I said.
Daniel looked at Madison.
She turned her face away.
I remembered Thomas's first rule about a crisis: Never make a promise you won't keep simply to get through the next hour.
I took Daniel's hand for a moment.
"If you speak," I told him, "speak the truth, even if it makes you look bad."
He nodded.
At 8:55, the ballroom doors opened.
May you like
And Vale stepped onto the stage beneath a banner announcing A NEW ERA FOR SILVER PINES.
