Chapter 7 - What Brooke Recorded
The share-transfer document was clumsy in ways that became obvious once Leah knew what she was looking at.
The grant numbers were incomplete.
The transfer-agent language was outdated.
The valuation formula did not match SentinelPeak's current agreements.
The document would never have moved actual shares by itself.
But it was not designed to stand alone.
It was designed to create a paper trail.
Priya explained that before lunchtime.
“If enough documents point in the same direction, someone can later argue there was an agreement even if one piece is defective.”
“So they were building a story that I sold shares to Ryan through Brooke.”
“Possibly.”
“For $480,000?”
“The number may have been chosen to look plausible as a partial payment.”
“My shares are worth far more than that.”
“Which is why I doubt the transfer amount was meant to represent full value.”
Leah tapped the document.
“It could be a deposit, an option payment, a loan conversion, anything they later decide to call it.”
I stared at my forged signature.
“They expected me not to notice.”
Priya shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“I think they expected you to notice eventually.”
That was worse.
“Then what was the point?”
“To make your objection arrive after their version of events already existed.”
I thought about Ryan's messages from the hospital.
He had immediately described Grant's assault as an accident.
He had immediately described me as hysterical.
He had immediately described the destroyed table as evidence that I was unstable.
He did not wait to see what I would say.
He started writing his version first.
Leah must have seen the realization on my face.
“Exactly.”
I walked into the kitchen and poured water into a glass with hands that were finally steady.
The apartment was quiet now.
Building staff had removed the broken glass.
The table had been wiped clean.
The embroidered runner sat folded inside a plastic bag because I had asked them not to throw it away.
There was a dark wine stain across one end.
I looked at it and remembered Grant's face when I pulled.
For years, I had believed their cruelty survived because I was too polite to challenge it.
Now I understood that my politeness had also made me predictable.
Ryan knew I would smooth over dinner arguments.
He knew I would pay a bill rather than ask embarrassing questions.
He knew I would trust paperwork placed in front of me by my husband.
He knew I would rather solve a problem quietly than expose a family publicly.
He had built his plan around the woman I used to be.
My phone rang from a number I did not recognize.
Leah looked at the screen.
“Let it go to voicemail.”
I did.
Thirty seconds later, a message appeared.
Claire, it's Brooke.
Please don't tell Dad I contacted you.
I showed Leah.
She held out her hand.
“Do not call yet.”
Another message came.
I need to give you something before Ryan finds out I still have it.
Leah read it twice.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“I think frightened people can be useful and dangerous at the same time.”
“That sounds like Brooke.”
“Ask what she has.”
I typed exactly that.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE?
Brooke replied almost immediately.
The video.
My heart kicked hard.
“What video?” I whispered.
Leah already knew.
“The phone.”
I typed again.
FROM LAST NIGHT?
YES.
I RECORDED MORE THAN THEY THINK.
Leah took a slow breath.
“Ask whether she still has the original file.”
I did.
Brooke replied.
Not on my phone.
Ryan made me delete it.
My hope collapsed.
Then a second message arrived.
But he forgot my phone auto-uploads videos.
Leah and I looked at each other.
“Where?” she asked.
I typed the question.
Brooke did not answer for almost a minute.
Then she sent one word.
Cloud.
Leah leaned back.
“Do not ask for her password.”
“I wasn't going to.”
“Tell her not to edit, download, crop, or send the original through a messaging app if she can avoid it.”
I followed the instruction.
Brooke replied that she had already made a copy to a private folder.
Leah grimaced.
“Not ideal, but the original may still be preserved.”
“What do we do?”
“We have her coordinate with counsel and, if appropriate, investigators so the chain of custody is clean.”
I stared at the message thread.
“Why is she helping me?”
“Ask.”
I did.
Brooke's answer came in pieces.
Because Dad scared me.
Because Ryan scared me more.
And because they are going to blame me for the money.
I read the last line again.
“What money?”
Leah was already typing a reply from my phone with my permission.
WHAT MONEY ARE THEY GOING TO BLAME YOU FOR?
Brooke sent nothing for three minutes.
Then my phone rang.
Same number.
Leah nodded once.
I answered on speaker.
“Brooke?”
Her breathing was fast.
“I cannot text this.”
“Where are you?”
“At a hotel.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Do Grant or Ryan know where?”
“No.”
Leah introduced herself and told Brooke she was on speaker.
Brooke almost hung up.
“Please don't make this worse.”
“Then tell the truth,” Leah said.
Brooke began crying.
I felt nothing.
That surprised me.
I had watched Diane weaponize tears too many times.
“What money?” I asked again.
Brooke swallowed loudly.
“Bennett Strategic Holdings.”
“I know you own it.”
“I do not own it.”
“Public records say you do.”
“Ryan told me to register it.”
“Why?”
“He said he could not put his name on another company because of a consulting contract.”
“What was the company for?”
“He said investments.”
“Whose investments?”
“I don't know.”
“Brooke.”
“I swear.”
Her voice broke.
“He gave me forms and told me where to sign.”
The irony was almost unbearable.
Ryan had done to his sister what he had apparently been doing to me.
“Did you know he tried to wire $480,000 into that company?”
“No.”
“Did you know he created a document saying the company was buying my SentinelPeak shares?”
Silence.
Then Brooke whispered.
“What?”
I looked at Leah.
Her face told me she believed the surprise might be genuine.
“Ryan named himself beneficial owner.”
Brooke cursed under her breath.
“I knew it.”
“Knew what?”
“He told Dad I was useful because nobody would look at me twice.”
My skin prickled.
“When did he say that?”
“Before Christmas.”
“What else did he say?”
Brooke hesitated.
“Brooke.”
“I heard them talking in Dad's garage.”
“About me?”
“Yes.”
“What did they say?”
“Ryan said you were never going to put his name on the penthouse.”
“That is true.”
“He said it did not matter because the house was the small part.”
I stopped breathing for a second.
“What was the big part?”
“The company.”
Leah leaned toward the phone.
“Did he say SentinelPeak?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Brooke sniffed.
“He said something was happening at your company and your shares could double.”
I closed my eyes.
Ryan knew.
He knew about Project Summit.
“Did he say how he knew?”
“No.”
“Did he mention Claire's laptop?” Leah asked.
“No.”
“Any documents?”
“I saw a blue folder on Dad's workbench.”
“What was written on it?”
“I don't remember.”
“Try.”
There was a long pause.
“Summit.”
The word sounded tiny through the speaker.
My whole career seemed to collapse into it.
Leah wrote something on her pad.
“Brooke, we need the original video preserved.”
“I know.”
“Do you have an attorney?”
“No.”
“You should get one before you make decisions about documents, money, or investigators.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“I am not your lawyer.”
“That means yes.”
“It means you need independent advice.”
Brooke began crying again.
Then she said something I had not expected.
“I didn't know Dad was going to burn you.”
The room went still.
I looked at my bandaged stomach.
“What did you think he was going to do?”
Brooke did not answer.
“Brooke.”
“I thought they were going to scare you.”
The words hit harder than a confession shouted in anger.
“You knew something was planned.”
“I knew there was going to be a fight.”
“A fight does not need a plan.”
“Claire, I didn't know—”
“What did you know?”
Brooke's breathing turned ragged.
“Ryan told Dad he needed you angry.”
I gripped the edge of the counter.
“Why?”
“He said if you lost control in front of everyone, it would help.”
“Help what?”
“I don't know.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No.”
“Brooke.”
“I only heard part of it.”
“What part?”
She whispered the answer.
“He said they needed proof you were unstable before the baby came.”
Leah went completely still.
I felt the baby move beneath my hand.
My voice came out lower than I intended.
“What does my baby have to do with my stock?”
Brooke did not answer immediately.
Then she said the sentence that turned financial fraud into something much darker.
May you like
“Ryan said once you signed after the baby was born, the shares would be his to control.”
