Chapter 4 - RACHEL'S VERSION
Rachel called Mona at 2:13 in the morning.
Mona was awake.
Sleep had become impossible after the forged amendment appeared on her laptop.
She was staying in a guest suite at a hotel under Michael's advice because the security system at her house was still being rebuilt.
When Rachel's name appeared on the screen, Mona watched it ring three times before answering.
"What do you want?"
Rachel whispered.
"Are you alone?"
Mona sat up in bed.
"Why?"
"Just answer me."
"No."
Rachel went silent.
Mona heard a car pass in the background.
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Then this conversation is over."
"Wait."
Mona said nothing.
Rachel breathed shakily.
"Daniel told me you found the amendment."
Mona's grip tightened around the phone.
"How did Daniel know?"
Rachel did not answer.
"Rachel."
"He knew because he knew it was there."
Mona stood and walked toward the window.
The city below was mostly dark.
"Did you make it?"
Rachel whispered again.
"Not the way you think."
"There is no good version of forging my signature."
"I didn't forge your signature."
"The file says you created it."
"The file says my computer created it."
"That's different?"
"Yes."
Mona closed her eyes.
"Then explain."
Rachel was silent for several seconds.
"Mom uses my laptop sometimes."
Mona laughed quietly.
"That's your defense?"
"I'm not defending myself."
"It sounds exactly like you're defending yourself."
"I am trying to tell you what happened."
"Then tell me."
Rachel exhaled.
"Mom asked me to bring my laptop to the lake house yesterday morning."
"Why?"
"She said Daniel needed to print documents before everyone arrived."
Mona's stomach tightened.
"Did you give it to them?"
"Yes."
"Did you know what they were doing?"
"Not then."
Mona did not believe her.
Rachel seemed to hear it in the silence.
"I know how that sounds."
"Do you?"
"Yes."
Mona walked back toward the bed.
"What about North Vale?"
Rachel's breathing changed.
"That is why I'm calling."
"Two point four million dollars moved through an account in your name."
"I know."
"So explain that."
Rachel whispered something Mona could not hear.
"What?"
"I said it wasn't supposed to be that much."
Mona froze.
"How much was it supposed to be?"
Rachel did not answer.
Mona's voice hardened.
"How much, Rachel?"
"Eight hundred thousand."
The number hit Mona like a slap.
"You agreed to move eight hundred thousand dollars?"
"I thought it was Mom's money."
"Why would your mother need to move her own money through your shell company?"
"She said there were tax reasons."
Mona laughed once.
"And you believed that?"
"I wanted to."
The answer was so unexpected that Mona stopped.
Rachel continued.
"You think I don't know what my family is like?"
Mona stared at the carpet.
"You seemed pretty comfortable laughing at me."
"I was."
There was no excuse in Rachel's voice.
"I was cruel to you."
Mona said nothing.
"I thought you looked down on us."
Mona almost laughed again.
"Your mother asked me how much money I had left in front of an entire table."
"I know."
"And you laughed."
"I know."
Rachel's voice cracked slightly.
"I thought you were pretending to be modest while quietly controlling everything."
"Controlling what?"
"The company."
Mona frowned.
"I never controlled Whitmore Capital."
"You could have."
"I owned thirty-eight percent."
"Exactly."
"That is not control."
"It was to Mom."
Mona went still.
"Explain that."
Rachel hesitated.
"Mom has been terrified of your shares since the day Daniel took your investment."
"Why?"
"Because if certain notes default, your trust gets conversion rights."
Mona's heart kicked hard.
"What notes?"
Rachel swore softly.
"You really don't know."
"Know what?"
"Your father didn't just invest in Whitmore Capital."
Mona gripped the edge of the nightstand.
"What did he do?"
"He loaned the company money through your trust."
"No."
"Yes."
"My father died before I met Daniel."
"The loan wasn't to Daniel."
Mona felt every hair on her arms rise.
Rachel continued.
"It was to your father."
"My father?"
"No."
Rachel corrected herself quickly.
"I mean Daniel's father borrowed from your father."
Mona stopped breathing for a moment.
Thomas Whitmore had died six years before Mona married Daniel.
Her own father, Richard Carter, had died four years before the wedding.
Mona had never known they knew each other.
"How do you know this?"
"Because Mom keeps the old loan file in her safe."
Mona's mind raced.
"Why would my father lend money to Thomas Whitmore?"
"I don't know."
"How much?"
"Three million originally."
Mona sat down slowly.
"When?"
"About nine years ago."
That was before Mona had ever heard Daniel's name.
"Was it repaid?"
Rachel took too long to answer.
"Partly."
Mona closed her eyes.
"How partly?"
"Mom says the remaining balance became part of a private restructuring after both of them died."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because they don't tell me everything."
"They trusted you with two point four million dollars."
Rachel's voice suddenly sharpened.
"They didn't trust me."
"Your name is on the account."
"Exactly."
Mona understood the bitterness immediately.
Rachel had not been chosen because she was trusted.
She had been chosen because she could be blamed.
"How much of the money did you keep?" Mona asked.
Rachel went silent.
"Rachel."
"One hundred twenty thousand."
Mona shut her eyes.
"For what?"
"Mom said it was my fee."
"Your fee for what?"
"Keeping the account open."
"So you knew it was wrong."
"I knew it was strange."
"You took one hundred twenty thousand dollars."
"Yes."
"You signed bank paperwork."
"Yes."
"You moved money when they told you to."
"Yes."
"Then stop pretending you were just a passenger."
Rachel began to cry quietly.
Mona felt no satisfaction.
"I know," Rachel said.
"Do you?"
"Yes."
A long silence passed.
Then Rachel whispered, "I can prove Daniel lied about the company."
Mona looked toward the dark window.
"How?"
"I have copies of board packets."
"Why?"
"Because two years ago I thought Daniel was going to push me out of a family trust."
"So you stole company documents?"
"I copied them."
"Where are they?"
"Somewhere safe."
Mona almost ended the call.
"Rachel, I am not playing games with you."
"I'm not playing."
"Then send them to Michael."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because some of the files are physical."
"Then give them to him."
"I need something first."
Mona laughed without humor.
"Of course you do."
"I need protection."
"From what?"
"My mother."
The answer sounded ridiculous.
Then Mona remembered Lucas Bennett's message.
I should never have called.
Her laughter disappeared.
"What did Evelyn do?"
Rachel lowered her voice.
"When I left the lake house tonight, Mom told me that if I talked to you, she would tell the bank North Vale was entirely mine."
"Wasn't it?"
"On paper."
"That matters."
"I know."
Rachel swallowed audibly.
"Then Daniel told me something worse."
Mona waited.
"He said if the company goes down, I go down first."
"Maybe he's right."
"He was smiling when he said it."
Mona's skin prickled.
"Where are you now?"
Rachel did not answer.
"Rachel."
"A gas station outside Hartford."
"Are you alone?"
"Yes."
"Call Michael."
"I don't trust him."
"You called me."
"I don't trust you either."
Mona almost admired the honesty.
"Then why call?"
Rachel's answer came quietly.
"Because you're the only person in this family who doesn't need me to lie."
Mona felt something shift inside her.
Not forgiveness.
Not sympathy exactly.
Recognition.
Rachel had spent years participating in the Whitmore machine.
Now the machine had turned toward her.
"Where are the board packets?" Mona asked.
Rachel hesitated.
"At the lake house."
Mona stared at the wall.
"You just left there."
"I couldn't take them without Mom seeing."
"Where exactly?"
"There is a hidden compartment behind the wine cellar shelving."
"How do you know?"
"Dad built it."
Mona's pulse accelerated.
"What else is in there?"
Rachel was quiet.
"Old company ledgers."
"The loan file?"
"Maybe."
"Anything with my father's name?"
"Yes."
Mona stood.
"What?"
"I saw a folder once."
"What did it say?"
"Carter."
Mona's mouth went dry.
"Anything else?"
Rachel took a breath.
"There was a second folder behind it."
"What did that one say?"
"Mona."
The room seemed to shrink around her.
"My name?"
"Your first and last name."
"When did you see it?"
Rachel's answer barely reached her.
"Two months before Daniel met you."
Mona did not speak.
Rachel continued.
"That's why I called."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying your name was inside my mother's hidden safe before my brother ever introduced you to us."
Mona felt cold all the way to her fingertips.
The email before the wedding had been bad enough.
This was different.
If Rachel was telling the truth, Daniel had not discovered Mona's trust after falling in love with her.
The Whitmores had known who she was before Daniel ever asked for her phone number.
May you like
And somewhere behind a wall at the lake house was a file that might prove exactly why he had approached her.
