Chapter 6 - GAVIN’S GODFATHER
Arthur Vance did not pull out a weapon.
He pulled out his phone.
That almost made it worse.
He looked at the screen.
Then at Evelyn.
“Your son is in the garage.”
Evelyn froze.
“How do you know that?”
Arthur gave her a calm smile.
“Because I just received a building security alert.”
“No one else has service.”
“I have a satellite connection.”
Raymond stepped closer.
“Put the phone on the table, Arthur.”
Arthur looked amused.
“Raymond, you haven’t been a judge in nine years.”
“And yet people still listen when I tell them not to do stupid things.”
A few guests moved away from Arthur.
Henry remained pinned against the sofa.
Taylor clung to Evelyn.
Arthur sighed.
“Everyone has become dramatic.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“Daniel Bell recorded William saying someone on the board was financing the Ashfords.”
Arthur’s face did not change.
“And naturally, you assume it’s me.”
“No.”
“I’m waiting to see whether you behave like an innocent man.”
Arthur smiled.
“I have spent forty years in corporate boardrooms.”
“I don’t behave like anything accidentally.”
That was exactly what Evelyn feared.
Arthur Vance had been William Roberson’s closest friend.
He had stood beside Evelyn at her husband’s funeral.
He had helped Gavin through the transition after William died.
He had voted to make Gavin chairman.
When Gavin and Evelyn stopped speaking, Arthur had repeatedly told her that Gavin needed time.
He had comforted her.
Advised her.
Encouraged her not to push.
If Arthur had been part of the conspiracy, Evelyn had spent six months taking advice from the very man helping isolate her.
“Did you know about Pacific Meridian?”
She asked.
Arthur tilted his head.
“I know hundreds of consulting companies.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
“That was my answer.”
Raymond moved closer.
“Arthur.”
“Sit down.”
Arthur chuckled.
“Or what?”
The retired Marine executive tightened his hold on Henry.
Arthur looked around the room.
Then slowly placed his phone on the table.
“Fine.”
“There.”
“Happy?”
Evelyn wasn’t.
She stepped toward Gavin’s laptop.
The memory card still showed seventeen files.
She opened one labeled BOARD.
A spreadsheet appeared.
Payments.
Dates.
Initials.
M.R.
C.A.
P.A.
And A.V.
Arthur’s eyes shifted.
Only slightly.
But Evelyn saw it.
She pointed at the initials.
“Explain that.”
“Could mean anyone.”
“Arthur Vance.”
“Or Atlantic Ventures.”
“Do you think I’m stupid?”
“I think you’re frightened.”
“And frightened people see patterns.”
Raymond leaned toward the screen.
“What are the amounts?”
Evelyn read them.
“Two million.”
“Seven hundred fifty thousand.”
“One point four million.”
Arthur’s smile disappeared.
“Those could be legitimate consulting fees.”
“To whom?”
“Ask whoever created the spreadsheet.”
“Daniel Bell.”
Arthur said nothing.
Evelyn opened another file.
Photograph.
Arthur Vance leaving a restaurant in Sacramento with Senator Ashford.
Timestamp.
Two years before Harbor Crown failed.
Another photograph.
Arthur beside Marcus Reed at a private airfield.
Another.
Arthur shaking hands with Aaron Pike, the registered manager of Pacific Meridian.
The room went silent.
Arthur stared at the images.
Then sighed.
“Well.”
“That is inconvenient.”
Evelyn felt sick.
“Inconvenient?”
“You betrayed William.”
His expression changed.
Just a little.
“Do not use his name like that.”
“He trusted you.”
“So did I.”
Arthur’s voice suddenly sharpened.
“You think William Roberson was a saint because he died?”
“He was my husband.”
“He was my friend before he ever met you.”
“And you destroyed his company.”
“No.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“I saved it.”
Raymond blocked him.
Arthur stopped.
“Harbor Crown was bleeding money before construction started.”
“William refused to abandon it.”
“He had promised the city affordable units.”
“Parks.”
“Public waterfront access.”
“Things that made politicians smile and investors furious.”
“Senator Ashford offered us a solution.”
Evelyn stared.
“Fraud?”
“A financing structure.”
“You falsified engineering reports.”
Arthur’s face tightened.
“That was Marcus.”
“So you admit Marcus was involved.”
Arthur realized his mistake.
Too late.
Evelyn smiled bitterly.
“Thank you.”
Arthur’s jaw clenched.
He reached for his phone.
Raymond slapped his hand away.
“Leave it.”
Arthur looked at him.
“You have no idea what you’re interfering with.”
“Then enlighten me.”
“You think this ends with Marcus?”
“Priscilla?”
“Charles Ashford?”
Arthur laughed softly.
“They are middlemen.”
Evelyn’s stomach dropped.
“For whom?”
Arthur did not answer.
Instead, he looked toward Taylor.
The little girl was clutching the red rabbit again.
“Daniel was smarter than we realized.”
Nora’s daughter stared at him.
Arthur spoke almost to himself.
“Putting the card inside a child’s toy.”
“Simple.”
“Brilliant.”
Evelyn pulled Taylor behind her.
“Do not look at her.”
Arthur smiled.
“I’m not going to hurt a child.”
“You helped destroy her father.”
Arthur’s expression hardened.
“No.”
“Daniel Bell destroyed himself.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
Raymond caught her arm.
“What does that mean?”
Arthur looked at her.
“He had a choice.”
“Walk away.”
“Take the money.”
“Protect his family.”
“He decided to become heroic.”
“People romanticize courage.”
“They forget courage has consequences.”
Evelyn’s hand curled into a fist.
Before she could respond, the private office computer chimed.
A new message had appeared.
Not an email.
A remote system notification.
EXTERNAL DEVICE CONNECTED.
Evelyn stared.
Somebody was accessing Gavin’s network.
Then files on the memory card began disappearing.
One.
Two.
Three.
“Someone is deleting them.”
Raymond rushed toward the laptop.
Evelyn pulled out the card.
Too late.
Five folders were already gone.
She held the tiny card between her fingers.
Arthur smiled.
“See?”
“You are not fighting people.”
“You are fighting infrastructure.”
The lights suddenly came back on.
The ballroom chandeliers illuminated.
Cell phones regained service.
Every guest’s device began chiming at once.
Messages.
Notifications.
News alerts.
Evelyn looked at Raymond.
“What happened?”
He checked his phone.
Then his face changed.
“Oh, no.”
“What?”
He turned the screen toward her.
A breaking news article had already gone live.
ROBERSON ENGAGEMENT PARTY ERUPTS AFTER HOUSEKEEPER ACCUSED OF STEALING $80,000 BRACELET.
Below it was a photograph of Nora.
The story claimed she had been caught attempting to steal from Priscilla Ashford.
It claimed Evelyn Roberson had become “emotionally unstable.”
It claimed Gavin’s family was experiencing a private crisis.
And it quoted an anonymous security source saying Nora Bell might have been involved in an extortion attempt.
Evelyn felt fury rise.
“They prepared this.”
Raymond nodded.
“Before tonight.”
Arthur smiled.
“Public perception moves quickly.”
“You can have facts tomorrow.”
“People remember tonight’s headline.”
Evelyn turned toward him.
“You knew this was coming.”
“I know how these things work.”
Down in the parking garage, Gavin’s phone signal returned at exactly the same moment.
Dozens of notifications exploded across his screen.
But he ignored them.
Because Nora had just opened the trunk of the black sedan.
Inside was a cardboard box.
Marlene stared at it.
“I didn’t put that there.”
Gavin slowly opened it.
Inside were three things.
Daniel Bell’s missing company identification badge.
A photograph of Gavin’s father taken two days before his death.
And an envelope addressed in William Roberson’s handwriting.
GAVIN — IF ARTHUR IS STILL BESIDE YOU WHEN YOU READ THIS, RUN.
Gavin stared at his father’s handwriting.
Then his phone rang.
Evelyn.
He answered.
“Mom.”
Her voice came fast.
“Gavin, Arthur is here.”
His blood ran cold.
“Get Taylor away from him.”
“Why?”
Gavin looked at his father’s warning.
“Because Dad knew.”
“Arthur was involved before Harbor Crown.”
Before Evelyn could answer, a sound echoed across the garage.
Applause.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Gavin turned.
Marcus Reed stepped from behind a concrete pillar.
He was holding a second black folder.
And beside him stood Senator Charles Ashford.
Marcus smiled.
May you like
“Now.”
“I think we can finally stop pretending this is about an engagement.”
