Chapter 16 - ONE SEAT ON THE PLANE
Harrison did not call law enforcement and demand that Richard be stopped.
He did something far more useful.
He forwarded the charter itinerary to the neutral examiner, Richard's attorneys, and the investigators who had already requested notice of major asset movements.
Then he went back to Khloe's hospital room and ate a sandwich.
Khloe stared at him.
"That is it?"
"What would you like me to do?"
"Something dramatic."
"I am eating turkey."
"Harry."
He put the sandwich down.
"Richard is not currently under a court order prohibiting travel."
"If investigators have legal grounds to stop or arrest him, they will act."
"If the family court believes the travel violates an order or threatens jurisdiction, it can respond."
"I am not a police officer."
Khloe narrowed her eyes.
"You sound disappointed."
"Deeply."
She almost laughed.
The humor vanished when Clara began crying.
Khloe lifted her carefully.
The baby settled against her chest after a minute.
Harrison watched them.
His face softened.
"You are leaving tomorrow."
"That is the plan."
"My apartment is ready."
"Your apartment looks like a hotel lobby designed by a man afraid of color."
"It has security."
"It also has four gray sofas."
"They are different shades."
"That sentence proves my point."
For the first time since the fall, Khloe laughed without pain overwhelming her.
It felt strange.
Almost disloyal to everything terrible that had happened.
Then Clara made a tiny hiccuping sound, and Khloe laughed again.
Maybe joy did not need permission from grief.
At seven that evening, Richard's lawyer requested a phone conference.
Harrison took it in the hospital meeting room with Miranda.
Khloe was not included.
At eight fifteen, Harrison returned.
"He wants to see you."
Khloe looked up from Clara's bassinet.
"No."
"That was my answer."
"Then why are you telling me?"
"Because his lawyer says Richard wants to make a personal statement before he leaves the country."
Khloe's face hardened.
"He admitted he is leaving?"
"He calls it a business trip."
"To Grand Cayman."
"Yes."
"Forty-eight hours after his wife almost died."
"Yes."
Khloe shook her head.
"No."
Harrison nodded and started toward the door.
"Wait."
He stopped.
Khloe hated the next question before she asked it.
"What does he want to say?"
"His lawyer did not know."
"Or did not tell me."
Khloe looked at Clara.
There were things she wanted from Richard.
Not reconciliation.
Not explanation for the affair.
She wanted to hear whether he could say the truth without someone forcing him.
She wanted to know whether there was any fragment of the man she married left inside the one who built Phoenix.
Most of all, she wanted to stop carrying questions that belonged to him.
"One conversation."
Harrison's expression hardened immediately.
"No direct contact order."
"Through lawyers."
"Video."
"Recorded."
"You in the room."
Harrison studied her.
"You do not owe him this."
"I know."
"You can change your mind at any point."
"I know."
"If he manipulates you, I end it."
Khloe raised an eyebrow.
"If he manipulates me, I end it."
Harrison considered correcting her.
Then nodded.
"Fine."
The call began at nine.
Richard appeared on screen from his attorney's conference room.
No suit jacket this time.
White shirt.
Open collar.
He looked exhausted.
Khloe sat upright in the hospital bed.
Harrison sat beside her, just outside the camera frame.
Miranda and Vane were both on the call.
Richard stared at Khloe for several seconds.
His eyes moved over the bruising near her collarbone.
The splint.
The hospital wristband.
"You look better."
Khloe almost ended the call immediately.
"Do not waste my time."
Richard closed his eyes briefly.
"I am sorry."
"For what?"
He looked at her.
"Everything."
"That is not an answer."
"Khloe."
"No."
Her voice remained calm.
"You asked to speak."
"So speak clearly."
Richard leaned forward.
"I am sorry I cheated on you."
"I am sorry I lied."
"I am sorry I let financial decisions get out of control."
Khloe felt Harrison shift beside her.
Let financial decisions get out of control.
Even now, Richard could not name what he had done.
"Did Vanessa force you to forge my signature?"
Richard's face tightened.
"I did not personally forge it."
"Did you authorize transactions using a signature you knew was not mine?"
Vane spoke.
"Richard, do not answer questions touching the investigation."
Khloe looked at the screen.
"Then this conversation is over."
"Wait."
Richard raised one hand.
"I knew some documents had been handled improperly."
Vane closed his eyes.
"Richard."
Richard ignored him.
Khloe's chest tightened.
"Improperly."
"Fine."
Richard's voice sharpened.
"Yes."
"I knew your approval had been bypassed on some transactions."
Khloe stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because the company was under pressure."
"Because I was trying to keep control of projects that would have collapsed if lenders got nervous."
"And because divorce was coming."
There it was.
Not Vanessa.
Not Caleb.
Richard.
"You planned it."
"I planned to protect the company."
"By putting debt in my name."
Richard looked away.
"It was supposed to be temporary."
Khloe laughed once.
"You were going to divorce me and temporarily leave me with eleven million dollars in liabilities?"
"The debts would have been resolved in settlement."
"After I signed the postnup."
Richard did not answer.
Khloe continued.
"What about my doctor?"
His face changed.
"Vanessa told me you were planning to leave with the baby."
"Did you believe her?"
"At the time."
"So you called my doctor and told her I was confused."
"I was trying to create options."
The phrase stunned Khloe.
"Options."
"If you disappeared after the birth, I needed documentation that I had raised concerns."
Khloe's voice became very quiet.
"You needed a file."
Richard did not answer.
"And Alison Reed?"
"I wanted someone neutral in the house."
Harrison spoke from beside Khloe.
"She was Vanessa's cousin."
Richard flinched at the sound of his voice.
"I know that now."
Khloe shook her head.
"You knew it then."
"You paid her through Vanessa's company."
Richard rubbed his face.
"I did not tell anyone to falsify medical records."
"You told them to observe me until you had enough documentation for a parenting petition."
"I was scared you would take my daughter."
Khloe stared at him.
"She was inside me."
"And you were planning how to take her from me before she could breathe."
Richard's face crumpled for a second.
Maybe shame.
Maybe self-pity.
Khloe could no longer tell the difference.
"Vanessa made me believe you were going to destroy me."
Khloe felt something inside her finally break free.
"Stop saying her name like it is an excuse."
Richard went silent.
"You laughed about my miscarriages."
His face changed completely.
He had not expected that.
"I read the messages."
Khloe's voice trembled now.
"I read what you wrote when I was on the bathroom floor thinking my body had failed us again."
"I read the jokes."
"I read you telling her I was pathetic."
"I read you saying maybe losing the pregnancies was nature doing you a favor."
Harrison looked toward the floor.
Richard's face went gray.
"Khloe."
"Why?"
One word.
That was the only explanation she still wanted.
Richard opened his mouth.
No sound came out.
Khloe waited.
Finally, he whispered, "I was cruel."
"Why?"
"Because she laughed."
The answer was so small that Khloe almost did not understand it.
"What?"
Richard looked ashamed.
"Vanessa laughed at things."
"I wanted to impress her."
Khloe stared at him.
Six years of marriage.
Three rounds of IVF.
Two lost pregnancies.
Countless nights of grief.
Reduced to a man wanting another woman to laugh.
Something inside Khloe became quiet.
Not numb.
Finished.
"Thank you."
Richard looked up hopefully.
"For what?"
"For finally giving me an answer too pathetic to miss."
His face fell.
Khloe reached toward the laptop.
"I am done."
"Wait."
Richard leaned closer to the camera.
"Clara."
Khloe's hand stopped.
"I saw the photograph."
His eyes filled.
"She looks like you."
Khloe said nothing.
"Please do not make her hate me."
Khloe looked at him for a long moment.
"I will never teach my daughter to hate you."
Richard's shoulders dropped with relief.
Then Khloe continued.
"But I will never lie to her to make you easier to love."
She ended the call.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then Harrison reached over and closed the laptop.
Khloe looked at him.
"Was that a mistake?"
"Emotionally?"
"No."
"Legally?"
"His lawyer is going to need a drink."
Khloe almost smiled.
At 6:40 the next morning, Richard's charter was scheduled to depart from a private terminal outside Philadelphia.
At 6:12, two vehicles entered the terminal lot.
At 6:19, Richard arrived carrying one suitcase and a leather document case.
At 6:23, before he reached the aircraft, investigators approached him with an arrest warrant arising from the expanding financial case.
He did not run.
He did not shout.
He simply stopped beside the plane that had one seat waiting for him.
Inside his document case, authorities later listed several passports, account records, and access devices relevant to the financial investigation.
At 6:31, Nolan called Harrison.
Khloe was awake when Harrison entered her hospital room.
She saw his face.
"What happened?"
"Richard was arrested."
Khloe looked down at Clara sleeping beside her.
She expected triumph.
Instead, she felt grief.
Not for the man being taken away.
May you like
For the man she once believed he was.
That man had never existed either.
