Chapter 5
I stared at the phone.
“What brother?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ethan is an only child.”
“That’s what he always told me.”
“So why would he say that?”
“I don’t know.”
Laura motioned for me to keep Rachel talking.
“Did he give you a name?”
“No.”
“Anything else?”
“He asked if I remembered a man named Daniel Hart.”
My heart stopped.
I knew that name.
Not personally.
But I had heard Ethan mention him.
“Daniel was his college roommate.”
“That’s what Ethan told you?”
“Yes.”
Rachel went silent.
“What?”
“Daniel Hart was not his roommate.”
My chest tightened.
“How do you know?”
“Because I met him.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Who was he?”
Rachel lowered her voice.
“Ethan’s half brother.”
I closed my eyes.
Another lie.
“How?”
“Same father.”
“Ethan’s father died when he was nineteen.”
“I know.”
“Did his mother know?”
“Yes.”
“Why has no one ever mentioned Daniel?”
Rachel exhaled.
“Because the family hates him.”
“What happened?”
“I never got the whole story.”
“Then tell me what you know.”
“Ethan’s father had Daniel before he married Ethan’s mother.”
“So Daniel is older?”
“Six years.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did Ethan mention him yesterday?”
“That is what scared me.”
Laura wrote something on her notepad.
Ask Ethan.
I nodded.
I ended the call and immediately called him.
He answered on the first ring.
“Emily?”
“Who is Daniel?”
Silence.
That was all I needed.
“You lied about having a brother too.”
“Half brother.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Thank you for the correction.”
“Who told you?”
“Rachel.”
His tone sharpened.
“Why are you still talking to her?”
“Do not change the subject.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
I took a breath.
“Why did you tell Rachel to ask Daniel if something happened to you?”
Ethan went silent.
Then his voice changed.
“Where are you?”
“At the hospital.”
“Is Jessica with you?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
My heart sped up.
“Why?”
“Do not go home.”
I stared at Laura.
“What?”
“Emily, listen to me.”
“No. You listen. I’m done following instructions from you without explanations.”
He breathed hard.
“You’re right.”
“Then explain.”
“I found something in the company accounts.”
“What?”
“Money transfers.”
“How much?”
“Almost nine hundred thousand dollars.”
My mouth went dry.
“From where?”
“My company.”
“To who?”
“A company called Hart Financial Management.”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
I frowned.
“Why would your company send your brother money?”
“I didn’t authorize it.”
“Then who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re the owner.”
“Not the only person with access.”
“Who else?”
“My accountant.”
“Anyone else?”
A pause.
“Rachel used to.”
“But not now.”
“No.”
I looked at Laura.
She was writing everything.
“When did you discover the transfers?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Before or after you asked me about refinancing?”
“Before.”
My anger returned.
“So the refinance was because nine hundred thousand disappeared?”
“Partly.”
I closed my eyes.
“You were going to put our house at risk because money disappeared from your company.”
“I was trying to keep the company alive.”
“Without telling me.”
“Yes.”
“You thought that was okay?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because I was scared.”
Always scared.
Everyone became honest after being caught.
“What does Daniel have to do with this?”
“I called him.”
“And?”
“He swore he never received the money.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is he?”
“Indiana.”
“Have you seen him?”
“Yesterday morning.”
My breath stopped.
“You went to see him yesterday?”
“Yes.”
Before Rachel came to our house.
“What did he say?”
“That the Hart Financial account does not belong to him.”
“Then who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you contact the bank?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“They wouldn’t give me account details.”
“Did you call police?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Silence.
I closed my eyes.
“What are you hiding now?”
“I thought someone inside my company was stealing.”
“That sounds like a reason to call police.”
“I was worried the investigation would expose everything else.”
“What everything else?”
“The trust arrangement.”
“The old loan?”
“Yes.”
“The affair?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Ethan whispered, “The tax returns.”
Laura sat straighter.
“What about your taxes?”
“I made mistakes.”
My stomach dropped.
“What kind of mistakes?”
“I moved money between personal and business accounts.”
“That isn’t necessarily illegal.”
“It is if you report it wrong.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“How wrong?”
“I need to talk to an accountant before I answer that.”
Laura mouthed, Good answer legally.
I nearly laughed.
Of course.
My cheating husband was finally learning caution after putting my life into chaos.
“Why did you tell Rachel not to let me sign Hartwell documents?”
“Because two days ago I found your electronic signature on a business guarantee.”
I stopped breathing.
“My what?”
“Your signature.”
“I never signed anything.”
“I know.”
“What was guaranteed?”
“A line of credit.”
“How much?”
“Five hundred thousand.”
The room went silent.
Laura held out her hand for the phone.
“Tell him your attorney wants a copy immediately.”
I did.
Ethan agreed.
I hung up.
Laura looked at me.
“This has moved beyond a divorce problem.”
“I know.”
“No, Emily. I mean this may involve fraud.”
My chest tightened.
“Someone forged my signature.”
“If Ethan is telling the truth.”
I hated those words.
If Ethan is telling the truth.
My entire life now had that sentence attached to it.
Laura stood.
“I’m going to arrange a forensic review.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
“Can we afford that?”
“You cannot afford not to.”
By evening, Ethan emailed the guarantee.
The signature looked like mine.
Not similar.
Mine.
Even Jessica stared at it.
“That is scary.”
“I didn’t sign it.”
“I know.”
The guarantee had been created seven months earlier.
Three months into my pregnancy.
The borrower was Hartwell Consulting.
The lender was a private investment firm called Northstar Capital Partners.
I had never heard of them.
Laura’s forensic accountant began reviewing records the next morning.
His name was Mark Reynolds.
He asked me dozens of questions.
Had Ethan ever asked for my banking passwords?
Yes.
Had he ever used my laptop?
Yes.
Did we use shared cloud storage?
Yes.
Did I keep scanned signatures for work documents?
I froze.
“Yes.”
Mark looked up.
“Where?”
“In a folder on my laptop.”
“Could Ethan access it?”
“Yes.”
Jessica muttered something under her breath.
Mark continued.
“Did anyone else have access?”
“My sister.”
Jessica raised both hands.
“Definitely not me.”
I almost smiled.
“And?”
I thought.
“Our cleaning service had access to the house, but not the computer.”
“Anyone who stayed with you?”
“Ethan’s mother visited sometimes.”
“Did she use your computer?”
“Once or twice.”
“Anyone else?”
I stopped.
Rachel.
She had been in my house before.
How many times?
I suddenly remembered her saying she knew where the glasses were.
I looked at Mark.
“Rachel.”
“What about her?”
“She has been inside the house.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“How often?”
“I don’t know.”
That afternoon, I asked Ethan.
He looked ashamed.
“Four times.”
“Four?”
“Maybe five.”
“While I was pregnant?”
“Two times.”
“Why?”
“She came to discuss the debt.”
“And you couldn’t meet at an office?”
“I should have.”
“Did she ever use my laptop?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she go upstairs?”
“Once.”
My pulse jumped.
“Why?”
“She used the bathroom.”
“There is a bathroom downstairs.”
“I know.”
“Then why upstairs?”
“She said the downstairs one was dirty.”
I stared at him.
It was ridiculous.
But something felt wrong.
“Was that before the guarantee was signed?”
He thought.
“Yes.”
“How long before?”
“Maybe two weeks.”
I called Laura immediately.
The next day, police became involved.
Not because Ethan called them.
Because Laura did.
A detective named Marcus Hale met me in a hospital conference room.
He was calm.
Professional.
He did not promise anything.
That made me trust him more than anyone connected to Ethan.
“We’re looking at potential identity theft and financial fraud.”
“Do you think Rachel did it?”
“We don’t know.”
“Ethan had access too.”
“Yes.”
“So does that make him a suspect?”
“We are not labeling anyone publicly at this stage.”
I understood.
“What do you need from me?”
“Permission to examine devices and accounts.”
“You have it.”
“Your lawyer will coordinate.”
I nodded.
Then Detective Hale asked something unexpected.
“Have you received any unusual mail?”
“No.”
“Phone calls?”
“Not before this.”
“Anyone following you?”
“No.”
“Any threats?”
“No.”
He glanced at Laura.
“Your husband reported one.”
My heart tightened.
“What?”
“Yesterday.”
“He didn’t tell me.”
“The message said, ‘Stop digging or your family pays.’”
My hand moved automatically toward my stomach.
Sophie.
“Who sent it?”
“Unknown number.”
“Do you think it’s real?”
“We’re investigating.”
Laura spoke.
“Should Emily be concerned about going home?”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
His answer came too quickly.
“For how long?”
“Until we better understand who is involved.”
I felt suddenly cold.
“So where do I go?”
“Stay with family if possible.”
Jessica answered.
“She stays with me.”
Detective Hale nodded.
“That is reasonable.”
I hated that my life had become dangerous because of secrets I did not create.
Then Hale asked Ethan to come in.
I told him I wanted to stay.
Laura agreed.
Ethan entered twenty minutes later.
He looked exhausted.
He had not shaved.
He sat across from Detective Hale.
The questions started simple.
Company ownership.
Employees.
Access.
Then Hale asked about Daniel.
Ethan’s expression changed.
“When did you last speak to him?”
“Two days ago.”
“Before that?”
“Eight years.”
I stared at him.
Eight years.
“You never spoke to your brother for eight years?”
Ethan looked at me.
“No.”
“Why?”
Detective Hale answered before he could.
“We’ll get there.”
He turned back to Ethan.
“Why did you stop speaking?”
Ethan swallowed.
“Because of our father’s estate.”
“What happened?”
“Daniel claimed Dad promised him part of the family trust.”
“Was he entitled?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because the trust came from my mother’s side.”
“So Daniel was not a biological descendant.”
“No.”
“What did he do?”
“He sued.”
“Outcome?”
“Dismissed.”
“Anything else?”
“He accused my mother of hiding assets.”
“Was she?”
Ethan hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
“Did you believe Daniel?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother said he was trying to destroy us.”
Detective Hale leaned back.
“And now?”
Ethan rubbed his face.
“Now I’m not sure.”
My heart tightened.
“Why?”
Ethan looked at me.
“Because Daniel showed me something.”
“What?”
“A letter from my father.”
Detective Hale’s eyes sharpened.
“What did it say?”
“That my mother had taken money from a trust account before he died.”
“How much?”
“Almost two million dollars.”
I stared at Ethan.
“Did you confront her?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
My breath caught.
Yesterday afternoon.
Before I came home.
“What did she say?”
“She denied it.”
“And then?”
“She told me Daniel was lying.”
“Did you believe her?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Ethan reached into his jacket.
Detective Hale stopped him.
“Tell me what you’re reaching for.”
“A photocopy.”
Hale nodded.
Ethan slowly removed a folded page.
He placed it on the table.
Detective Hale read it.
Then handed it to Laura.
Laura’s expression changed.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“It’s a bank transfer.”
“To who?”
“An account connected to Hart Financial Management.”
My stomach dropped.
The same name receiving money from Ethan’s company.
I stared at Ethan.
“How old is that transfer?”
“Sixteen years.”
The room became silent.
Detective Hale leaned forward.
“So the company receiving money from your business today has the same name as an account connected to your mother sixteen years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Does your mother know you discovered that?”
“Yes.”
The detective’s expression changed.
Then he asked the question none of us wanted to hear.
“Where is your mother now?”
Ethan frowned.
“At home.”
Hale pulled out his phone.
“Call her.”
Ethan did.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
A third time.
Voicemail.
Ethan stood.
“I’m going over there.”
“No,” Hale said.
“That’s my mother.”
“And if she is involved, you going there could make things worse.”
“Involved in what?”
Hale looked directly at him.
“Possibly stealing money from your company.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“Possibly forging your wife’s signature.”
“No.”
“And possibly sending you a threat.”
“No.”
“You told her about the forged guarantee, correct?”
“Yes.”
“You told her about the missing company money?”
“Yes.”
“You confronted her about the old transfer?”
“Yes.”
Hale stood.
“And now she is not answering.”
Ethan’s face slowly changed.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He looked at Hale.
The detective nodded.
“Answer.”
Ethan put it on speaker.
“Hello?”
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a man’s voice.
“Ethan.”
Ethan froze.
I knew instantly.
“Daniel?”
The man laughed softly.
“Nice to know you remember my voice.”
“Where are you?”
“That isn’t important.”
“What do you want?”
Daniel’s tone changed.
“I want you to stop blaming me.”
“For what?”
“The money.”
“You know about it?”
“I know someone wants you to think it’s me.”
Ethan looked at Detective Hale.
“Who?”
Daniel went silent.
“Daniel.”
“I told you once.”
“Told me what?”
“You never listened.”
“Tell me now.”
Daniel exhaled.
“Your mother didn’t steal two million dollars from the trust.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
“She stole more.”
“How much?”
“Closer to eight.”
The room went still.
Ethan whispered, “That’s impossible.”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
Daniel paused.
May you like
Then said something that made Ethan sit down.
“She’s with me.”
