Chapter 7 - The Hidden Ledger
The emails led to a password.
The password led to an encrypted folder.
The folder led to a spreadsheet.
Grant called it PROJECT NORTHSTAR.
Rachel stared at the screen for nearly ten minutes without speaking.
“What is it?”
She finally looked up.
“A second set of books.”
Arthur moved beside her.
The spreadsheet tracked money differently from Whitmore Development's official accounting.
Projects were inflated.
Consulting fees were fabricated.
Vendor invoices had been duplicated.
Deposits were routed through shell companies.
Some money returned.
Some disappeared.
Some appeared beneath initials.
VC.
MH.
GW.
And one set of initials I recognized immediately.
RV.
“Who is RV?”
Arthur didn't answer.
Daniel did.
“Richard Voss.”
My stomach turned.
Richard Voss was Grant's closest friend.
He was also a federal contractor with political connections throughout Illinois.
Grant had always said Richard could make problems disappear.
Now I understood what kind of problems he meant.
Rachel copied everything to a secure drive.
“This changes the case.”
“How badly?”
“For Grant?”
She looked at me.
“Potentially catastrophically.”
My phone buzzed.
A voicemail from Grant.
I played it.
“Claire, enough.”
His voice was calmer now.
Too calm.
“You're angry.”
“You have every right to be angry.”
“I shouldn't have touched you.”
Vanessa stared at the table.
Grant continued.
“But your father is going too far.”
“If these investigations continue, hundreds of employees could lose their jobs.”
“He's hurting innocent families to punish me.”
Arthur's expression didn't change.
Grant was trying to make me responsible for the consequences of his own actions.
It was the same trick he had used throughout our marriage.
If I cried, I was dramatic.
If I objected, I was difficult.
If he became angry, I had provoked him.
Now if his company collapsed, it would somehow be my fault too.
The message ended.
Vanessa whispered.
“He used to do that to me.”
“What?”
“Make everything feel like my decision.”
I looked at her.
For the first time, I did not see a rival.
I saw another woman Grant had manipulated.
That did not erase what she had done.
But it changed the shape of my anger.
Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His face tightened.
“What?”
Arthur asked.
Daniel lowered the phone.
“Grant has left the mansion.”
“Where is he going?”
“We don't know.”
Then another message arrived.
Daniel read it.
His face went cold.
“The server room at Whitmore headquarters just went offline.”
May you like
Rachel stood so quickly her chair rolled backward.
“He's destroying evidence.”
