Chapter 11 - The Woman on the Phone
Claire kept the phone against her ear while staring at Naomi.
"Who are you?"
The woman on the line hesitated.
"My name is Rebecca Lane."
Naomi's expression changed immediately.
Claire saw it.
"You know her."
Naomi stepped forward.
"Hang up."
Claire moved away.
"Why?"
Rebecca heard the question.
"Because she knows exactly who I am."
Naomi's jaw tightened.
"Rebecca worked for Julian."
The voice on the phone laughed softly.
"That's what she always says first."
Claire looked around the boardroom.
Every director was watching her.
The meeting had collapsed into something far beyond corporate procedure.
Police were already on their way because of the forged proxy and the apartment footage.
Claire stepped into the hallway for privacy.
Naomi followed.
Claire held up one hand.
"Stay there."
Naomi stopped.
Rebecca spoke again.
"Ask Naomi when your mother's final trust was notarized."
Claire looked at Naomi.
"When?"
Naomi's eyes narrowed.
"Four days before Eleanor died."
Claire repeated it.
Rebecca answered immediately.
"Ask her where."
"Where was it notarized?"
Naomi took a breath.
"At St. Vincent's Medical Center."
Rebecca's voice sharpened.
"Now ask which floor."
Claire looked at Naomi.
"Which floor?"
Naomi paused.
"The seventh."
Rebecca went silent for one beat.
"There was no seventh-floor patient wing at St. Vincent's that year."
Claire's pulse quickened.
Naomi shook her head.
"That's misleading."
"Then explain it."
"The legal office was on the seventh floor of the adjacent building."
Rebecca laughed again.
"Convenient."
Claire's patience snapped.
"Both of you stop talking around me."
The hallway went quiet.
"Rebecca, what proof do you have?"
"The notary log."
"Send it."
"I will."
"Now."
A file arrived seconds later.
Claire opened it.
The scanned page showed a list of notarizations from the week before Eleanor's death.
Eleanor Hale's name did not appear.
Claire looked at Naomi.
"Her name isn't here."
Naomi did not look surprised.
"Because the document wasn't notarized by the hospital notary."
"Who notarized it?"
"A private notary your mother requested."
Rebecca interrupted.
"A woman named Dana Pierce."
Naomi stared at the phone.
Claire heard the tension between them.
"Who is Dana Pierce?"
Rebecca answered.
"Naomi's college roommate."
Claire looked at Naomi.
Naomi's expression remained steady.
"That is true."
"You had your friend notarize the document?"
"Your mother chose her because she did not trust anyone connected to Hale Meridian."
"Is Dana alive?"
Naomi paused.
"No."
Claire almost laughed from exhaustion.
"Of course she isn't."
Rebecca's voice softened.
"Claire, the trust Naomi brought into that boardroom may be real, or it may be the document that began this whole fraud."
"Why should I trust you?"
"You shouldn't."
Claire blinked.
Rebecca continued.
"Not yet."
That answer sounded more credible than everyone else's demands for immediate loyalty.
"What do you want?"
"For you to see the original ledger."
Naomi stepped closer.
"She doesn't have it."
Rebecca heard her.
"Yes, I do."
Naomi went still.
Claire felt the air change.
"Matthew said he had it."
Rebecca replied.
"Matthew thinks he has it."
"What does that mean?"
"It means your husband has been fooled too."
Claire closed her eyes for a moment.
"By whom?"
Rebecca's answer was quiet.
"By the same man who fooled all of us."
Claire looked through the glass wall at Richid.
He was inside the boardroom speaking with two arriving detectives.
"My father?"
Rebecca did not answer directly.
"Ask Richid why Julian left Hale Meridian six months ago."
"He said Julian started taking money from Matthew."
"That happened later."
Claire turned toward Naomi.
"Do you know?"
Naomi shook her head.
"Not for certain."
Rebecca continued.
"Julian found a transfer in the old books."
"What transfer?"
"Twenty-seven million dollars."
"To whom?"
"That's the interesting part."
Claire waited.
"The beneficiary was Eleanor Hale."
Claire frowned.
"My mother?"
"The transfer was authorized six months after she died."
Claire's skin went cold.
Naomi whispered something under her breath.
Claire looked at her.
"You knew?"
"No."
Rebecca continued.
"Someone used your mother's identity after her death."
"For what?"
"To create the capital trail that made your trust look legitimate."
Claire looked down at the document Naomi had brought to the board.
If the trust had been funded with fabricated transfers, its entire legal foundation could be challenged.
And if the trust failed, Claire might not own thirty-eight percent after all.
Matthew's forged proxy could become meaningless.
Richid's control might return.
Or Samuel Voss's heirs might have a claim.
Claire finally understood why every answer created two new dangers.
"Where is the ledger?"
Rebecca gave her an address.
Naomi immediately shook her head.
"Don't go."
Claire covered the phone.
"Why?"
"Because Rebecca Lane is not who she says she is."
Claire uncovered the phone.
"Then who is she?"
Naomi and Rebecca answered at the same time.
Naomi said, "Matthew's sister."
Rebecca said, "Samuel Voss's daughter."
Claire stopped breathing.
Before Claire could ask another question, two detectives entered the hallway.
Mara Ellis was with them.
She looked from Claire to Naomi and then toward the boardroom.
"We need everyone to remain on this floor until we finish preliminary interviews."
Claire covered the phone.
"Including me?"
"Including you."
Rebecca heard the answer.
"Don't let them take your phone."
Claire's expression hardened.
"Police are not my enemy right now."
"You don't know who Victor Sloan has paid."
Mara heard the name.
"Victor Sloan?"
Claire nodded.
Naomi stepped closer.
"Rebecca, if you have evidence, turn it over."
Rebecca replied coldly.
"I watched adults turn over evidence for thirty years and somehow the right people kept walking away."
Claire looked at the phone.
"Then stop repeating their mistake."
Rebecca went quiet.
Claire continued.
"You said I shouldn't trust Naomi."
"Correct."
"Naomi said I shouldn't trust you."
"Also correct."
"Good."
Claire's voice became steady.
"Then neither of you gets to decide what I do next."
Mara almost smiled.
Rebecca exhaled slowly.
"You really are Eleanor's daughter."
"I am also my own person."
May you like
That ended the conversation.
Claire hung up before Rebecca could answer.
