Vanessa answered my call only after Daniel had been gone twenty minutes.
She whispered, “Claire?”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“At home.”
“Daniel is coming there.”
Another pause.
Then, “Why?”
“You know why.”
“I really don’t.”
“Your email sent my passport to the lender.”
Silence.
I could hear traffic somewhere behind her.
She was not at home.
“Vanessa.”
“I can explain.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m driving.”
“Where?”
“Claire, please.”
“Are you going to Elliot?”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
I no longer trusted immediate answers.
“Did you call him this morning?”
“No.”
“Did you email him?”
Silence.
“Vanessa.”
“He called me.”
Richard, standing beside me, wrote something on a pad.
WHEN?
“When?”
“This morning.”
“What time?”
“After Daniel came over.”
I looked at Richard.
“Daniel came to you?”
“Yes.”
“He told me you went home after the train.”
“I did.”
“And then?”
“He came over this morning because he was angry.”
“Before he came to the townhouse?”
“Yes.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That you’d gone to your father.”
“Anything about Brighton?”
“He said Richard would probably find it.”
“Anything about the loan?”
“Not the amount.”
“Did he tell you my signature had been copied?”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“I swear.”
“Then why did you send my passport?”
“I didn’t know what it was for.”
I closed my eyes.
“How did you get it?”
“Daniel gave me a scan.”
Richard stopped writing.
“When?”
“Months ago.”
“Why?”
“He said Elliot needed identity verification because you might become an investor.”
“I was not an investor.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then.”
“No.”
“You knew I didn’t know about North Shore.”
She said nothing.
“That means you knew I had not agreed to invest.”
“Daniel said he was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“After he had everything lined up.”
I looked toward the office.
The phrase in Daniel’s handwriting returned.
Ask Claire after baby. Easier then.
“You emailed my passport anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why from your account?”
“Brighton didn’t have a real administrative email yet.”
“So you were its administrator.”
“Technically.”
“Earlier you said it was temporary.”
“It was.”
“For what?”
“So Daniel’s name wouldn’t be on everything.”
That sentence changed the room.
Richard’s pen stopped.
“Why couldn’t Daniel’s name be on everything?”
“I don’t know.”
“Vanessa.”
“He said because of Halcyon.”
Richard and I exchanged a look.
“What about Halcyon?”
“He said lenders might ask questions if he was the primary sponsor.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You never asked?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“He said there had been compliance problems at the old firm and he didn’t want irrelevant history complicating the deal.”
So Brighton Meridian was not merely convenient.
It concealed Daniel.
“Did Elliot suggest using you?”
“I think so.”
“Did you understand that?”
“Not really.”
“You signed the company paperwork.”
“Yes.”
“You let them use your address.”
“Yes.”
“You sent my passport.”
“Yes.”
“You received money from my account.”
“I didn’t receive all of it.”
“Where did it go?”
“Daniel told me to transfer some to Elliot.”
Richard moved closer.
“How much?”
“Maybe twenty-eight thousand.”
“To Elliot personally?”
“To another company.”
“What company?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Look at your records.”
“I’m driving.”
“Pull over.”
“Claire.”
“Pull over.”
For once, she obeyed without arguing.
I heard the indicator clicking, tires over rough pavement, then silence.
“Okay.”
“Open your banking app.”
“I can’t talk and—”
“Then stop the call and send screenshots.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel will be furious.”
I almost could not believe it.
“You’re still worried about Daniel being angry?”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then help me.”
Her breathing became uneven.
“He owes Elliot money.”
Richard’s head came up.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why?”
“From before.”
“Before North Shore?”
“Yes.”
“How long before?”
“Years.”
I felt the entire investigation shift beneath my feet.
“What kind of debt?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Daniel tell you?”
“Not directly.”
“How did you find out?”
“I heard them arguing.”
“When?”
“Last summer.”
“About what?”
“Elliot said Daniel had promised to make him whole.”
Richard wrote the phrase exactly.
“What did Daniel say?”
“That North Shore would fix everything.”
I sat down.
The acquisition was not merely Daniel’s attempt to prove himself.
It might have been a rescue.
“What did Elliot lose?”
“I don’t know.”
“Halcyon?”
“I think so.”
“Why would Daniel owe him for something that happened at Halcyon?”
“I don’t know.”
The repetition frustrated me, but this time I believed her.
Vanessa had been useful precisely because she knew enough to perform tasks and not enough to understand them.
“Send the transfers.”
She began crying.
“I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
“That I did something illegal.”
I looked at Richard.
He shook his head slightly, warning me not to advise her.
“I can’t answer that.”
“You have Richard there.”
“He represents me.”
“Can he represent me too?”
Richard shook his head more firmly.
“No.”
“Vanessa, you need your own lawyer.”
She made a small sound.
That frightened her more than anything else I had said.
“A lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my God.”
“Listen to me. Don’t delete anything.”
“Daniel told me to clean up the Brighton files.”
Richard and I both froze.
“When?”
“This morning.”
“What exactly did he say?”
“He said the deal was dead and I should clean everything up.”
“Did he say delete?”
“He said clear out the old documents.”
“Did you?”
“Some.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“Emails. Drafts.”
Richard held out his hand for my phone.
I switched to speaker and placed it on the desk.
He said, “Vanessa, this is Richard Bell. I do not represent you. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Do not delete anything else. Do not alter devices or accounts. Speak with independent counsel as soon as possible.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“I cannot advise you.”
She began crying harder.
“I didn’t forge anything.”
Richard said, “I didn’t say you did.”
“I didn’t.”
I leaned toward the phone.
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“You sent my passport.”
“Yes.”
“Who asked you to?”
“Daniel.”
“Did he send you the copy?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever send samples of my signature?”
“No.”
“Did Elliot ask?”
Silence.
My skin prickled.
“Vanessa.”
“Once.”
“When?”
“October.”
“What did he ask for?”
“He wanted an example of how you signed legal documents.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“What did you send?”
“Nothing.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he ask?”
“He said the lender wanted to make sure the consent form matched identification.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“What did you tell Daniel?”
“I forwarded the email.”
“And?”
“He told me to ignore it.”
That helped Daniel.
For once.
“Do you still have that email?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t search while driving.”
“I’m parked.”
“Then look.”
I heard tapping.
A minute passed.
Then Vanessa inhaled.
“I have it.”
“Forward it to Richard.”
He gave her an address.
Seconds later his computer chimed.
He opened the message.
The email was exactly as Vanessa described.
Elliot had asked:
Need specimen signature for CWH. Any executed docs available?
Vanessa had forwarded it to Daniel.
Daniel’s reply appeared beneath.
No. Do not send him anything. Claire has not approved.
I stared at the screen.
For the first time all day, documentary evidence supported Daniel.
Not completely.
But clearly.
He had told Vanessa not to provide a signature.
Richard said, “That matters.”
I nodded.
My emotions did not know what to do with the information.
Daniel had stolen from me.
Hidden the acquisition.
Supplied my passport.
Discussed my assets.
Allowed the financing process to continue after learning Elliot was pushing for consent.
But he had also explicitly written that I had not approved.
People were easier when they were entirely guilty or entirely innocent.
Daniel was neither.
“What happened after that?” I asked.
Vanessa sniffed.
“Nothing.”
“Elliot got a signature somehow.”
“I don’t know how.”
Richard searched the forwarded chain.
“There’s an attachment from Daniel.”
I leaned closer.
It was a PDF.
A household insurance renewal.
Signed by me.
My stomach dropped.
The date was six weeks before Elliot’s request.
“Why did Daniel send you this?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“He asked me to print it.”
“When?”
“September.”
“Why?”
“He was at a client meeting.”
“Did you send it to Elliot?”
“No.”
“Did Elliot have access to your email?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Did Brighton?”
“I used the same password for some things.”
Richard looked up sharply.
“What things?”
“Email. Document storage. The lender portal.”
“Who knew the password?”
“Daniel.”
“Anyone else?”
“Elliot.”
There it was.
Richard leaned back.
“So Elliot potentially had credentials that could access an email account containing a document with Claire’s genuine signature.”
Vanessa went silent.
I felt sick.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Did Daniel?”
“I don’t know.”
A car horn sounded faintly through the phone.
Then Vanessa gasped.
“What?”
“Daniel’s calling.”
“Answer him.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You should tell him you’re safe.”
Richard raised a finger.
“But do not discuss documents until you have counsel.”
I repeated that.
Vanessa ended the call.
For several seconds Richard and I sat silently.
Then he said, “This changes the forgery question.”
“It could have been Elliot.”
“Yes.”
“Without Daniel knowing.”
“Yes.”
I should have felt relief.
Instead the truth became messier.
“Does it change the money?”
“No.”
“The hidden deal?”
“No.”
“The passport?”
“No.”
“The house?”
“No.”
“The note about after the baby?”
“No.”
I nodded.
One piece becoming less terrible did not repair the rest.
My phone rang again.
This time it was Daniel.
I answered.
“Vanessa isn’t home.”
“I know.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s safe.”
“You talked to her.”
“Yes.”
“What did she tell you?”
“That you owe Elliot money.”
Silence.
Long enough that I knew she had finally reached the part Daniel had never intended me to discover.
“How much?” I asked.
He did not answer.
“Daniel.”
His voice came back quieter.
“Claire, that has nothing to do with you.”
I looked at the townhouse around me.
At the binder.
At my passport on the lender file.
At thirty-eight thousand dollars from my account.
“It became about me when you started paying him with my money.”
“I wasn’t paying a debt.”
“What were you paying?”
“Deal expenses.”
“Then why did he say North Shore would make him whole?”
Daniel said nothing.
I heard a car engine on his end.
“Where are you?”
“Driving.”
“Where?”
He hesitated.
Then said, “I’m going to find Elliot.”
Richard immediately shook his head.
“Don’t,” I said.
“I need to talk to him.”
“No. You need to preserve everything.”
“He forged your signature.”
“We don’t know that.”
“I do.”
The certainty in Daniel’s voice stopped me.
“How?”
Silence.
“Daniel, how do you know?”
He breathed out.
“Because he’s done it before.”
I gripped the phone.
“To whom?”
Daniel did not answer immediately.
When he finally did, his voice was barely above a whisper.
“To me.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 12: Daniel’s Secret From Halcyon Finally Explained His Debt to Elliot, and Why North Shore Had Become More Than an Investment
The Tickets Were Already Booked When I Realized My Husband Had Decided Exactly Where I Belonged
Part 11 of 24
