Chapter 3 - MY MOTHER’S LIE
Christopher's attorneys arranged a temporary residence for me under court supervision.
Not jail.
Not home.
A guesthouse on one of his private properties outside Scottsdale.
I could leave only for approved legal meetings.
After years of avoiding my father’s world, I was suddenly hiding inside it.
At 7:15 the next morning, his attorneys arrived.
So did a forensic accountant named Naomi Reyes.
She was thirty-eight, direct, quiet, and terrifyingly efficient.
She spread transaction records across the dining table.
“Your husband was careful,” Naomi said.
“Not careful enough?”
“Nobody is.”
She pointed at several transfers.
“These are the transactions used at trial.”
“I know.”
“But they’re too clean.”
I frowned.
“Too clean?”
“Real fraud is messy. Human beings make mistakes. Your logins are perfect. Your approvals happen at predictable intervals. Whoever built this wanted investigators to find you.”
Christopher stood by the window.
“Can you prove it?”
“I can prove somebody staged the activity.”
“How?”
Naomi tapped one page.
“Genevieve was physically attending a charity dinner in Tempe when one of these approvals occurred from her office terminal.”
“That was raised at trial,” I said. “The prosecutor said remote access.”
Naomi nodded.
“Except the remote access logs were generated twelve days later.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Somebody altered them.”
My pulse accelerated.
“Who had access?”
“Your IT director.”
“Martin Hale.”
“And your husband.”
I blinked.
“Chad wasn't employed there.”
“No,” Naomi said. “But his consulting company maintained a cybersecurity contract with your firm.”
I stared at the documents.
Chad had recommended his company two years earlier.
I had recused myself from the vote because he was my husband.
The board approved him anyway.
He had access to everything.
I had handed him the knife myself.
Naomi slid another sheet forward.
“There’s something else.”
It was a wire transfer.
Eight hundred thousand dollars.
Destination: Black Mesa Holdings.
“I've never heard of them.”
“You weren't supposed to.”
Christopher’s voice went flat.
“Who owns it?”
Naomi looked at me.
“Your mother.”
The room went silent.
I laughed once because the alternative was screaming.
“My mother owns a holding company?”
“Registered through a Nevada agent.”
“And she received eight hundred thousand dollars?”
“Six months ago.”
“From where?”
Naomi turned the page around.
“From an account connected to Chad.”
I pushed my chair back.
“No.”
Christopher said nothing.
I stood.
“My mother barely knows how to use online banking.”
Naomi held my gaze.
“Then somebody is using her name.”
I wanted that explanation.
Needed it.
Because the alternative was unbearable.
Before I could speak, a security guard entered.
“Mr. Lindqvist, there’s a woman at the front gate.”
Christopher frowned.
“Who?”
The guard looked at me.
“Evelyn Hart.”
My mother.
She had come alone.
Christopher’s voice hardened.
“Send her away.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I want to hear what she says.”
Ten minutes later, Evelyn walked into the living room.
Perfect beige coat.
Pearl earrings.
Hair pinned neatly back.
She looked like the grieving mother reporters had photographed outside court.
Then she saw Christopher.
All the color left her face.
“What is he doing here?”
I almost laughed.
“This is his house.”
Her eyes snapped toward me.
“You called him?”
“I was being sent to prison.”
“You promised me you would never involve him in your life.”
“You bought my house.”
Silence.
Evelyn’s expression didn't move.
“Who told you?”
That was the wrong answer.
Not What are you talking about?
Not I didn’t.
Who told you?
My stomach turned.
“You did buy it.”
She sighed.
“Genevieve—”
“You forged my signature?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“I was trying to protect Toby.”
“From what?”
She glanced toward Christopher.
“From this family.”
Christopher smiled faintly.
“Interesting choice of words.”
Evelyn ignored him.
I stepped closer.
“Mom, Chad framed me.”
“I know.”
Everything stopped.
“What?”
She covered her mouth.
Too late.
I heard it.
Christopher heard it.
Naomi heard it.
I stared at the woman who raised me.
“You knew?”
Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't know how far he would take it.”
My hands started shaking.
“You knew he was setting me up?”
“He told me he needed you removed from the company for a while.”
“Removed?”
“I thought he meant fired!”
“You testified against me!”
“I was scared!”
“Of Chad?”
Her eyes flicked toward Christopher again.
“No.”
Then who?
Before she could answer, glass exploded behind us.
A bullet tore through the living-room window.
Christopher shoved me to the floor.
Security guards rushed in.
Evelyn screamed.
A second shot hit the wall.
May you like
And suddenly I understood.
Whatever my mother was hiding, somebody was willing to kill to keep it hidden.
