Chapter 6 - A Check for a Child
Naomi printed the image and slid it under a lamp.
“Can you identify the garage?” she asked.
“Sterling Tower. Underground level three.”
“And the envelope?”
“I've seen it before, in Vivian's office.”
Naomi arranged an independent accountant, Peter Shah, to examine the foundation's public filings. By noon he had traced grant transfers to Ashford Residential, a company owned through three holding firms by Vivian's brother.
“That's where the money went?” I asked.
“Some. But look at the memo fields.”
He turned the laptop. The payments were marked with coded references: BLUE ONE, RED TWO, GREEN THREE. Six accounts. Six beads.
One payment had been made on April 9. It was assigned to BLUE FOUR and authorized by Daniel.
I called him from Naomi's conference room.
“Did you sign for a transfer on April 9?”
Silence.
“Daniel.”
“I signed a bridge loan.”
“Who received it?”
“An emergency-care subsidiary.”
“That's not an answer.”
He exhaled. “Meredith said the money would settle a lawsuit before it hurt the foundation.”
“Whose lawsuit?”
“I didn't ask.”
“You didn't ask where two hundred and eighty thousand dollars went?”
His voice sharpened. “I was trying to keep our family from falling apart.”
“Our family didn't need that money. Someone else did.”
The connection went quiet. Then he said, “Mom told me if the scandal broke, she'd freeze the trust that pays for our house and the baby's care.”
“We have insurance. We have salaries. We could live in a smaller house.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“No. I make it sound possible.”
I hung up shaking.
By sunset, Peter found a payee associated with BLUE FOUR: a private investigator named Calvin Rusk. Rusk had once worked security for a maternity clinic closed after patient complaints.
Naomi asked him to meet us. He refused.
Ten minutes later he texted a photograph of an old hospital nursery. Six bassinets were lined up behind glass.
May you like
Under it he wrote: THERE WERE NEVER JUST SIX.
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