Chapter 16 - The Empty Chair
The note named Everett Shaw, who had helped build Harbor Light’s accounting system. Asha located him outside Cleveland, and he agreed to explain Julia’s separate ledger.
Everett confirmed that Julia had asked him to create a separate reporting ledger after she noticed irregularities. He had delivered the duplicate records to her in a sealed packet. The packet was supposed to be stored in the foundation’s archive, but it had vanished after Julia’s death.
“I thought it had been destroyed,” Everett said. “If those records still exist, they’ll show which accounts were used and who requested each transfer.”
“Can you identify the missing approvals?” Asha asked.
“Not without the server logs. But I can explain the system to the auditors.”
Investigators linked Brightwater invoices to Sloane’s login. The company had billed Harbor Light for children’s transport that never occurred; some money went toward the warehouse.
Daniel sat through the call without speaking. The numbers were no longer vague suspicions. They were a map of deliberate choices.
That afternoon, the foundation’s trustees requested a public meeting. They wanted to reassure donors and explain why the planned property sale had been stopped. Daniel agreed, but he refused to make the meeting a victory speech.
“People gave money because they trusted Julia,” he told Asha. “They deserve the truth, not a performance.”
The Friday meeting would be held in the ballroom where Sloane planned to announce the wedding and property sale. Daniel knew she might appear if her lawyer secured her release.
Oliver heard about the meeting while Rosa helped him pack his schoolbag.
“Do I have to go?” he asked.
“No,” Daniel said. “You can stay with Rosa or with my sister. You don’t owe anyone your story.”
Oliver looked at the lighthouse drawing on his notebook. “But she told everyone I was sick. People might think I did something wrong.”
Daniel crouched beside him. “You did nothing wrong.”
“Then I want to say that.”
Daniel started to tell him no. He imagined cameras, questions, strangers discussing his son’s fear as if it were entertainment. Then he saw the steadiness in Oliver’s face.
“We’ll decide together,” he said.
That night, Asha called with a warning: Sloane’s lawyer had requested access to the family home, claiming she needed to retrieve personal property.
Daniel refused.
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A minute later, a message appeared on his phone from Sloane’s number.
“Keep the boy away from the ballroom. You cannot protect him from what comes next.”
