Chapter 6 - What Claire Signed
The warrant allowed officers to search Jonah's apartment for a flash drive and stolen corporate records. Ethan and Tessa had slipped through the service tunnel into the next building by the time the police came upstairs.
They emerged behind a tire shop at dawn.
Ethan called Claire from a borrowed phone. "Meet me at the old train station. Come alone."
She arrived in jeans and a gray sweater, looking as though she'd aged ten years overnight.
"Your father sent police after me," Ethan said.
"I know."
"And Harbor Lantern Holdings is in your name."
Claire shut her eyes. "I signed the ownership paperwork after college. He said it was for tax planning."
"Did you ever ask why a company you owned was buying land around the old waterfront?"
"I did. He said the buildings would be restored."
"And my signature?"
She swallowed. "The papers last night transferred your inherited claim in Mercer-Vale Construction into Harbor Lantern."
"I never knew I had a claim."
"That's why Dad wanted the marriage. Your mother discovered a missing share certificate. You still own part of his company. The transfer would make it harder for you to challenge him."
Ethan leaned against a pillar. "Was any of this real to you?"
"I love you," she said. "That's real. I was afraid if I told you, he'd hurt you."
"You let me sign away my father's life's work."
Claire pressed a folded page into his hand. "I didn't file it. I couldn't. The signature is on the original, but the transfer isn't recorded. You can stop it."
"Then why didn't you tell me yesterday?"
"He threatened my little brother. Owen is seventeen. He lives with Dad."
May you like
A train roared through the station without stopping.
When the noise faded, Claire whispered, "There's something else. I found a recording. Dad was there the night your father died."
