Chapter 9 - The Phone in the Drawer
Emily left her mother’s house without saying goodbye.
In Paul’s SUV, she handed him her phone.
“Assume it’s compromised.”
He powered it down and sealed it in a signal bag.
Noah called from the office. “We found the source of the forged amendment.”
“Who?”
“Not who. Where.”
The document had been uploaded through a secure client terminal assigned to Daniel’s personal accountant, Trevor Lane.
Trevor had worked for Carter Construction for five years.
He also happened to be Emily’s cousin by marriage.
By noon, Paul had Trevor sitting in a Vance & Hayes interview room.
Trevor looked like a man who had not slept.
“I didn’t forge anything,” he said.
“Your terminal did,” Emily replied.
“Daniel uses my login sometimes.”
“You gave him your password?”
“He’s my boss.”
“That is not an answer.”
Trevor rubbed his face. “You don’t know what it’s like over there.”
“No. Apparently I only know what it’s like to be married to it.”
He looked at her then.
Really looked.
“He keeps two phones.”
Emily’s pulse jumped.
“One for work. One he calls the drawer phone.”
“Where?”
“In his basement office. Locked drawer, right side of the desk.”
“What’s on it?”
“I don’t know. But every time a lender called about Northstar, he used that phone.”
Noah sat forward. “Did my name ever come up?”
Trevor nodded.
“Daniel said if things went bad, there was already a second Carter on the paperwork.”
Noah swore.
Emily asked, “Did he ever mention my father?”
Trevor’s eyes flicked toward the camera in the ceiling.
Then to the door.
“Once.”
“What did he say?”
Trevor lowered his voice.
“He said Jonathan was the only man who ever made your grandfather afraid.”
Emily’s hands went cold.
“And?”
“He said dead men are easier to negotiate with.”
Before Emily could respond, Paul’s earpiece buzzed.
He stepped into the hallway, then returned immediately.
“The judge granted a temporary order.”
Margaret stood. “Freezing the acceleration?”
Paul shook his head.
“Freezing Emily.”
May you like
Daniel had convinced a judge to suspend her trust authority until a competency hearing.
Effective immediately.
