Chapter 5 - Fourteen Minutes
The courier had barely reached his van when Grant tried to shut the door.
“Claire, you need to understand how this works,” he said, voice low. “The lender is expecting documents. People are counting on us.”
“Who?”
He rubbed his forehead. “Investors. Our investors.”
“I'm not one of your investors.”
“You're my wife.”
“That isn't an answer.”
I walked toward the driveway, barefoot on cold stone. Rosa followed at a careful distance. Evelyn called after us that the police would arrest me for destruction of property. I turned around long enough to point at my cheek.
“Tell them everything,” I said. “I'll tell them everything too.”
My phone buzzed. Mara had texted: Hold active. Incoming documents rejected. Come to the office. Don't go alone.
Another message arrived from an unknown number: If you want the truth about Grant's financing, ask about Bayline 47.
I showed it to Rosa. “Do you know that name?”
She pressed her lips together. “Miss Claire, please don't answer messages from numbers you don't know.”
“You know something.”
“I know what I heard in the study last night.”
The front door banged open behind us. Grant strode out. He had exchanged fury for a pleading expression so quickly it was almost frightening.
“Claire. Baby. You're upset. Come inside.”
Rosa took a step between us. “The police are coming, sir.”
Grant's smile vanished. “You just cost yourself your job.”
“She didn't,” I said. “You did.”
A car rolled slowly past the gate and stopped. A woman stepped out with a camera hanging from her shoulder. She was dressed in black jeans and a gray jacket and looked directly at me.
“Claire Bennett?” she called. “I'm Dana Reed. I sent that message.”
Grant stared at her as if he'd seen a ghost.
Dana told me she first became suspicious when the marina's launch announcement used photographs of docks in another state. “Developers exaggerate,” she'd thought. But then a former subcontractor showed her unpaid invoices, and the advertised lender couldn't confirm the transaction.
“Get off my property,” he said.
May you like
Dana held up a small flash drive. “Bayline 47 has been moving money through shell companies for months. And your husband knows I have the ledger.”
Then Grant took one quick step toward her, and I understood he was more afraid of that drive than of the police.
