Chapter 10 - The Woman in MaineNatalie Cross answered an investigator's call from a bookstore outside Portland. She was alive. She had never been charged with stealing jewelry. She had simply vanished from the Harringtons' world after signing an agreement she now regretted.
For years she'd refused to speak. Chloe had changed that.
“I met her through a women's legal support group,” Natalie told Nora over a recorded interview. “She recognized my name from an old photograph Garrett kept hidden. When she asked what had happened, I knew she was in trouble.”
Natalie described the family with painful precision. Evelyn could make cruelty sound like etiquette. Garrett apologized beautifully, then punished anyone who believed him. They had told Natalie she would lose her scholarship and face criminal allegations if she didn't disappear.
“Were you physically hurt?” Ortiz asked.
Natalie looked down. “Yes. I have medical records. I was afraid to report it then.”
“What did you give Chloe?”
“A map of their shell companies. I worked in the family office before I understood what the accounts were for. Chloe found newer statements and wanted to show someone.”
“Why didn't she leave?” I asked, unable to stay quiet.
“She tried,” Natalie replied. “He threatened to turn the financial documents against her. And once she was pregnant, Evelyn said she'd make sure Chloe never saw the baby again.”
I looked out the window, trying to imagine my daughter lying awake beside that man, wondering which choice would keep her child safe.
Natalie hesitated, then added, “There's someone else you should find. The trust's former accountant. Henry Laird.”
Nora searched the name. A local report from six months earlier said Henry had died in a single-vehicle accident on a rural highway.
Natalie shook her head. “No. Henry called me last week.”
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Nora leaned toward the screen. “What did he say?”
“That if anything happened to Chloe, I should tell her mother there were two ledgers.”
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