Chapter 6 - Grand Central
Caleb left the wedding without changing clothes.
Rosa went with him.
So did Caleb’s younger sister, Emma, who had spent most of the last hour standing against the ballroom wall with both hands over her mouth.
Rain hammered Manhattan.
In the back seat of the town car, Emma finally spoke.
“I knew Dad was lying about Vermont.”
Caleb turned toward her.
“What?”
“I called Aunt Diane three months ago. She said Mom hadn’t visited.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I tried. Sloane told me you were under so much pressure with the merger that Mom’s situation could push you over the edge.”
Caleb stared out the window.
“She managed us.”
Emma wiped her eyes. “Yes.”
Grand Central was crowded despite the storm.
Caleb pulled his tuxedo jacket tighter as they crossed the main concourse beneath the famous clock.
Locker B-17 was in a private luggage-storage area used by long-term customers.
The brass key worked.
Inside was a black leather document pouch, a small digital recorder, and a sealed plastic bag containing a silver flash drive.
No clothes.
No sentimental objects.
Evidence.
Rosa opened the pouch.
The first document was a trust amendment signed by Caleb’s grandmother, Eleanor Hart, eleven days before her death.
Emma read over Caleb’s shoulder.
“Oh my God.”
The amendment canceled the marriage-trigger transfer.
It also removed Thomas from temporary voting authority and named Margaret as co-trustee until Caleb turned thirty-five.
Caleb was thirty-four.
“They hid this,” he said.
Rosa picked up the recorder.
“Your mother said the truth was in here.”
Caleb pressed play.
Static crackled.
Then Thomas’s voice filled the small room.
“She cannot be at the wedding.”
Victor answered, colder. “Then make sure she isn’t.”
Sloane’s voice came next.
“I told you both she’s watching me. If Margaret speaks to Caleb before the license is signed, we lose everything.”
Caleb stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
Thomas said, “Cedar Ridge promised she won’t get out again.”
A chair scraped.
Then Margaret’s whispered voice, very close to the recorder:
“They don’t know I’m recording.”
The audio cut off.
Emma grabbed Caleb’s arm.
Behind them, the storage room door clicked shut.
A man in a black suit stood between them and the exit.
One of the guards from the wedding.
May you like
He held out his hand.
“Mr. Hart, I need the bag.”
