Chapter 3 - My Father's Name
My father had never mentioned Arthur Vance.
Not once.
Daniel Hayes had been an engineer who built a small manufacturing company in Ohio and spent most of my childhood smelling faintly of machine oil and coffee.
He had not been wealthy.
But he had been proud.
Then his company collapsed.
A lender pulled a credit line.
Two major clients canceled contracts in the same month.
A lawsuit appeared.
Within six months, everything he had built was gone.
My father called it bad timing.
I had believed him.
Apparently, I had believed a lie.
Agent Reed came to the hospital after midnight.
She carried no files.
That alone told me how sensitive the information was.
"The ledger contains coded payments."
"To my father?"
"No."
She pulled a chair beside my bed.
"Payments made around events involving his company."
My skin went cold.
"What events?"
"The lender that withdrew financing received a consulting payment through a Vance-controlled intermediary three days earlier."
I stared at her.
"The client that canceled your father's largest contract had a board member receiving money from another Vance entity."
"No."
"Clara."
"No."
My father had spent his last years believing he had failed.
He sold our house.
He sold his machines.
He apologized to employees he could no longer pay.
He died still carrying shame that apparently belonged to someone else.
"Why?"
"We don't know yet."
A contraction tightened across my abdomen.
Reed waited until it passed.
"The strange part is the acquisition."
"What acquisition?"
"After Hayes Precision collapsed, its patent portfolio was purchased through bankruptcy."
I knew that.
A private holding company had bought almost everything.
My father had called them vultures.
Reed continued.
"That holding company was indirectly controlled by Vance Holdings."
I looked at her.
Arthur had been sitting across from me at Thanksgiving dinners for years.
He had asked what my father did.
He had watched me answer.
Manufacturing.
He had nodded politely.
He had known.
"Did Julian know?"
"We haven't established that."
"Beatrice?"
"We're working on it."
I looked toward the fetal monitor.
"Why would they let Julian marry me?"
Reed hesitated.
"That's another problem."
"What?"
"Your marriage may not have been as accidental as you thought."
I felt colder than before.
Julian and I had met at a museum fundraiser.
He spilled champagne on my sleeve.
He made me laugh.
He called the next morning.
For three years, I had believed coincidence had introduced us.
"What did you find?"
"An email from Beatrice to a private investigator dated six weeks before you met Julian."
My mouth went dry.
Reed continued.
"The subject line is your name."
I couldn't speak.
"We don't have the full attachment yet."
"What does the email say?"
Reed looked at me.
"Three words."
"What words?"
"She's the daughter."
The room seemed to tilt.
I gripped the bed rail.
My baby moved beneath my palm.
I forced myself to breathe.
"Why was she investigating me?"
"We don't know."
I looked at Reed.
"Then find out."
She stood.
"There's something else."
Of course there was.
"Someone accessed the secure evidence portal at 1:49 this afternoon."
My heart skipped.
"Before the raid?"
"Eleven minutes before."
"Could Arthur have known?"
"Someone knew enough to search for the files you gave us."
I thought of Julian arriving at the shower.
Chloe on his arm.
Beatrice's speech.
The assault.
The timing.
"What was accessed?"
"Nothing successfully."
Reed's expression hardened.
"But whoever tried used Julian's corporate credentials."
My mind raced.
Julian had been beside Chloe for most of the afternoon.
Then I remembered something.
When Chloe walked into the house, she had been holding Julian's phone.
She had laughed while taking photographs.
At the time, it looked intimate.
Now it looked different.
"Chloe."
Reed watched my face.
"What about her?"
"Find out where she was at 1:49."
Reed reached for her phone.
Before she could dial, mine rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered.
"Clara, don't tell the FBI I'm calling."
Chloe.
I said nothing.
Her breathing sounded ragged.
"Beatrice lied to all of us."
"About what?"
A pause.
May you like
Then Chloe said quietly.
"I'm not pregnant."
