Chapter 11 - Thomas Reed’s Second Payroll
For six years, Thomas Reed sat across from me in quarterly meetings.
He knew our debt ratios.
Our investors.
Our vulnerabilities.
He smiled at birthdays.
He attended our wedding.
When my mother died, he sent flowers.
And for at least nine months, he had been receiving money from Ryan’s secret company.
The amounts were disguised as consulting fees.
$18,000.
$22,000.
$15,500.
Over and over.
More than $240,000 total.
Thomas resigned before we could fire him.
Then he disappeared.
His attorney claimed he was traveling.
Detective Mitchell disagreed.
She obtained a warrant.
Thomas was found at a private airfield outside Nashville.
He carried two phones.
One laptop.
And $70,000 in cash.
He started cooperating within twenty-four hours.
What he revealed changed everything again.
Ryan’s plan had three stages.
First, remove me from active company control.
Second, redirect major projects toward Carter Metropolitan Holdings.
Third, use those contracts to secure financing for the nine-hundred-million-dollar development Madeline mentioned.
“But why my trust?”
I asked.
Thomas apparently believed Ryan intended to use my expected inheritance as personal collateral.
“He knew he couldn’t legally pledge something he didn’t control.”
Grace explained.
“But he planned to convince lenders that marital access was imminent.”
Through my supposed medical incapacity.
Through forged documents.
Through marriage.
Ryan did not need to own everything.
He only needed people to believe he would.
Then Thomas revealed another secret.
Madeline’s father, Harold Brooks, had demanded five percent of the new development.
In exchange, he would use political relationships to help the zoning application.
Not an official vote purchase.
Not on paper.
But close enough to trigger a separate investigation.
Madeline had not been merely Ryan’s mistress.
She was the bridge between Ryan and her father.
I wondered whether she understood that.
Detective Mitchell did.
She questioned Madeline again.
This time, Madeline cried.
Not because of me.
Because she finally realized Ryan had involved her in something far larger than an affair.
She agreed to hand over every message.
One thread with Ryan was especially damaging.
MADELINE:
Dad says Elena has to be out before the final meeting.
RYAN:
She will be.
MADELINE:
Are you sure?
RYAN:
May you like
By Friday, she won’t be making decisions.
The message was dated four days before our anniversary.
