Chapter 5 - The Perfect Family
Allison Ward lived three states away.
That was what made her involvement so easy to hide.
She was a neurologist with an impressive reputation, hospital privileges, academic publications, and absolutely no legal basis to diagnose me.
She had not examined me in more than four years.
The last time we were alone together, she had poured me tea in Elaine’s kitchen and asked strangely specific questions.
Was I sleeping?
Was I forgetting things?
Did I ever feel watched?
At the time, I thought she was making conversation.
Now I realized she had been collecting answers.
Naomi read the guardianship petition twice.
It described “progressive cognitive instability.”
“Episodes of paranoia.”
“Impulsive financial behavior.”
“Hostility toward immediate family.”
Every accusation reflected something Connor had deliberately provoked.
The impulsive financial behavior referred to a $70,000 transfer I had made to my father’s charitable foundation.
Connor knew about it.
He had encouraged it.
The paranoia referred to the afternoon I accused Brenda of entering my home office without permission.
She had.
My security camera caught her.
The hostility referred to an argument with Elaine after she called my father’s trust “family money.”
It wasn’t.
It had never belonged to them.
Naomi set down the petition.
“They were building documentation backward.”
“What does that mean?”
“They decided what conclusion they wanted.”
She tapped the page.
“Then created events that could be interpreted to support it.”
Marcus nodded.
“There’s more on the other drives.”
Naomi looked at him.
“Where are they?”
He hesitated again.
“One is in a safe-deposit box.”
“Good.”
“One is with my attorney.”
“Better.”
“And one is missing.”
That changed the room.
“When did it disappear?”
“Two days ago.”
Marcus explained that the missing drive contained copies of payment instructions, internal emails, and a spreadsheet titled Exit Sequence.
“What was in it?”
“I only saw part of it.”
He looked at me.
“But Claire’s name appeared everywhere.”
Naomi asked what the title meant.
Marcus shook his head.
“I think it was their plan for shutting down Apex.”
My chest tightened.
The investors’ money had been siphoned away.
My house had been pledged.
My trust had been targeted.
And now Apex itself might have been marked for destruction.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Naomi told me to answer on speaker.
“Hello?”
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then a woman spoke.
“Claire?”
I knew the voice.
“Allison?”
Everyone in the room went still.
Connor’s sister began crying.
Not delicately.
Not dramatically.
The kind of crying that came from panic.
“I need you to listen to me.”
I stared at her signature on the guardianship petition.
“You signed paperwork declaring me incompetent.”
“I know.”
“Without examining me.”
“I know.”
“You helped them try to steal my father’s trust.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
Naomi began writing.
Allison lowered her voice.
“Connor lied to me.”
“What did he say?”
“That you were stealing from Apex.”
I almost laughed.
“He showed me documents.”
“Forged documents.”
“I know that now.”
“How?”
Silence.
Then Allison whispered.
“Because last night he called me.”
My skin prickled.
“What did he want?”
“He told me to leave the country.”
Naomi’s pen stopped.
“Why?”
Allison took a shaky breath.
“Because someone found the missing drive.”
My heart started pounding.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Then she said the words that changed the investigation again.
“But Connor thinks you have it.”
Before I could answer, a loud crash came through the phone.
Allison gasped.
May you like
A man shouted in the background.
The call ended.
