Chapter 8 - Allison’s Confession
Allison refused to speak on the phone.
She wanted federal protection.
That request told Naomi everything she needed to know about the level of fear surrounding the Ward family.
By evening, Allison was brought to us through an arrangement between agencies.
When she entered the interview room, she looked ten years older than she had at Christmas.
Her hair was uncombed.
Her wrists were bruised.
She would not look at me.
“I’m sorry.”
I remained standing.
“For which part?”
She flinched.
“The petition.”
“The false diagnosis?”
“Yes.”
“The attempt to give Connor control of my trust?”
Her eyes filled.
“I didn’t understand that part.”
“You signed it.”
“I signed what he gave me.”
“That’s not better, Allison.”
“I know.”
Her voice dropped.
“I know.”
Naomi placed a recorder on the table.
“Tell us what happened this morning.”
Allison explained that Raymond Hale arrived at her house.
He said Connor believed she had contacted me.
He demanded the missing drive.
She denied having it.
Raymond searched the house.
Then he forced her into the SUV.
“How did you escape?”
Naomi asked.
“He stopped for gas.”
Allison rubbed her wrist.
“I told him I was going to throw up.”
She ran into the convenience store.
Raymond did not follow because cameras covered the entrance.
She called a taxi from another customer’s phone.
“And the drive?”
Allison opened her coat.
“It was taped inside the lining.”
Marcus almost smiled.
Naomi took it carefully.
“Why did you have this?”
Allison finally looked at me.
“Because Brenda gave it to me.”
That surprised everyone.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“She was scared.”
I stared.
“Of Connor?”
Allison shook her head.
“Of our mother.”
Elaine again.
Allison said Brenda had originally agreed to create Brenwood because Elaine promised her it was legal tax planning.
At first, small payments moved through it.
Then the amounts increased.
By the time Brenda realized investor money was involved, her signature appeared on too many documents.
Elaine had trapped her.
Connor had joined willingly.
“What about the restaurant?”
I asked.
Allison looked down.
“Brenda told me they were going to provoke you.”
“And she still did it.”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t make her sound like a victim.”
“I’m not.”
Allison met my eyes.
“I’m telling you why she started.”
There was a difference.
Not enough to absolve her.
But enough to explain the fear I had seen when the flash drive appeared.
Naomi asked about the guardianship petition.
Allison closed her eyes.
“Connor said Claire had been transferring company assets secretly.”
“He showed me bank records.”
“Were they real?”
“The transactions were.”
She opened her eyes.
“But the account names weren’t.”
Connor had altered the descriptions.
Payments to legitimate vendors appeared as transfers to accounts associated with me.
Allison believed I was stealing.
She signed the preliminary physician statement.
Then she began doubting everything.
“So you copied evidence?”
“No.”
Allison looked toward the recovered drive.
“Brenda did.”
That was another surprise.
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Against Elaine.
Against Connor.
Against everyone.
The forensic examiner connected the drive inside an isolated system.
A folder appeared.
EXIT SEQUENCE.
Marcus leaned forward.
“That’s it.”
Naomi opened the first document.
A timeline filled the screen.
It began six months earlier.
Fake concerns about my health.
Board isolation.
Financial default.
Emergency guardianship.
Patent transfer.
Trust control.
House liquidation.
Every step had a date.
The final line was scheduled for the following Friday.
Four days away.
It contained only three words.
CLAIRE REMOVED PERMANENTLY.
Nobody in the room interpreted it the same way.
Naomi looked at Allison.
“What does permanently mean?”
Allison began shaking.
“I don’t know.”
Then the examiner opened another file.
It was an insurance policy.
On my life.
Twenty-five million dollars.
The beneficiary was Apex Solutions.
May you like
The authorized policy administrator was Connor Ward.
And the policy had been increased exactly eleven weeks earlier.
