Chapter 3 - THE CAMERA LUCAS LEFT RUNNING
Charles told police I fell.
Courtney supported him.
“She’s under incredible stress,” she said.
“She’s emotional.”
Then Samantha remembered the doorbell camera.
Lucas had installed it after package thefts.
The cloud subscription remained active.
The video showed Charles and Courtney entering with the emergency key.
Later:
My father dragging me by my hair.
Me falling.
Courtney laughing.
Charles throwing out my handbag.
Then something unexpected.
After the ambulance left, Courtney stepped outside alone.
She looked toward the street.
Then crouched beside my car.
She pulled a small magnetic case from underneath the chassis and slipped it into her purse.
I had never seen it.
Neither had Samantha.
Police eventually recovered the case when Courtney’s belongings became relevant to the investigation.
Inside:
A second key.
And a USB drive.
The drive belonged to Lucas.
One directory was labeled:
Inside were ownership records.
Emails.
Photographs.
Notes.
One memo:
CHARLES IS MOVING TOO FAST. NATHAN IS HELPING HIM.
Another:
COURTNEY ASKED ABOUT SALE PROCEEDS BEFORE THE BOARD SAW THE OFFER.
Then:
IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME, DO NOT ASSUME CHARLES KNOWS WHAT COURTNEY IS DOING.
I read that twice.
My father was running one scheme.
His wife might have been running another inside it.
The files showed that Nathan Pierce, Baldwin-Gallagher’s CFO, had been communicating privately with Courtney for nearly a year.
Some messages were personal.
Some financial.
Eventually intimate.
Charles did not know his wife was sleeping with his CFO.
More important, Courtney had formed an LLC:
CBB Strategic Partners.
A draft advisory agreement promised it $2.4 million if the acquisition closed under certain terms.
Nathan had his own undisclosed success arrangement.
Charles believed Courtney was helping him regain control of the company.
Courtney was positioning herself to get paid when he sold it.
Samantha looked at me.
“Do not confuse her betrayal of Charles with loyalty to you.”
“I won’t.”
That was becoming a useful rule.
People hurting my father did not automatically become my allies.
Then we found an older email from Lucas.
To Samantha.
Six months before the crash.
Someone is preparing authorization documents using Victoria’s signature. I don’t know who yet.
That was why the trust clause existed.
May you like
Lucas had known a forgery attempt was coming.
He just hadn't known which family member would deliver it.
