Chapter 5 - The Story Corinne ToldCorinne returned to the hospital that afternoon with an attorney.
The attorney’s presence answered questions Grant had not yet asked.
His name was Vincent Shaw.
He was polished, expensive, and clearly prepared.
Corinne stood beside him wearing fresh clothes and a carefully exhausted expression.
“I want to see Sadie.”
Grant stepped between her and the hospital-room door.
“No.”
“She’s my stepdaughter.”
“You threatened to push her off a cliff.”
Corinne glanced toward Detective Ortiz.
“The recording does not prove I pushed anyone.”
Grant stared at her.
For the first time, he saw not the woman he had married but the woman Sadie had described.
Cold.
Calculating.
Vincent raised a hand.
“My client voluntarily came here because she wants to cooperate.”
Ortiz nodded.
“Then she can cooperate in an interview room.”
Corinne looked at Grant.
“You’re really doing this?”
“You almost killed my daughter.”
“You don’t know what happened.”
“I heard you threaten her.”
Corinne’s face tightened.
“You heard nine seconds.”
“That was enough.”
“No,” she said quietly. “It wasn’t.”
Vincent touched her elbow.
“Corinne.”
But she kept staring at Grant.
“She was hysterical. She kept moving toward the edge.”
“And you told her you’d shove her.”
“I was trying to shock her into backing away.”
Grant almost laughed.
“That’s your explanation?”
“She misunderstood.”
“Then why didn’t you call 911?”
The question stopped her.
Detective Ortiz had not told Grant that detail.
Graham Cole had.
The mountain rescue team had been alerted by an automated distress signal transmitted when Sadie’s damaged watch briefly reconnected to a remote emergency relay.
Corinne had not summoned help.
Grant watched her search for an answer.
“I panicked.”
“You drove away.”
“I went somewhere with better reception.”
“You had enough reception to call someone else.”
Corinne’s eyes sharpened.
That was the first moment Grant knew she had made another call.
Ortiz noticed too.
“To whom?” the detective asked.
Corinne looked at her attorney.
Vincent answered.
“My client will address phone records formally.”
Grant shook his head.
“You called someone before 911.”
Corinne said nothing.
“Who?”
Her silence became an answer.
Ortiz escorted Corinne and Vincent away.
Grant returned to Sadie’s bedside.
She was awake.
“Was she here?”
“Yes.”
Sadie’s face tightened.
“She sounded nice?”
Grant sat down.
“What do you mean?”
“When other people are around.”
He looked at his daughter.
“She always sounds nice.”
Sadie stared at her blanket.
“No.”
Grant waited.
Sadie whispered, “Only when you’re around.”
The sentence hit him harder than any accusation could have.
“What happened when I wasn’t?”
Sadie shrugged with her good shoulder.
“She said little things.”
“What things?”
“That I was spoiled.”
Grant remained silent.
“That I used Mom being dead to get attention.”
His eyes closed.
“That you were tired of always worrying about me.”
“Sadie—”
“She said if I complained about her, you’d think I was trying to ruin your marriage.”
Grant looked at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sadie’s eyes met his.
“Because you were happy.”
Grant felt something inside him break.
His daughter had been protecting him.
A ten-year-old child had swallowed fear because she thought her father’s happiness mattered more.
“I should have noticed.”
Sadie did not disagree.
That hurt too.
At Mercer Ridge headquarters, Reid Calder watched news footage of rescue vehicles leaving Granite Crown.
His office door was closed.
On his desk lay the confidential Northcove purchase agreement.
His phone vibrated.
Corinne.
He rejected the call.
It rang again.
He rejected it again.
Then a message appeared.
They found the gear.
Reid typed back.
Stop contacting me.
Corinne responded instantly.
You supplied it.
Reid stared at the words.
His heart rate increased.
He deleted the message.
Then opened a hidden application on his laptop and began erasing archived purchasing records.
He had nearly finished when someone knocked.
Reid closed the screen.
“Come in.”
Mara Vaughn entered.
Reid stood.
“Mara.”
“I’m looking for Grant.”
“He’s still at the hospital.”
“I know.”
Reid forced a smile.
“Then why are you here?”
Mara placed the Northcove proposal on his desk.
“Because I’d like you to explain why you tried to sell forty-six million dollars’ worth of Grant’s property without his approval.”
Reid looked down.
Then back at her.
“Preliminary exploration.”
“You needed Sadie’s shares.”
“I needed shareholder approval.”
“You specifically asked about removing trust restrictions.”
“Standard language.”
Mara stared at him.
“No, Reid. It isn’t.”
His smile disappeared.
Mara leaned forward.
“And somebody used a forged Mercer Ridge equipment tag on the parachute Sadie was wearing.”
Reid’s face barely moved.
Barely.
But Mara saw it.
Fear.
She straightened.
“I think I know why Corinne took Sadie to Granite Crown.”
Reid’s voice lowered.
“Be careful what you accuse people of.”
Mara smiled without warmth.
“I haven’t accused anyone yet.”
She picked up the proposal.
“But if I were you, I’d stop deleting files.”
Reid’s eyes flicked toward his laptop.
Only once.
Mara saw that too.
May you like
And when she walked out, Reid realized that for the first time in eleven years, Mercer Ridge’s most dangerous problem was no longer financial.
It was evidence.
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