Chapter 16 - What Grant Hid in AspenFederal agents searched Grant's Aspen property.
Marshall did not go.
He wanted to.
Elise told him to stay with his children.
For once, he listened.
At 6:40 p.m., the call came.
Grant was not there.
But evidence was.
Boxes.
Hard drives.
Cash.
Copies of passports.
Files on multiple clients.
And a bedroom prepared for children.
Two beds.
One small crib.
Dean's name on a temporary school enrollment packet.
Miles listed in a childcare application.
Marshall had to sit down.
This was not merely Faye fantasizing about taking them.
Someone had prepared for their arrival.
“How long ago?” he asked.
“School packet created six weeks ago.”
“Who filled it out?”
“Faye's handwriting.”
“And Grant knew?”
“The files were in his house.”
Marshall closed his eyes.
Dean was upstairs playing a video game.
Miles was throwing cereal at the dog.
Normal sounds.
The ordinary life they nearly lost.
Investigators also found trust documents.
Grant had drafted a proposed amendment.
If Faye became guardian, a new “professional management structure” would pay his firm 2.5 percent of assets annually.
On six million dollars, that was $150,000 every year.
Plus investment fees.
Plus legal fees.
The boys were not just leverage.
They were recurring revenue.
Then agents found something that surprised everyone.
A signed agreement between Grant and Faye.
Not validly executed.
But revealing.
FAMILY CARE COMPENSATION AGREEMENT
Faye would receive $200,000 annually.
Housing in Aspen.
Vehicle allowance.
Educational decision authority.
Marshall stared.
Grant had lied when he told Faye the arrangement wasn't real.
At some point, it had been.
Then why abandon it?
Elise had a theory.
“Because Grant realized Faye was uncontrollable.”
“When?”
“Probably when she started asking questions.”
Faye had secretly recorded him.
Threatened to tell Marshall.
Insisted on taking the boys.
Grant likely shifted strategy.
Use her for the closing.
Then cut her out.
Maybe accuse her of acting alone.
The Aspen files supported that too.
Draft affidavit:
I became concerned Faye Hale exceeded the authority provided by Marshall.
Grant planned to blame her.
Faye read the document in her attorney's office.
Her face collapsed.
“He was going to put all of it on me.”
Marshall said nothing.
She looked at him.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“No. He told me we'd be a team.”
Marshall almost felt pity.
Almost.
Then he remembered Miles's scream.
“People who use others usually plan to use you too.”
Faye stared at the document.
“I was stupid.”
“Yes.”
She flinched.
Marshall continued.
“But being manipulated doesn't erase what you chose.”
“I know.”
This time she said it without argument.
Faye agreed to cooperate fully.
She gave investigators passwords.
Burner-phone numbers.
Dates.
Locations.
One location mattered.
An abandoned office suite outside Denver.
Grant had rented it under a shell company.
Inside, agents found shredders.
Boxes of papers.
And a printer.
The same printer model used to create the fraudulent guardianship documents.
Then a security camera from a neighboring business showed Grant entering two days earlier.
Leaving six hours later.
He was close.
Authorities tracked a rental car.
Then a motel.
Grant was arrested outside Boulder three days after disappearing.
No dramatic chase.
No gun.
No final confrontation.
He was carrying $41,000 in cash and two phones.
Sometimes people who built elaborate lies ended not with cinematic brilliance.
Just a parking lot.
When Marshall heard, he exhaled for what felt like the first time in weeks.
“It's over?”
Elise shook her head.
“No.”
Of course.
Arrest was beginning.
Not ending.
Grant faced potential fraud, forgery, identity-related charges, conspiracy allegations, and other counts prosecutors were still developing.
Faye faced her own.
Natalie faced professional consequences and possible charges for improper notarization, though cooperation mattered.
Holloway's involvement remained contested.
And the house deed still existed in county records.
Marshall looked toward Willow Crest.
“Can they keep it?”
Elise answered carefully.
“We'll fight.”
That wasn't enough.
But it was true.
Then another problem arrived.
Ruth Harrow's attorney called.
The elderly woman who controlled the disputed access strip had suffered a stroke.
Before entering the hospital, she had signed something.
A deed.
Transferring her interest.
“To who?” Marshall asked.
Elise looked furious.
“Cedar Vale.”
Marshall stopped breathing.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Did she understand what she signed?”
“We don't know.”
“Who prepared it?”
Elise didn't need to answer.
The document listed Weller & Price.
May you like
Grant had reached one final piece of the development plan before he ran.
And if Ruth's deed survived challenge, Holloway might no longer need Marshall's cooperation at all.
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