Chapter 8 - The ChairmanHarrison Voss had stood beside Brandon at his wedding to Rachel.
He had delivered the eulogy at Rachel’s funeral.
He was Parker’s godfather.
When Brandon married Melanie, Harrison had toasted them.
He had been family.
Rachel’s video continued.
“Harrison controls the acquisition committee. Grant controls finance. Together, they inflated properties Hawthorne planned to refinance, then directed contracts to vendors they secretly benefited from.”
Brandon felt numb.
Rachel held up a folder.
“I do not know how much they took.”
She looked directly at the camera.
“But I know Harrison realized Nathan was investigating them.”
Parker whispered:
“Uncle Harrison?”
Brandon closed his eyes.
“He’s not your uncle.”
Not anymore.
Rachel continued.
“If anything happens to the electronic records, Nathan has copies.”
The video ended.
Melissa said nothing for several seconds.
Then:
“We need law enforcement.”
Brandon nodded.
This was no longer simply a family betrayal.
It was a corporate fraud case.
Detective Bell took custody of a forensic copy.
Federal investigators became involved because some transfers crossed state and national borders.
Brandon was advised not to contact Harrison or Grant.
He wanted to do exactly that.
Instead, he stayed home with Parker.
At nine that night, Harrison called.
Brandon stared at the screen.
Melissa said, “Don’t discuss evidence.”
Brandon answered.
“Harrison.”
“I heard about Melanie.”
“From whom?”
“Grant.”
Of course.
Harrison sounded concerned.
“Are you all right?”
“No.”
“Parker?”
“He’s safe.”
“I can come over.”
“No.”
A pause.
“Brandon?”
“I need space.”
“From me?”
“From everyone.”
Harrison exhaled.
“Listen, Grant told me there may be trust problems.”
Brandon stared at Melissa.
“What trust problems?”
“Melanie apparently tried to move Parker’s shares.”
“Apparently?”
“That’s what Grant says.”
“Interesting.”
“Why?”
“Because Melanie says Grant drafted the deal.”
Silence.
Only half a second.
But Brandon heard it.
Harrison recovered.
“She’s trying to save herself.”
“Maybe.”
“You need to protect the company.”
“From what?”
“Scandal.”
Brandon’s jaw tightened.
“My son was abused.”
“I’m not minimizing that.”
“You just called it scandal.”
Harrison changed tone.
“Brandon, think carefully before turning private family problems into a public corporate disaster.”
Melissa wrote something on a legal pad.
He knows.
Brandon said, “Good night, Harrison.”
“Wait.”
Brandon ended the call.
Parker stood in the doorway.
He had heard enough.
“Is Harrison bad too?”
Brandon wanted to say no.
He wanted one familiar adult to remain untouched.
Instead:
“I think Harrison did things that hurt people.”
“Like Melanie?”
“Different things.”
“Still bad?”
Brandon sat beside him.
“Yes.”
Parker thought.
“Why do grown-ups lie so much?”
Brandon had no good answer.
“Sometimes because they’re afraid of losing something.”
“What?”
“Money. Power. Someone they love. The way other people see them.”
Parker frowned.
“Then they lose more.”
Brandon looked at his son.
“Yes.”
The next morning, Grant failed to appear at work.
His phone was off.
His apartment was empty.
His passport had been used at JFK six hours earlier.
Destination:
Toronto.
Investigators moved quickly.
But before they could determine whether Grant had boarded a connecting flight, Evelyn received another wire transfer.
One dollar.
Reference line:
DO NOT TRUST MELANIE EITHER. ASK HER ABOUT THE NIGHT NATHAN LEFT.
Brandon stared at the message.
Melanie had already admitted lying.
Manipulating Parker.
Working with Grant.
But this sounded different.
He called Detective Bell.
“What happened the night Nathan disappeared?”
Bell answered slowly.
“We just recovered traffic footage from an archived toll database.”
“And?”
“A vehicle followed Nathan’s car toward Lake Mercer.”
Brandon’s pulse increased.
“Whose?”
May you like
Bell paused.
“It was registered to Melanie Coleman.”
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