Chapter 13 - NORTHLINE’S EXECUTIVE HAD PAID FOR THE FORGERYNorthline Equity immediately separated itself from Marshall Vane.
Suspended him.
Issued statements.
Promised cooperation.
Rebecca ignored public relations.
She wanted records.
Marshall’s personal investment LLC sent $120,000 to Derek Shaw through two intermediaries.
Half before Rebecca’s signature was forged.
Half scheduled after the guardianship hearing.
Investigators asked why.
Marshall denied knowing about forgery.
He claimed Derek was providing “family succession consulting.”
No one believed the phrase at face value.
Then Derek was found at his brother’s cabin in Kentucky.
He surrendered.
His lawyer arranged a proffer.
Derek admitted scanning Rebecca’s signature from old estate documents.
Creating the caregiver consent.
Printing it.
Giving it to Caleb.
“Did Caleb know it was forged?”
Derek swallowed.
“Yes.”
Direct.
“Did Tabitha?”
“Yes.”
“Celeste?”
“She suspected.”
“Marshall?”
Derek hesitated.
“He didn’t ask how.”
That wasn’t enough.
“What did Marshall ask for?”
“A clean path to guardian authority.”
“Did he say forge?”
“No.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No.”
Important distinction.
Marshall paid for succession manipulation.
But proof he ordered forgery was not yet clear.
Then investigators recovered messages.
Marshall:
Can the mother block Monday?
Derek:
Not if she doesn’t know.
Marshall:
Keep it quiet until service.
Derek:
Need signature issue solved first.
Marshall:
That’s Shore’s problem.
Again.
He knew there was a signature issue.
How much?
More records.
Derek:
R.M. will never sign voluntary caregiver.
Marshall:
Then why is this taking so long?
Derek:
We have a workaround.
Marshall:
Do not explain it to me. Just make sure counsel can defend it.
Rebecca stared.
Willful blindness.
Maybe not explicit instruction.
Still ugly.
Northline’s board claimed Marshall acted outside authorization because he stood to receive a large bonus if Mercer Audio closed.
Financial records supported personal incentive.
Northline had approved acquisition pressure.
Not custody fraud.
At least not yet.
The conspiracy became cleaner:
Marshall wanted the deal.
Caleb wanted fees.
Derek manufactured documents.
Celeste built family narrative.
Tabitha wanted money and permanent victory over Rebecca.
Each had motive.
Each had a lane.
Then Rebecca learned why “after tonight” mattered even more.
The emergency petition wasn’t only scheduled Monday.
Marshall’s bonus agreement expired Monday at noon.
Northline’s acquisition financing also had a commitment deadline.
They needed legal clarity before markets opened Tuesday.
The entire abuse scene happened in the final hours of a financial clock.
Tabitha was panicking.
Lucas still wasn’t giving the answers she wanted.
Alma remained in the house when she was supposed to leave.
Rebecca was returning Tuesday, according to the fake conference schedule.
So Tabitha escalated.
She believed she had one night left to make Lucas sound cooperative.
Rebecca asked Celeste:
“What exactly did Tabitha need Lucas to say?”
Celeste looked uncomfortable.
“That he wanted to remain in Nashville.”
“Why?”
“Emergency guardianship is easier when the child appears bonded to petitioner.”
“He is six.”
“His preference isn’t controlling.”
“But emotionally persuasive.”
Rebecca stared.
“So you wanted a video?”
Celeste nodded.
“Not for court necessarily.”
“For Caleb to decide whether a child interview would help.”
Rebecca’s jaw tightened.
“And when Lucas refused?”
“I told Tabitha not to push.”
“But you didn’t stop the plan.”
“No.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“My son begged a woman not to put him into dirty trash because all of you needed a six-year-old to support a hundred-million-dollar transaction.”
Celeste cried.
“I didn’t know she would do that.”
Rebecca’s voice stayed quiet.
“You built a system where his resistance became a problem to solve.”
Celeste looked down.
That was closer to the truth than any accusation that she ordered abuse.
The legal consequences widened.
Professional discipline.
Fraud investigation.
Evidence tampering.
Conspiracy charges debated.
Then something shifted in Tabitha.
Her lawyer requested a meeting with Rebecca’s team.
Not directly with Rebecca.
Tabitha wanted to provide information about Marshall.
Rachel asked:
“Do you want to hear it?”
Rebecca said:
“If it protects Lucas’s interests.”
Tabitha claimed Marshall had another buyer lined up for Signal Labs.
Not Northline.
A foreign technology fund.
Northline was only an intermediary.
Rebecca frowned.
“Does that matter to Lucas?”
Possibly.
Ethan’s suspicion about Signal Labs.
Why Northline wanted it more than the rest.
Documents in Tabitha’s possession showed Marshall planned to sell the division immediately after acquisition for a much higher value.
Mercer Audio sale: $118 million.
Signal Labs resale value alone:
Potentially $160 million.
Ethan had been right.
Northline’s offer undervalued the company because the buyer expected to flip the most valuable division.
Not illegal by itself.
But strong financial motive.
Then Tabitha provided a voice recording.
Marshall:
Once you have the child representative position, Shore can force the vote.
Tabitha:
And my payment?
Marshall:
After closing.
Tabitha:
Twenty-five.
Marshall laughed.
Get the order first.
Direct.
He knew.
Then:
Tabitha:
What if Rebecca fights?
Marshall:
She won’t know until it’s done.
Rebecca felt cold.
Marshall wasn’t just a buyer who avoided details.
He knew the legal ambush.
Then Marshall said:
That’s why we sent her to Dallas.
Direct proof.
The buyer’s executive helped engineer Rebecca’s absence.
But the recording contained one more sentence.
Tabitha:
And if Ethan’s red key turns up?
Marshall went silent.
Then:
Shore told me it was destroyed in the crash.
Rebecca stared.
Caleb had told Marshall the red token died with Ethan.
But Caleb knew Ethan recovered it before his death.
Why lie?
Maybe Caleb planned to control the token himself later.
Maybe he was playing both sides.
When confronted, Caleb finally admitted:
“I knew Ethan hid it.”
“Where?”
“No.”
“Then why tell Marshall it was destroyed?”
Caleb looked exhausted.
“Because I didn’t want Marshall finding it before me.”
There it was.
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Even inside the conspiracy, allies were stealing leverage from each other.
And Ethan’s safeguards worked partly because nobody trusted anyone enough to cooperate cleanly.
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