Chapter 10 - Robert's Last Night
Michael refused to answer in the parking lot.
I refused to get in the car.
"Tell me."
"Claire."
"Not another driveway. Not another kitchen."
"Not another locked office. Here."
People walked past us carrying courthouse folders and coffee.
I didn't care.
"What did Margaret make Ryan do?"
Michael rubbed both hands over his face.
"The night Dad died, Mom called Ryan."
"I know they spoke. About what?"
"She thought Dad was meeting a lawyer."
"He was."
"She thought he was transferring the company."
"To me."
Michael's eyes dropped.
"Yes."
My chest tightened.
"You knew that too."
"I knew he was changing control. I didn't know details."
"What did Margaret tell Ryan?"
"Follow him."
I stared.
"Follow Robert."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To stop him from signing anything."
My stomach dropped.
"So Ryan's SUV behind Robert wasn't coincidence."
"No."
"Did Ryan touch his car?"
"I don't know."
"Did he force him off the road?"
"I don't know."
"Did you ask?"
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
"He said no."
"Do you believe him?"
Michael's silence lasted too long.
I stepped back.
"You're unbelievable."
"Claire, I wasn't there."
"But you've spent eight months helping everyone avoid the question."
He looked sick.
"I thought it was an accident."
"You thought what you needed to think."
I called Margaret.
"Come to my office."
She said no.
I said, "Then I'll ask the police why you ordered Ryan to follow Robert the night he died."
She arrived forty minutes later.
Not at my office.
At Rachel's conference room.
Her lawyer came too.
Good.
No one would later claim misunderstanding.
Margaret sat.
I placed the crash-scene photograph in front of her.
Her hands shook.
"Where did you get that?"
"Ryan's vehicle."
She closed her eyes.
I asked, "Why did you send him after Robert?"
"I didn't send him."
Michael whispered, "Mom."
Her eyes opened.
She looked at him with betrayal.
"You told her."
"He had to," I said.
"No. He never has to betray family."
I leaned forward.
"That's exactly what got us here."
Her lawyer touched her arm.
"Margaret, answer only what I advise."
She pulled away.
"I told Ryan to follow Robert."
There.
"What did you think Robert was doing?"
"Meeting an attorney."
"Why?"
"Michael told me Robert was changing the trust."
Michael stiffened.
"I said Dad was worried about Ryan."
"You said Claire's name."
"I said he trusted Claire."
Margaret turned on him.
"You told me he might give her control."
Michael's jaw tightened.
"Because he might."
"You knew what that meant to me."
I interrupted.
"What did it mean to you?"
Margaret looked at me.
"That Robert was giving away the family."
"To his daughter-in-law."
"To someone who wasn't his child."
"And his sons had mortgaged his property without understanding documents."
Her face reddened.
"Don't speak about my sons like that."
"Robert did."
I slid the trust note toward her.
ONLY IF ONE OF MY SONS HELPS BETRAY HER.
Margaret looked away.
I said, "What did you tell Ryan exactly?"
"Stop his father."
"How?"
"I don't know."
"Did you tell him to block the road?"
"No."
"Hit the car?"
"No."
"Take documents?"
"No."
"What did you expect?"
"To talk to him."
I stared.
"Ryan doesn't talk. Ryan pressures."
Her lips trembled.
"I didn't think-"
"No. You didn't."
Her lawyer objected to my tone.
I ignored him.
"Where were you when Robert crashed?"
"Home."
"Who called you first?"
"Ryan."
My pulse kicked.
"Before police?"
Margaret froze.
Michael looked at her.
"Mom."
Her lawyer whispered, "Don't answer."
I already knew.
"Ryan called you before police."
She looked down.
I pulled the Box 317 recorder copy.
Robert's last-night file.
I had not listened past the early section.
Now I did.
Robert's voice came through.
"Ryan knows I copied everything."
Car door.
Engine.
Then:
"If Margaret sent him, she already knows about the trust."
Margaret covered her mouth.
I kept playing.
Road noise.
Robert breathed hard.
"Victor called. Says Thomas's file cannot stay buried."
My heart kicked.
Thomas.
My father.
Michael looked at me.
Robert continued.
"I am going to Elaine Mercer tonight. If she agrees, Claire gets the amended trust and the Parker documents."
A horn blasted in the recording.
Robert swore.
Another engine accelerated.
Then:
"Ryan, back off."
Margaret began crying.
The recording continued.
"You don't understand what your mother signed."
A voice outside Robert's car.
Ryan.
Muffled.
"Dad, pull over."
Robert:
"No."
Ryan:
"Mom said you're giving it away."
Robert shouted:
"It was never all ours!"
My breath stopped.
Margaret stared.
Robert accelerated.
Rain hammered the windshield.
Then he said:
"Ryan, go home."
Another voice entered through speakerphone.
Margaret.
"Robert, stop this."
The room froze.
Margaret was on the call.
Robert snapped:
"You forged Thomas out of the company and now you're trying to keep Claire out too."
Margaret made a broken sound.
"No."
I stared at her.
"What did he say?"
She shook her head.
"Turn it off."
I didn't.
Robert continued.
"You signed the transfer. Victor knows. Thomas knew."
Margaret stood.
"Turn it off!"
Rachel blocked her from the recorder.
Michael went pale.
"Mom, what transfer?"
Margaret backed toward the wall.
I paused the audio.
My hands shook now.
"What did you forge?"
"I didn't."
"Robert said you did."
"He was angry."
"What did you sign?"
Her lawyer told her not to answer.
I turned the recording back on.
Robert:
"If I don't make it to Elaine, Box 317 tells Claire enough."
Then tires squealed.
A crash.
Metal.
The recording cut.
Silence swallowed the conference room.
Margaret sank into a chair.
I could barely breathe.
Ryan had followed Robert.
Margaret had been on speaker.
Robert had accused her of forging my father out of the company.
This was no longer only financial fraud.
This was history.
Family history I had never known existed.
I said, "Who is Elaine Mercer?"
Margaret looked at me.
No answer.
Michael searched.
"Estate attorney. Retired. Laguna Beach."
Rachel was already calling.
No answer.
We drove there.
Police accompanied us after hearing the recording.
Elaine Mercer's house stood dark.
Front door unlocked.
Inside, drawers open.
Files missing.
No Elaine.
In the study, one folder remained beneath a fallen cabinet.
THOMAS PARKER.
I opened it.
Empty.
Except for one index card.
ROBERT BENNETT - REQUESTED ORIGINAL TRANSFER, FEB 12.
The date of Robert's crash.
Underneath:
MARGARET BENNETT - REQUESTED SAME DOCUMENT, FEB 13.
The morning after her husband died.
I turned toward Margaret.
She had followed us with her lawyer.
Her face collapsed.
"You came here the next day."
She whispered, "Yes."
"Why?"
"To protect my family."
"From what?"
She looked at Michael.
Then at me.
May you like
"From finding out who actually owned it."
CUT.
