Chapter 5 - The Truth Brooke Had Been Trying Not to See
Vanessa was a commissioned notary.
She had notarized dozens of company documents over the years.
Rachel obtained the journal entry.
Mara’s supposed acknowledgment appeared there.
But the identification field was incomplete.
No driver's-license number.
No note that Mara personally appeared.
Vanessa claimed Mara signed the paper in the hospital and Grant brought it to her later for notarization.
That explanation created its own problem.
The certificate stated Mara had appeared before Vanessa.
She had not.
Vanessa’s attorney called it a technical mistake.
Rachel called it evidence.
Mara called Brooke.
Brooke did not answer.
She came to the house instead.
Mara found her in the foyer staring at the cabinet the wheelchair had struck four days earlier.
“Did you know?” Mara asked.
Brooke put her purse down.
“Not about the signature.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Brooke looked at her.
“I knew the company was moving money.”
Mara waited.
“Vanessa said it was tax planning.”
“Five projects vanished.”
“They didn’t vanish.”
“Not physically.”
Brooke rubbed her forehead.
She had always been the quieter Hale sibling.
Vanessa negotiated.
Grant sold.
Brooke kept books.
Mara had mistaken quietness for harmlessness.
“I questioned HGR,” Brooke said.
“When?”
“Eight months ago.”
“And?”
“Grant told me Foundry House was going to be sold and they needed the cleanest possible earnings there.”
Mara understood.
Expenses remained in Hale Restoration.
Profits were shifted elsewhere.
Foundry House appeared more attractive.
“You knew that was wrong.”
Brooke looked away.
“I knew it was aggressive.”
“That is accountant language for something you don’t want to call wrong.”
Brooke flinched.
Mara did not enjoy it.
“Why did you grab Vanessa when the basement opened?”
Brooke hesitated.
“Because she was going down there.”
“Obviously.”
“No.”
Brooke shook her head.
“She was going for the gray cabinet.”
Mara had seen it during the inventory.
Old steel.
Combination lock.
Owen said Grant kept historical acquisition records inside.
“What’s in it?”
“The original Foundry House deal file.”
Mara’s pulse changed.
“Why does Vanessa care?”
Brooke looked exhausted.
“Because there’s an ownership schedule in there.”
“Of Foundry House?”
Brooke nodded.
“And I think Grant lied to all of us about what it says.”
Mara stared at her.
“All of us?”
Brooke’s voice dropped.
“Vanessa thinks our family owns Foundry House outright.”
“Doesn’t it?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
Brooke had spent months protecting her brother and sister.
Now she was asking Mara to discover whether they had lied to her too.
Before leaving, Brooke placed a small brass key on the table.
“That opens the inner drawer in the gray cabinet.”
Mara looked at it.
“Why give it to me?”
May you like
Brooke opened the front door.
“Because I’m tired of balancing books for people who keep changing what the numbers are supposed to mean.”
