Chapter 7 - MRS. ASHFORD
Eleanor did not protest when federal agents searched her rooms.
That frightened Nathaniel more than anger would have.
She sat in the morning room, hands folded in her lap, while two agents inspected her phone, laptop, financial records, and personal correspondence.
Grace remained with Rosa and the children.
Nathaniel stood by the fireplace.
He had spent forty-three years believing two people in the world could never betray him.
His father was dead.
His mother sat ten feet away.
“Say something,” Eleanor finally said.
Nathaniel looked at her.
“What would you like me to say?”
“That you know me.”
“I thought I knew everyone.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
He looked away.
Eleanor’s voice softened.
“I did not hurt those families.”
Nathaniel believed her voice.
But he had believed Conrad’s too.
Agent Reyes entered.
“We found no communication between Mrs. Ashford and Conrad concerning Mercer.”
Nathaniel exhaled.
“But,” Reyes continued, “someone using the name Mrs. Ashford communicated with him through a private number.”
Eleanor frowned.
“Who?”
“That’s what we’re determining.”
Nathaniel looked toward his mother.
“Could someone reasonably use your name?”
Eleanor gave him a dry stare.
“I receive invitations addressed to Mrs. Nathaniel Ashford at least twice a month, despite the inconvenient fact that I did not marry my own son.”
Under different circumstances, Nathaniel might have laughed.
Reyes sat down.
“Did your late husband have any other family members using the surname?”
“Of course.”
“Women?”
Eleanor paused.
Then her face changed.
“My sister-in-law.”
Nathaniel frowned.
“Aunt Catherine?”
Eleanor nodded slowly.
Catherine Ashford had married Nathaniel’s uncle William.
William died six years earlier.
Catherine remained a major shareholder in Ashford Holdings.
She also chaired the family foundation.
Nathaniel had known her his entire life.
“She hates real estate,” Nathaniel said.
Eleanor looked at him.
“No. She hates you controlling the real estate.”
Nathaniel stared.
Old memories surfaced.
Board arguments.
Inheritance disputes.
Catherine accusing Nathaniel’s father of favoring his son.
Catherine’s own son, Marcus, had expected a senior role in the company.
Nathaniel had refused.
Marcus lacked discipline and had nearly bankrupted two smaller family businesses.
“Where is Catherine?”
Eleanor reached for her phone.
Then stopped.
The agents had it.
“She was supposed to be in Palm Beach.”
Reyes contacted another team.
Ten minutes later, the answer arrived.
Catherine’s Palm Beach house had been empty for eleven days.
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
Grace appeared in the doorway.
“Rosa remembered something.”
They joined her upstairs.
Rosa lay in a guest bedroom with Maya and Tyler beside her.
Her injuries were not immediately life-threatening.
Dehydration.
Bruising.
A fractured rib.
Injection marks.
Nathaniel stayed near the door so she would not feel crowded.
Rosa looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I thought your mother—”
“You don’t owe anyone an apology.”
Eleanor approached.
Rosa flinched.
Eleanor stopped.
“I’m Eleanor.”
“I know.”
“I did not give Conrad orders.”
Rosa studied her face.
Then slowly nodded.
“The voice was younger.”
Grace leaned forward.
“What else do you remember?”
Rosa closed her eyes.
“Conrad called her Catherine once.”
Nathaniel and Eleanor exchanged a look.
There it was.
Catherine Ashford.
Reyes asked, “What did Catherine want?”
“Mercer.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Rosa swallowed.
“I heard them arguing about Nathaniel.”
Nathaniel stiffened.
“What did she say?”
“That you had blocked her son from something.”
Marcus.
“Anything else?”
“She said after Mercer failed, the board would remove you.”
Nathaniel felt pieces sliding together.
Fraudulent acquisition.
Twenty-seven million in Conrad’s profit.
A public scandal after demolition.
Ashford Urban blamed for illegal displacement.
Nathaniel personally disgraced.
Catherine could then challenge his leadership.
This was not merely greed.
It was a coup.
Eleanor sat slowly.
“She was going to destroy the company to punish you.”
Nathaniel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Rosa.
“She was going to destroy people.”
That distinction mattered now.
Agent Reyes’s phone rang.
She stepped into the hall.
A minute later she returned.
“We found Conrad.”
“Where?”
“His car is at Philadelphia International Airport.”
Grace exhaled.
“He flew out?”
“No record of him boarding.”
“Then where is he?”
“We’re checking cameras.”
Rosa suddenly became agitated.
“He won’t leave.”
Everyone turned.
“What?” Reyes asked.
Rosa tried to sit up.
“He can’t leave.”
“Why?”
“Because he needs the ledger.”
Nathaniel frowned.
“What ledger?”
“The original payment ledger.”
“The flash drive?”
“No.”
Rosa shook her head.
“The real book.”
Maya looked at her mother.
“Where is it?”
Rosa stared.
“You have it.”
Maya’s face went blank.
“What?”
“The blue notebook.”
Maya thought.
Then her eyes widened.
“My math notebook?”
Rosa nodded.
“I replaced the cover.”
Maya stood.
“It’s at Mercer.”
Nathaniel’s blood went cold.
The building had been damaged by fire, but the upper apartments remained accessible to investigators.
“Where exactly?”
“My bedroom.”
Reyes immediately called agents at the property.
No answer.
She called again.
Nathaniel watched her face change.
“What?”
Reyes lowered the phone.
“The officers stationed there aren’t responding.”
Grace turned toward Nathaniel.
He was already moving.
Reyes blocked him.
“You are not going there.”
“That notebook is evidence.”
“My agents will handle it.”
“Your agents aren’t answering.”
“That is exactly why you are not going.”
Nathaniel stared.
Then another call came.
A police officer on scene.
Reyes listened.
“What do you mean vehicle?”
Silence.
“How many?”
Her eyes sharpened.
“We’re on the way.”
She ended the call.
“Someone rammed the rear gate. Two security officers were found unconscious.”
Grace whispered, “Conrad.”
Rosa grabbed Maya.
Nathaniel looked at the clock.
School would normally have released the neighborhood children forty minutes earlier.
“Where are the others?”
Grace froze.
“What?”
“The children who aren’t staying here.”
“Some families went back today to collect clothes.”
Nathaniel’s chest tightened.
“How many?”
“Six.”
Reyes cursed under her breath.
Within minutes, federal vehicles raced toward Mercer.
Nathaniel was ordered to remain behind.
He did not.
Neither did Grace.
They followed in his SUV.
When they reached the block, smoke was rising again.
Not from the building.
From a vehicle.
A black sedan burned near the alley.
Grace screamed.
“Lucy!”
The girl stood at a third-floor window.
Behind her appeared two other children.
Nathaniel ran toward the entrance.
Agents shouted.
Then Grace grabbed his coat.
“Look.”
Across the courtyard stood Conrad Vale.
His silver hair was wet from the rain.
One hand held Maya’s blue notebook.
The other held a gun.
He looked directly at Nathaniel.
“You should have stayed in your mansion.”
Nathaniel stopped.
Conrad smiled.
May you like
Then pointed the gun toward the window where the children stood.
“Now tell everyone to back away.”
