Chapter 11 - Grant Comes Back.
Nobody believed the note.
At least nobody admitted to believing it.
The flash drive was taken into evidence.
Investigators refused to plug it into an ordinary computer.
Ethan complained.
Rebecca reminded him that malicious files existed.
Ethan told her that was an excuse adults used when they wanted teenagers to stop asking questions.
Rebecca told him he was welcome to become a forensic analyst and work the case himself in ten years.
He did not laugh.
The note bothered him.
Victor did not start this.
Owen did.
His father had been dead six years.
Dead men did not drain trusts.
Dead men did not forge death certificates.
Dead men did not file school withdrawals.
Still, Owen's own ledger contained warnings about Victor.
The trust structure had been created by Owen.
The business arrangements had been created by Owen.
Whatever began this story might have started before anyone died.
Sarah read the note several times.
"What could he mean?"
Rebecca shook her head.
"Grant wants leverage."
"So it's a lie."
"Probably."
Ethan looked at her.
"Probably?"
Rebecca sighed.
"I am no longer saying definitely about anything in this case unless I have a document and three witnesses."
Noah sat at the table coloring.
He held up a picture.
"I have four witnesses."
Nobody understood.
He pointed to four stick figures.
Ethan laughed.
It broke the tension.
The forensic review of the flash drive took all day.
There were no malicious files.
There were five audio recordings.
Three spreadsheets.
One scanned contract.
And a video.
The prosecutor scheduled a controlled viewing the next morning.
Grant did not wait.
At eleven thirty that night, he walked into a police station.
He carried no weapon.
He did not resist.
He asked for an attorney.
By sunrise, news of his surrender had reached everyone.
Ethan woke to twelve missed messages.
Sarah called first.
"He turned himself in."
"I know."
"How?"
"Dana texted."
"Are you okay?"
Ethan sat on the edge of his bed.
"I don't know."
"Me neither."
He heard her breathing.
"Ethan."
"What?"
"I'm sorry he came to my apartment."
"That wasn't your fault."
"I know."
The answer came automatically.
Then both of them noticed.
Sarah laughed softly.
"Therapy."
"Don't make it weird."
"I won't."
The prosecutor permitted Sarah, Rebecca, and attorneys to view the flash drive material.
Ethan was not allowed.
He argued.
He lost.
Again.
By noon, Sarah called Dana.
Ethan could tell from Dana's face that something had changed.
"What?"
Dana looked at Noah.
"Can we talk outside?"
"No."
"Ethan."
"He knows people are keeping secrets."
Noah looked up.
"I do."
Dana sighed.
"Fine."
She sat.
"The flash drive contains recordings Grant made of Victor."
Ethan leaned forward.
"Confession?"
"Not exactly."
"What then?"
"Arguments."
"About?"
"The trust."
Sarah arrived twenty minutes later.
Her face was exhausted.
She sat beside Ethan.
"Grant recorded Victor for insurance."
Ethan looked at her.
"Against what?"
"Against Victor blaming him."
Rebecca entered behind her.
"Which is apparently exactly what happened."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"So Grant is trying to save himself."
"Yes."
"Does the recording prove he stole the money?"
"It proves he knew about transfers."
"Victor?"
"Yes."
"Grant?"
"Yes."
"So both."
Rebecca nodded.
Ethan looked at Sarah.
"What about the note?"
Sarah folded her hands.
"The scanned contract explains part of it."
"What contract?"
"Owen and Victor had a buy-sell agreement."
Ethan waited.
Sarah continued.
"If either partner died, the other had an option to purchase shares at a fixed valuation."
"Okay."
"The valuation was outdated."
"How outdated?"
"Four years."
Rebecca sat across from him.
"The company had grown rapidly."
"So Dad's shares were worth more."
"Yes."
"And Victor got them cheap."
"Yes."
Ethan thought about the ledger.
"Dad knew."
"He was trying to renegotiate."
Sarah nodded.
"That is what the records suggest."
"So what did Owen start?"
Sarah looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca answered.
"A side fund."
Ethan frowned.
"What?"
"Owen suspected Victor was diverting company money."
"So he created another account."
"Not to steal it."
"Then why?"
"To preserve disputed funds until an audit."
Ethan stared.
"That sounds like stealing with paperwork."
Rebecca almost smiled.
"It can look that way."
Sarah leaned forward.
"Owen moved about eight hundred thousand dollars into an escrow account."
"Without Victor?"
"Yes."
Ethan understood.
"Victor thought Dad stole from him."
"Probably."
"So after Dad died, Victor wanted it back."
"Yes."
"And then he found the trust."
Rebecca nodded.
"That is our working theory."
Ethan looked at the note.
"Victor did not start this."
"Owen started the financial dispute."
Sarah's eyes filled.
"Grant twisted that into something else."
Ethan sat back.
"Does the recording say why Grant helped?"
Rebecca's expression changed.
"Yes."
Ethan waited.
"Grant owed money."
"How much?"
"More than six hundred thousand."
"To Victor?"
"To people connected to Victor's private lending network."
Sarah looked sick.
Ethan understood before anyone said it.
"Victor paid his debt."
Rebecca nodded.
"In exchange for access to your trust."
The room went silent.
Noah stopped coloring.
Ethan's voice became cold.
"He sold us."
Sarah reached toward him.
Ethan stood.
"He took custody because Victor paid him."
"Ethan."
"He left us alone."
"I know."
"He told us Mom was dead."
"I know."
"He told Mom we were dead."
Sarah stood too.
"I know."
"For money."
Her eyes filled.
"Yes."
Ethan walked to the window.
His whole childhood suddenly had a price.
Six hundred thousand dollars.
He hated that number.
Sarah came close but did not touch him.
"I want to see him."
Rebecca's head snapped up.
"No."
Ethan turned.
"I want to see Grant."
"No."
"He asked for me."
"What?"
Dana looked at him.
Ethan held up his phone.
A message had arrived through Grant's attorney.
Grant Mercer requests a monitored meeting with Ethan Parker before entering any cooperation agreement.
Rebecca's face hardened.
"Absolutely not."
Sarah agreed.
"No."
Ethan looked at her.
"He knows things."
"He can tell investigators."
"He won't."
"Then that is his choice."
"He wants me."
"That does not mean he gets you."
Ethan's anger rose.
"I'm not a thing you give him."
Sarah flinched.
He continued.
"I decide."
"You are sixteen."
"You keep saying that when it helps you."
Sarah stared.
Ethan immediately regretted it.
But the question remained.
Could he choose to face Grant?
Judge Holloway ultimately made the decision.
The meeting could happen only if Ethan wanted it.
It would occur in a secure interview room.
A detective, Dana, and Ethan's attorney would be present.
Sarah could watch through glass.
Grant could not approach Ethan.
Grant could not contact him afterward without permission.
Ethan agreed.
The interview room was smaller than he expected.
Gray table.
Two chairs.
Camera in the corner.
Grant entered in plain clothes.
He looked thinner.
Older.
For the first time Ethan saw him without the authority of being "Uncle Grant."
He was just a man in a chair.
Grant looked at him.
"You got tall."
Ethan's face hardened.
"Don't."
Grant nodded.
"Okay."
"Why am I here?"
Grant looked at the camera.
"Because Victor is going to say everything was me."
"Wasn't it?"
"No."
"You lied to us."
"Yes."
"You lied to Mom."
"Yes."
"You took the money."
"Yes."
The honesty made Ethan angrier.
"Then what part wasn't you?"
Grant leaned forward.
"Victor planned the financial side."
"So?"
"I never wanted you hurt."
Ethan laughed.
"You left a seven-year-old with me for two days and twenty dollars."
Grant looked down.
"I was not doing well."
"That's your defense?"
"No."
"You disappeared."
"I was scared."
"So was Noah."
Grant closed his eyes.
"I know."
"No, you don't."
Ethan's voice shook.
"You don't get to use the words Mom uses."
Grant looked at him.
"What?"
"She says 'I know' because she listens."
"You say it because you want the conversation to stop."
Grant looked away.
For the first time, Ethan saw shame.
It did not make him feel better.
"Tell me something useful."
Grant took a breath.
"Victor knew Sarah survived before I did."
The room went still.
Behind the glass, Rebecca straightened.
Ethan stared.
"How?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Then how do you know?"
"Because he called me."
"When?"
"Two days after the accident."
Ethan's heart pounded.
"He said?"
"He said Sarah had been found."
"Where?"
"He would not tell me."
"Why?"
"He wanted me to agree first."
"To what?"
Grant's mouth tightened.
"To keep her away from the trust."
Ethan felt sick.
"You agreed."
Grant looked down.
"Yes."
"Before you even saw her."
"Yes."
"Before you knew how hurt she was."
"Yes."
Ethan stood.
"Meeting over."
Grant looked up.
"Wait."
"No."
"Ethan, there is something else."
He headed for the door.
Grant spoke quickly.
"Victor was at your house the night before your father died."
Ethan stopped.
Sarah, behind the glass, went rigid.
Ethan turned.
"How do you know?"
"I was there."
"You weren't."
"Yes, I was."
"I would remember."
"You were asleep."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"What happened?"
Grant looked toward the camera.
"Owen and Victor argued in the office."
"About money?"
"Yes."
"Then what?"
"Victor left."
"That's it?"
"No."
Grant's face changed.
"Your father gave me a key."
"To what?"
"Safe deposit box 442."
Rebecca's mouth fell open behind the glass.
The ledger had mentioned the same box.
Ethan stepped closer to the table.
"What was in it?"
"I never opened it."
"Why?"
"Owen told me not to unless something happened to him."
"Something did."
"I know."
"So why didn't you open it?"
Grant looked at him.
"Because Victor knew I had the key."
Ethan felt cold.
"What did he do?"
"He offered to clear my debts if I gave it to him."
"Did you?"
Grant's eyes filled.
"No."
Ethan stared.
For the first time, Grant sounded convincing.
"Where is the key?"
Grant swallowed.
"I hid it."
"Where?"
Grant leaned back.
"In something you took with you when child services removed you from my apartment."
Ethan thought.
Clothes.
Books.
Noah's toys.
His backpack.
Grant looked at him.
"Your father's baseball glove."
May you like
Ethan's blood went cold.
The glove sat on the desk in Sarah's apartment.
