Chapter 6 - The Woman in the Reflection
Emily stared at the photograph until the figures blurred.
“That’s impossible.”
Grant took the phone.
The image showed a conference room inside Holloway Meridian.
A man resembling Grant sat at the table.
His face was partially turned.
A signature page lay before him.
In the glass wall behind him stood Margaret Carter.
Emily’s mother.
Grant zoomed in.
The reflection was imperfect but clear enough.
Same silver-blonde hair.
Same thin shoulders.
Same dark cardigan Margaret wore frequently.
Emily shook her head.
“She was in the hospital Friday.”
“Are you sure?”
“I visited her at six.”
“What time was this?”
Grant checked.
10:42 p.m.
Emily called the medical facility.
Her mother had not yet been transferred there.
She called St. Catherine’s.
After several painful minutes, a nurse confirmed Margaret had been discharged briefly Friday evening for an outpatient appointment arranged by a private specialist.
Emily stopped breathing.
“What specialist?”
The nurse checked.
“Dr. Alan Ward.”
Vale’s face changed.
“Ward.”
Grant looked at him.
“Related to Elias?”
“Brother.”
Emily gripped the phone.
“My mother never told me.”
“Maybe she didn’t know,” Grant said.
They drove immediately to the secured facility.
Federal agents could wait.
Grant’s lawyers were already negotiating a voluntary appearance.
For the first time that day, he ignored the crisis around himself.
Margaret Carter mattered more.
When they entered her room, she looked from Emily to Grant to Vale.
Then she saw Victor.
Her face changed completely.
“Get him out.”
Victor stopped.
Emily stared.
“You know Victor?”
Margaret’s hands began to shake.
“Emily.”
“Mom.”
“Not here.”
Grant dismissed everyone except Emily.
Then Emily looked at him.
“Stay.”
Margaret seemed ready to object.
Emily said, “Please.”
Grant remained near the door.
Margaret looked at her daughter for a long time.
Then she whispered, “Your father made me promise.”
“Promise what?”
“To keep you out of it.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“Out of what?”
“The company. The investigation. Everything.”
“You knew he was innocent.”
“Of course.”
“Did you know who framed him?”
Margaret looked toward the window.
“Not then.”
“And now?”
“I learned more later.”
“When?”
“After your father died.”
Emily sat beside her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were seventeen.”
“I’m twenty-eight now.”
“And every year, I thought if I stayed quiet, they would forget us.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“They didn’t.”
“No.”
Grant spoke softly.
“Mrs. Carter, why were you at Holloway Meridian Friday night?”
Margaret looked at him.
“I wasn’t.”
Emily showed her the photograph.
Margaret stared.
Then she did something unexpected.
She laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because she understood.
“That isn’t me.”
Emily frowned.
“It looks exactly like you.”
Margaret touched the screen.
“That cardigan belonged to my sister.”
Emily froze.
“My aunt?”
“Rebecca.”
“But Aunt Rebecca died when I was little.”
Margaret looked at Grant.
“No.”
Emily stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Rebecca disappeared.”
“You told me she died.”
“I told you what your father asked me to tell you.”
Emily stood.
“Why?”
Margaret began crying quietly.
“Because Rebecca worked for Holloway Meridian.”
Grant moved closer.
“What did she do?”
“Executive administration.”
Grant’s mind raced.
Digital signatures.
Access.
Documents.
Schedules.
“She had access to my father?”
Margaret nodded.
“And Victor.”
“And Martin?”
Margaret looked confused.
“He was young then.”
Emily stared at the photograph.
“My aunt is alive?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said—”
“She disappeared eleven years ago.”
“When Dad was framed?”
“Yes.”
Grant understood.
“Rebecca had access to the system Thomas was investigating.”
Margaret nodded.
“She helped him.”
Emily sat down again.
“Why didn’t Dad mention her?”
“He was trying to protect her.”
“From whom?”
“Everyone.”
Margaret reached for Emily’s hand.
“Your father discovered Victor’s kickbacks first.”
Emily looked at Grant.
“So Martin told the truth about that.”
“Yes,” Margaret said.
“But then Thomas found something larger. Rebecca helped him trace documents being altered through executive administration.”
“Stonebridge.”
Margaret shook her head.
“I never knew that name.”
Grant asked, “Did Rebecca know Elias Ward?”
Margaret’s eyes changed.
“Yes.”
Vale whispered something under his breath.
Emily asked, “How?”
“They were engaged.”
The room went silent.
Vale stared at Margaret.
“Rebecca Carter was Ward’s fiancée?”
“Yes.”
Emily looked sick.
“My aunt was engaged to the man behind this?”
Margaret shook her head.
“We didn’t know what he was.”
Grant asked, “What happened when Thomas discovered it?”
“Rebecca tried to leave Elias.”
“And?”
“She vanished.”
“When?”
Margaret swallowed.
“The night before Thomas died.”
Emily stood so quickly the chair moved.
“They told Dad?”
“He searched for her.”
“And then his brakes failed.”
“Yes.”
Emily pressed both hands to her face.
For eleven years she had believed her father died after professional humiliation.
Now she knew he had spent his final day searching for his missing sister-in-law while trying to expose a financial conspiracy.
Grant felt something settle inside him.
Not anger.
Purpose.
“What happened Friday?”
Margaret looked down.
“A man came to the hospital.”
“Alan Ward?”
“He said he had information about Rebecca.”
“So you left with him.”
“Yes.”
“Where did he take you?”
“To Holloway Meridian.”
Emily’s voice sharpened.
“Mom.”
“I thought Rebecca might be there.”
“Was she?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Emily stopped.
Grant whispered, “You saw her?”
“For less than a minute.”
“Where is she now?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did she say?”
Margaret began crying.
“She apologized.”
“For what?”
“For everything.”
Emily crouched in front of her mother.
“What everything?”
“She said Thomas was never supposed to die.”
Grant and Emily exchanged a look.
Margaret continued.
“She said Elias ordered someone to scare Thomas. To take his files. To stop him from going to Charles Holloway.”
Vale asked from the doorway, unable to stay silent.
“Did she say who cut the brakes?”
Margaret looked at him.
“No.”
“Why was she at HMT Friday?”
“To sign something.”
Grant stiffened.
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Emily handed her the photograph.
“Was she the woman reflected here?”
Margaret nodded.
“Yes.”
Grant zoomed in again.
Rebecca Carter.
Not Margaret.
Alive.
Connected to Elias Ward.
Inside Holloway Meridian during the forged signing session.
He looked at the man posing as Grant.
“Did you see him?”
Margaret nodded.
“From behind.”
“Who was it?”
“I thought it was you.”
“It wasn’t.”
“No.”
“Did Rebecca speak to him?”
“Yes.”
“What did she call him?”
Margaret concentrated.
“I don’t remember.”
“Try.”
“She said…”
Her eyes narrowed.
“She said, ‘You promised Grant wouldn’t be blamed.’”
Grant’s heartbeat slowed.
Emily stared.
“So Rebecca didn’t think the plan was supposed to destroy you.”
“No.”
“Which means Stonebridge changed it.”
“Or Elias lied to her,” Vale said.
Grant’s phone rang.
His lawyer.
He answered.
“Federal agents agreed you can appear voluntarily at seven tomorrow morning.”
“That gives us tonight.”
“Grant, there’s more.”
“What?”
“The board moved the emergency session.”
“To when?”
“Midnight.”
Grant checked the time.
8:36 p.m.
“They’re voting to suspend you.”
“Yes.”
“Who requested the change?”
“Director Susan Bell.”
Grant frowned.
Susan Bell had served on the board for fourteen years.
His father had recruited her.
“Why?”
“She says new evidence emerged.”
“What evidence?”
“A transfer from a Holloway-controlled account to an offshore entity connected to the Ardent trades.”
Grant closed his eyes.
Fake documents.
Fake signatures.
Now fake money trails.
“They’re building a complete case.”
“Yes.”
Emily stood.
“Then we need Rebecca.”
Grant looked at her.
“We don’t know where she is.”
Margaret spoke.
“I might.”
Everyone turned.
She reached into the drawer beside her bed.
She removed a folded restaurant napkin.
Emily recognized it.
From the rooftop restaurant where she worked.
Margaret handed it to her.
“Rebecca gave me this Friday.”
On the back was an address.
And a time.
11:00 P.M.
Tonight.
Grant looked at Emily.
“She expected you to find this?”
Margaret shook her head.
“She told me not to give it to anyone unless something happened to her.”
Vale asked, “What would happen?”
Margaret looked at Emily.
“She said Elias had finally realized she’d copied his files.”
Grant checked the address.
Brooklyn.
An old warehouse near the waterfront.
Emily took the napkin.
“I’m going.”
Grant said, “We’re going.”
Margaret gripped Emily’s hand.
“No.”
Emily looked at her mother.
“I have to.”
“You already lost your father.”
“And I’ve spent eleven years living inside the lie that killed him.”
Margaret’s face broke.
Emily kissed her forehead.
“I’m coming back.”
Grant watched them.
Then he understood why Emily had recognized the financial pattern so quickly.
Thomas Carter had not only taught her mathematics.
He had taught her not to look away.
At 10:43 p.m., Grant, Emily, Vale, and security arrived near the warehouse.
Victor remained under legal supervision.
Martin was in federal custody after Grant’s attorneys surrendered the recording.
The warehouse appeared empty.
Emily checked the address.
“This is it.”
The side door was unlocked.
Inside, one light burned.
They entered.
Rows of abandoned industrial equipment filled the space.
At the far end stood a folding table.
A laptop rested on it.
Beside the laptop was a framed photograph.
Thomas Carter.
Emily approached.
Her breathing changed.
The photograph showed Thomas, Margaret, Emily as a child—
and another woman.
Rebecca.
Behind the frame was a note.
EMILY,
IF YOU FOUND THIS, ELIAS KNOWS.
DO NOT TRUST THE BOARD VOTE.
THE PERSON WHO CONTROLS STONEBRIDGE HAS BEEN INSIDE HOLLOWAY MERIDIAN SINCE BEFORE GRANT WAS CEO.
Emily looked at Grant.
“Elias doesn’t control Stonebridge?”
Vale shook his head slowly.
“No.”
The laptop screen came alive.
A video file began playing automatically.
Rebecca Carter appeared.
Older.
Frightened.
Alive.
“Emily, I’m sorry.”
Emily stepped closer.
Rebecca continued.
“I spent eleven years helping Elias because I believed he would expose the people who destroyed Thomas. I was wrong. Elias was only managing the trades.”
Grant leaned in.
Rebecca looked directly into the camera.
“The person who created the entire operation was someone Thomas trusted.”
A sound came from outside the warehouse.
Car doors.
Many.
Security moved toward the entrance.
Rebecca continued.
“And Grant, if you are watching this, the person who forged your signature is not Martin.”
Grant stared.
“The authorization came from someone who has had permanent executive override access since your father was alive.”
Emily whispered, “Who?”
The video distorted.
Then Rebecca said the name.
But the audio cut out.
Grant slapped the keyboard.
“No.”
Vale tried rewinding.
The file corrupted.
Outside, tires screeched.
Grant’s security director shouted, “We need to leave.”
Emily grabbed the laptop.
A new email appeared on the screen.
FROM: REBECCA CARTER.
SUBJECT: IF THE VIDEO FAILS.
Emily opened it.
May you like
There was only one sentence.
The traitor will be sitting directly across from Grant at midnight.
