Chapter 6 - The Client Who Knew EverythingThe client was Vale Crest Properties.
I had worked for them eighteen months earlier.
The project had been a luxury apartment development outside downtown.
My job had been straightforward.
Create the preliminary plans.
Resolve spatial conflicts.
Produce technical drawings.
I had done excellent work.
Then suddenly, without explanation, Vale Crest terminated the contract.
They told me they were restructuring.
I accepted it.
Now I wondered whether that had been a lie.
Richard contacted the company's legal department.
They agreed to meet.
The executive who arrived was a man named Aaron Vale.
I recognized him immediately.
He looked calm.
Too calm.
He sat across from me in the conference room.
“I understand you've found some unusual information.”
I folded my hands.
“Were you involved with Bennett Design Solutions?”
Aaron paused.
“Yes.”
My heart sank.
“How?”
He leaned back.
“Your father approached me.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“Why?”
“He wanted financing.”
“What does that have to do with my work?”
Aaron looked at Richard.
Then back at me.
“Your father claimed you were willing to transfer rights to your designs.”
I stared.
“I never agreed to that.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you believe him?”
Aaron didn't answer.
Richard interrupted.
“Did you ever receive documentation authorizing the transfer?”
Aaron nodded.
“Yes.”
“Whose signature?”
Aaron looked at me.
“Yours.”
I felt sick.
“Forged.”
“We know that now.”
“Now?”
He lowered his eyes.
“We suspected something was wrong.”
I stood.
“You suspected it.”
Aaron didn't move.
“But you did nothing.”
“We were trying to protect the project.”
“No.”
My voice shook.
“You were protecting the money.”
He remained silent.
That silence was enough.
Richard asked,
“What did Daniel Crowe have to do with this?”
Aaron's face changed.
“You know about Daniel?”
“Yes.”
Aaron exhaled.
“Daniel wasn't simply your father's partner.”
“What was he?”
“A broker.”
“For what?”
“Contracts.”
I frowned.
“Government contracts. Development contracts. Consulting contracts. Anything that could be moved through shell companies.”
“And Blake?”
“Your brother was recruited.”
“For what?”
“To use your professional credentials.”
The room went silent.
I felt cold all over.
“My credentials?”
Aaron nodded.
“You had what they needed.”
“What?”
“Credibility.”
I stared at him.
“You're telling me my family built this around my career.”
“They used your reputation to make fraudulent work look legitimate.”
The realization hit me like a physical blow.
For years, they had mocked my career publicly.
Privately, they had been using it.
Every dismissal.
Every joke.
Every time Dad said my work was “cute.”
Maybe it had never been contempt.
Maybe it had been camouflage.
I sat back down.
“Why did Blake need Mercer Urban?”
Aaron answered.
“Because Mercer was expanding into a major public redevelopment contract.”
Richard's expression hardened.
“What contract?”
Aaron hesitated.
“Riverton Civic Center.”
Richard stood.
“That project is not public yet.”
Aaron nodded.
“Exactly.”
I looked between them.
“What?”
Richard explained.
“The Riverton project is one of the largest upcoming urban developments in the region.”
“And Blake was trying to get it?”
“Not exactly.”
Aaron spoke.
“Blake was trying to make sure the contract went through a specific vendor.”
“Which vendor?”
Aaron said the name.
Bennett Design Solutions.
My father's supposedly inactive company.
My head spun.
“Why would a developer care about a design vendor?”
Aaron replied,
“Because the vendor was a funnel.”
“For money.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Richard.
“How much?”
“Potentially millions.”
My mouth went dry.
“So my work…”
“Was the cover,” Richard said.
“And the guarantee?”
“Your identity made the financial structure harder to trace.”
“And Blake?”
Richard answered quietly.
“Blake was supposed to be the face of it.”
I remembered his smile beside the fireplace.
His confidence.
His certainty.
He had already believed he had won.
But there was one thing I still didn't understand.
“Why throw me out?”
Aaron looked at me.
“Because you became a liability.”
I stared.
“How?”
“You started asking questions.”
My mind raced.
“What questions?”
Aaron replied,
“You asked your family why they needed so much money.”
I remembered.
Months earlier, I had asked Mom why the mortgage payment had increased again.
She had said taxes.
I had believed her.
Aaron continued.
“You also asked your father about the old company.”
I nodded.
“I did.”
“Then they realized your memory might lead you to the truth.”
Richard's phone rang.
He checked the caller ID.
“It's the police.”
He answered.
His face changed within seconds.
“What happened?”
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“Blake has been arrested.”
I stood.
“For what?”
Richard ended the call.
“Identity theft.”
I waited.
“That isn't all.”
“What else?”
He looked at the folder in front of him.
“They found Daniel Crowe's fingerprints in Blake's apartment.”
I stared.
“But Daniel disappeared.”
Richard nodded.
“That's the problem.”
“Why?”
Richard lowered his voice.
“Because Daniel's fingerprints were also found on the night your mother opened the company account.”
I felt my blood turn cold.
“Meaning?”
Richard looked directly at me.
“Daniel never disappeared.”
“He's been here.”
“Where?”
Richard didn't answer.
A detective entered the room.
He held a photograph.
The image showed a parking garage.
One man stood beside a car.
I recognized him immediately.
Daniel Crowe.
The detective looked at me.
“We found him this morning.”
I swallowed.
“Where?”
May you like
The detective answered,
“In the townhouse.”
Related Stories
