Chapter 9 - Ethan Offered Me Everything Except the Truth

The federal agents took the steel case.

Mason did not argue.

That told me more than any rumor about him ever had.

At midnight, after almost forty hours without real sleep, I returned to my room at the lodge.

My wedding dress was still hanging by the window.

I took it down.

Not dramatically.

I folded it into the garment bag and placed it in the closet.

Then someone knocked.

I checked the peephole.

Ethan.

I should have ignored him.

Instead I opened the door with the security chain still attached.

“What?”

He looked exhausted.

“I need ten minutes.”

“You have two.”

“Not through a door.”

“This is what you get.”

He glanced down the hallway.

“Voss is dangerous.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“You need to stop pushing.”

“You mean stop disputing forged documents.”

“I mean stop acting like you know the whole picture.”

“You’ve had many chances to improve my understanding.”

His eyes closed briefly.

“I owe Voss money.”

“Six million?”

“More now.”

“Why?”

“A hotel project failed.”

“Rachel says the hotel never existed.”

His face changed.

“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“She invested in it.”

“It was a development fund.”

“What property?”

Silence.

“What city?”

“Knoxville.”

“Address?”

“Claire, this isn’t a deposition.”

“No. Depositions come later.”

Anger flashed.

Then disappeared.

“I can fix this.”

“How?”

“I can unwind Laurel Ridge. Give Rachel her money. Release your land. Everything.”

“Using what money?”

“I have investors.”

“Voss?”

“No.”

“Mason?”

His jaw tightened.

“No.”

I leaned closer to the narrow opening.

“Why did you forge my signature?”

“I didn’t.”

“Elaine’s?”

“No.”

“Did Rachel?”

He looked away.

“You should ask her.”

“I did.”

“She’s protecting herself.”

“So are you.”

“I am protecting you.”

I laughed.

“From what?”

He lowered his voice.

“From the consequences of Mason deciding this is his chance to settle an old score.”

There it was again.

Mason.

Always Mason.

“What score?”

“His father and Voss.”

“What about them?”

“I don’t know everything.”

“Tell me what you know.”

Ethan hesitated.

“Voss financed some of Reed Freight’s expansion years ago. Mason’s father moved things he shouldn’t have. Cash. Imports. People.”

The last word chilled me.

“And Mason?”

“Mason inherited the mess.”

“He says he dismantled it.”

“He says a lot.”

“So do you.”

Ethan gripped the edge of the doorframe.

“I made mistakes.”

“Crimes are not mistakes when you print my name under them.”

“I did not forge your signature.”

“Then who did?”

He stared at me.

Finally, he whispered, “Marjorie.”

His office manager.

“On whose instruction?”

He said nothing.

“Yours?”

“She was trying to keep the financing alive.”

“For you.”

“She knew what was at stake.”

“What was at stake?”

Ethan’s face seemed to collapse.

“My company.”

“You don’t have a company worth six million.”

“I did.”

“What happened?”

“Voss happened.”

“That is not an answer.”

He leaned toward the gap.

“I took a loan. The market moved. I took another. He bought the first note. Then he started adding fees. I couldn’t get out.”

“So you offered him my land.”

“I offered him a project.”

“On my land.”

“I thought once you saw the numbers you would agree.”

“You forged the documents before asking.”

“I didn’t know Marjorie had notarized them.”

He believed this distinction mattered.

Maybe he even believed himself.

“Were you sleeping with Rachel?”

Pain crossed his face.

“Yes.”

The word was almost quiet enough to miss.

My body went cold anyway.

“When?”

“Last year.”

“How long?”

“Four months.”

“While we were engaged.”

“Yes.”

“Did it end?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“She ended it.”

I nodded slowly.

At least one lie had finally died.

“Did you love her?”

“I thought I did.”

“And me?”

He looked stricken.

“I love you.”

“No. You needed me.”

“That isn’t fair.”

“It is the first fair thing I have said all night.”

He reached through the gap.

I stepped back.

“Claire, I will sign anything. Give up Laurel Ridge. Give you my accounts. Cancel every project. Just stop working with Mason.”

“Why are you so afraid of him?”

“I’m afraid of what he will turn you into.”

I stared at him.

“You still think this is about who controls me.”

“That isn’t what I meant.”

“It is exactly what you meant.”

I started closing the door.

“Wait.”

His hand dropped.

“One thing.”

I paused.

“If Rachel shows you an audio file, don’t believe the first version.”

I frowned.

“What audio file?”

He went still.

Too late.

“What audio file, Ethan?”

He stepped back.

“I shouldn’t have come.”

He walked toward the elevator.

My phone rang before the doors closed.

Rachel.

“Claire,” she said, breathing hard. “I found the backup.”

“What backup?”

“The recording from Voss’s office.”

I watched Ethan disappear behind the elevator doors.

“What’s on it?”

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Rachel was silent for one terrible second.

Then she said, “Ethan knew your signature would be forged before the loan closed.”