Chapter 6 - THE AUCTION ACCOUNT
By 8:00 a.m., the dining room no longer looked like the place where a wedding breakfast should have been held.
Laptops covered the long walnut table.
Victor’s security team moved quietly between rooms.
Dominic’s attorney, Samuel Crane, had arrived from Providence before sunrise fully ended.
Brooke sat at the far end of the table.
She had stopped pretending to be offended.
Now she looked calculating.
Samuel removed his glasses.
“The auction house confirms three sales.”
Natalie clasped her hands.
“What pieces?”
“A sapphire bracelet.”
“A diamond brooch.”
“And Catherine’s antique pearl comb.”
Natalie closed her eyes.
She remembered Catherine wearing the comb at Michael’s funeral.
Dominic asked the only question that mattered.
“Who received the money?”
Samuel turned the laptop toward him.
“Harrington Coastal Holdings.”
Dominic frowned.
Brooke’s father owned Harrington Coastal Development.
The company had experienced financial trouble for more than a year.
Dominic looked at Brooke.
“Your father?”
Brooke crossed her arms.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then help me.”
Her voice hardened.
“My father’s company was facing temporary liquidity problems.”
Natalie stared at her.
“You sold my mother’s jewelry to rescue your father?”
Brooke snapped.
“It would have returned after the wedding.”
Dominic looked at her.
“How does sold jewelry return?”
“I meant the money.”
“You would replace it.”
“Yes.”
“With what?”
Brooke did not answer.
Samuel turned another document.
“There is another issue.”
Dominic looked toward him.
“Harrington Coastal Holdings received three transfers from an account associated with the Mercer Family Education Trust.”
Natalie stood so quickly her chair fell backward.
“What?”
The education trust had been created for Noah.
Dominic’s expression became deadly calm.
“How much?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Two hundred eighty thousand dollars.”
Natalie’s face emptied.
“That is Noah’s money.”
Brooke leaned forward.
“It was temporary.”
Natalie turned on her.
“You stole from my son?”
“I borrowed it.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I used authorization you already provided.”
“I never authorized that.”
Brooke’s eyes flashed.
“You signed the documents.”
Natalie stared at her.
Dominic looked at Samuel.
“Were those the forms Natalie mentioned earlier?”
“Possibly.”
Samuel turned several pages.
“It appears someone obtained a limited administrative power and then attached supplemental pages.”
Dominic’s gaze moved toward Brooke.
“Gerald Pike?”
Samuel nodded.
“His name appears repeatedly.”
Brooke looked away.
Dominic saw it.
“Call him.”
Samuel hesitated.
“At this hour?”
“Now.”
Gerald Pike answered after the third ring.
Samuel placed the call on speaker.
“Gerald, this is Samuel Crane.”
A pause.
“I’m with Dominic Mercer.”
Another pause.
The line went dead.
Everyone stared at the phone.
Dominic smiled without humor.
“Call him again.”
This time, Gerald did not answer.
Victor received another message.
He looked toward Dominic.
“Gerald left his house twenty minutes ago.”
“Where is he going?”
“We don’t know.”
Dominic stood.
“Find him.”
Brooke suddenly spoke.
“You cannot keep everyone prisoner because you’re angry.”
Dominic looked at her.
“No.”
“But Gerald just told me something by hanging up.”
“What?”
“That whatever you did required an attorney who knew exactly how illegal it was.”
Brooke’s face tightened.
Dominic gathered the documents.
May you like
“And now I want to know why.”
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