Chapter 5 - Claire's Photograph
Claire Bennett had spent fourteen years teaching people not to panic.
Now she was afraid.
Not of the mountain.
Not of parachutes.
Of lawyers.
By Monday morning, Carter Meridian's outside communications firm had begun asking questions about her supervision records.
An insurance representative wanted written statements.
A journalist had called her private phone.
Then came the email.
We believe serious procedural negligence may have contributed to Mr. Carter's incident.
Claire read it twice.
The sender was a law firm she did not recognize.
But attached correspondence copied someone she did.
Marcus Vale.
Claire drove directly to Julian's Denver residence.
His new security detail stopped her at the gate before Julian personally authorized entry.
He met her in the library.
“You look angry,” he said.
“I am.”
She handed him the printed email.
Julian read it.
His expression did not change.
“Marcus has no authority over the jump operator.”
“Exactly.”
“Has he contacted you directly?”
“No.”
“Responded?”
“Also no.”
“Good.”
Claire sat.
“I need to tell you something else.”
Julian waited.
“I took photographs that morning.”
“Of what?”
“Equipment preparation. Weather setup. Staff positions. Standard documentation.”
Julian leaned forward.
“And?”
Claire opened her phone.
The first photograph showed Julian joking beside the equipment vehicle.
The second showed two staff members at a table.
The third was wider.
Evelyn stood near the red parachute.
She was looking down.
Her right hand was partly hidden by her body.
The image proved nothing.
But it proved she had been there.
“What time?”
“Two minutes before I walked around the vehicle and found her alone.”
Julian enlarged the image.
Something silver showed near Evelyn's jacket.
Not enough to identify.
Enough to make his stomach tighten.
“Have investigators seen this?”
“Yes. I gave them the originals.”
“Good.”
Claire stared at him.
“You already suspected her.”
Julian did not answer.
“You did.”
“I suspect a lot of people right now.”
“Julian.”
He looked at her.
“My wife is having an affair with Marcus.”
Claire's face emptied.
“What?”
He showed her the home-security clip.
Claire watched once.
Then she put the phone down.
“Oh.”
“That sums it up.”
“You think they—”
“I don't know what I think.”
“You do.”
“I know what evidence suggests. That's not the same thing.”
Claire looked toward the window.
“I saw Marcus near the equipment area too.”
“When?”
“Earlier. Before Evelyn.”
“Doing what?”
“Talking on his phone.”
“Near the parachute?”
“Close enough to see it.”
Julian stood carefully.
His ribs still hurt.
“Did you tell investigators?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
Claire nodded slowly.
“The jump manifest changed.”
Julian stopped.
“How?”
“Marcus was originally supposed to leave the mountain after lunch.”
“Why?”
“He told one of the drivers he had a meeting in Denver.”
“He stayed.”
“Yes.”
“Did he say why?”
“He said Evelyn asked him to watch.”
Julian looked down at the photograph.
Evelyn.
Red parachute.
Silver glint.
He wanted to smash something.
Instead he asked, “Who packed the equipment?”
“A certified technician.”
“Could he have seen the damage?”
“If it was concealed by folds or handled quickly, not necessarily. That's why the forensic examination matters.”
Julian did not ask for details.
He did not want to know how close his death had come to being ordinary.
Claire stood.
“I should leave.”
“Claire.”
She paused.
“I am sorry they're coming after you.”
Her face tightened.
“They need someone to blame.”
“They picked the wrong person.”
“They picked the person whose name is on the safety sheet.”
Julian walked closer.
“No. They picked the person who can contradict their story.”
Claire stared at him.
“That sounds like you already believe it.”
Julian looked again at the photograph.
“I believe Marcus is afraid of you.”
That evening, Hannah arrived with another discovery.
Nathan Vale's history was more complicated than Julian remembered.
Nathan and Samuel had launched an investment firm together in 1998.
Three years later, Nathan was removed.
Public records described a contractual dispute.
The details had been sealed during arbitration.
“Marcus would have been fourteen,” Hannah said.
“Old enough to remember.”
“There's more.”
She opened another file.
“After Nathan left, the company changed names. Within fifteen years it became Carter Meridian.”
Julian studied the financial timeline.
“How much would Nathan's original stake have been worth today?”
“Depending on dilution and later financing? Potentially hundreds of millions.”
Julian understood why Marcus might believe something had been stolen from his family.
But that did not explain Evelyn.
Hannah gave him another document.
A bank-compliance report.
Marcus had attempted to obtain financing from a private lender using Julian's personal Carter Meridian shares as proposed collateral.
“When?”
“Three days before the jump.”
Julian's jaw tightened.
“How much?”
“Two hundred million dollars.”
“Purpose?”
“Acquisition financing through an entity called Vantage Peak Partners.”
“Who owns it?”
“We're tracing that now.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Julian answered.
“Mr. Carter?”
A man's voice.
“This is Detective Aaron Ruiz with the county investigation.”
Julian looked at Hannah.
“Yes?”
“We received the preliminary forensic assessment.”
Julian said nothing.
Ruiz continued.
“The damage to your parachute does not appear consistent with an accidental tear.”
Julian felt the room shrink around him.
“What does it appear consistent with?”
A pause.
“Intentional damage.”
Julian looked through the glass wall toward the city.
Thousands of people moved below.
Traffic lights changed.
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Life continued.
Detective Ruiz said quietly, “Mr. Carter, we are now treating what happened on that mountain as a possible attempted homicide.”
