Chapter 7 - What Robert Knew
Nia had been twenty-one when Robert Carter died from a heart attack.
That was the official version of the family history.
Robert had been fifty-two.
He loved jazz, terrible fishing trips, strong coffee and telling Nia she was smarter than anyone deserved.
He had served as chief financial officer of Carter Community Services.
After his death, Denise took control.
Nia had never questioned the transition.
Now she questioned everything.
Andre refused to speak on the phone.
They met the next morning in the parking garage beneath a downtown hotel.
“This is ridiculous,” Nia said.
Andre glanced behind them.
“Mom checks the company cameras.”
“We’re not at the company.”
“She has friends everywhere.”
“Listen to yourself.”
Andre looked exhausted.
At thirty-six, he still carried the handsome confidence that had followed him since high school, but the edges were failing.
His tie was crooked.
His hands trembled.
“Did you send me the photograph?”
“No.”
“Were you there?”
“Yes.”
Nia stared at him.
“When the papers burned?”
Andre looked down.
“You watched her destroy Grandma’s amendment?”
“She didn’t destroy everything.”
Hope hit Nia too quickly.
“What survived?”
“I don’t know.”
“Andre.”
“She separated documents before burning some.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know!”
His voice echoed.
He lowered it.
“Mom doesn’t tell me everything anymore.”
Nia laughed bitterly.
“Poor Andre.”
“Don’t.”
“You let her steal my house.”
“I didn’t know about the loan until later.”
“How much later?”
“Two years.”
“You said nothing.”
Andre’s face tightened.
“I was in too deep.”
“With Harbor Point?”
He went pale.
“So Marcus told you.”
“Yes.”
“I’m guessing he left out his own mistakes.”
“What mistakes?”
Andre shook his head.
“This isn’t about him.”
“You framed my husband.”
“I didn’t frame him.”
“You used his login.”
Andre looked away.
“That transfer was supposed to be temporary.”
“Seventy-two thousand dollars.”
“I put most of it back.”
“Most?”
“Mom covered the rest.”
“With my house?”
Andre said nothing.
Nia stepped closer.
“What about Dad?”
Andre’s breathing changed.
“Before he died, he found the same thing.”
“What thing?”
“Mom moving money.”
Nia froze.
“What money?”
“At first, company distributions.”
“To where?”
“Personal accounts.”
“How much?”
Andre rubbed his face.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“Fine. Hundreds of thousands over years.”
Nia felt the floor shift beneath her.
“Dad knew?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“They fought.”
“When?”
“The night before he died.”
Nia stared.
Andre immediately raised his hands.
“No. Stop. He had a heart attack. Mom didn’t kill him.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Your face did.”
Nia’s voice dropped.
“What were they fighting about?”
“Dad wanted an outside audit.”
“Why didn’t we know?”
“Because after he died, Mom said it would ruin the company.”
“And you agreed.”
“I was twenty-five.”
“You were old enough to know stealing.”
Andre flinched.
Nia continued.
“What did Dad discover?”
Andre reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old flash drive.
Nia stared at it.
“This was in his desk.”
“You kept it for eleven years?”
“I forgot about it.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I found it again when Mom told me to clean the storage office.”
“What’s on it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why not?”
“It’s encrypted.”
Nia took it.
“Password?”
“No idea.”
She looked at the scratched blue plastic.
Robert had labeled it with black marker.
BREAKFAST.
Nia stared.
“What?”
Andre frowned.
Nia whispered:
“Dad used to call me before exams.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“He always asked the same question.”
Andre waited.
“Did you eat breakfast?”
Her heart accelerated.
Robert believed hungry people made bad decisions.
He had repeated it throughout her childhood.
Breakfast first.
Problems second.
Nia plugged the drive into her laptop later that day.
Password required.
She typed:
breakfast
Rejected.
She tried:
coffee
Rejected.
Then:
pancakes
Rejected.
Marcus watched.
“What did your father make you eat?”
“Everything.”
“That’s helpful.”
Nia thought.
Her father’s favorite phrase.
Breakfast first.
Problems second.
She typed:
problemssecond
Rejected.
Micah sat nearby doing homework.
Without looking up, he said:
“Maybe the password is you.”
Nia turned.
“What?”
“Grandpa loved you, right?”
Marcus smiled faintly.
“Kid’s better at this than us.”
Nia typed her childhood nickname.
Bean.
Rejected.
Then:
NiaBean.
The drive opened.
Folders appeared.
Tax.
Insurance.
Contracts.
Then one marked:
IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME.
Nia stopped breathing.
Marcus leaned closer.
Inside was a scanned letter.
Dated the day before Robert died.
Addressed to Lillian.
Mom,
Denise has been moving funds through accounts I cannot reconcile. Andre knows more than he admits. I am requesting an independent audit tomorrow.
I am also changing the voting structure so Nia can eventually protect the company.
Do not let Denise convince you that family loyalty means silence.
Family loyalty means stopping people before they destroy each other.
Nia’s eyes filled.
At the bottom was another sentence.
If Denise tells the children I died believing Marcus was dangerous, she is lying.
Nia stared.
Marcus went completely still.
“What?”
She looked at him.
“You knew my father?”
Marcus nodded slowly.
“Before we dated.”
“How?”
“He hired me for renovation work.”
Nia continued reading.
Robert’s final sentence changed everything again.
Marcus Reed found the first false invoice.
He is the reason I started looking.
Nia turned toward her husband.
“You knew eleven years ago?”
Marcus’s face filled with pain.
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“I promised your father I wouldn’t until he had proof.”
“He died.”
“I know.”
“And then you married me.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Nia whispered:
“Was our marriage ever separate from this?”
Marcus looked at her.
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His answer was the worst possible one.
“I don’t know.”
