Chapter 6: The Man on the Phone
Nobody moved.
Madison's outstretched hand stayed exactly where it was, the USB drive balanced between her fingers.
Her face had gone the color of old paper.
Ethan kept the phone at his ear.
"How did you get this number?"
"The same way I get everything," Harlan said.
"Carefully.
Over time." A brief pause.
"I understand Madison is with you.
I'd like you to know that whatever she's told you in the last few minutes, she is not acting on my behalf."
Ethan looked at Madison.
"He says you're not working for him."
"He's lying," she said flatly.
"She would say that," Harlan said.
"She's been skimming from my operation for eleven months.
I've been patient.
Tonight I've run out of patience."
"That's not—" Madison stopped.
Her hand dropped.
The USB drive disappeared back into her pocket.
"Madison came to your house for two reasons," Harlan continued.
"The first was to retrieve the folder in your locked room before you found it.
The second was to plant a secondary document — a transfer record — that would have connected you directly to an offshore account in her name.
Not mine.
Hers."
Clara's hand found Noah's shoulder.
"She was going to frame me for her own theft," Ethan said.
"Correct.
And then offer to help you fight the charges I had already prepared against you — for a fee, naturally.
It's an elegant scheme.
I almost admired it." Harlan's tone didn't change.
"Almost."
"And what do you want?" Ethan said.
"The same thing I've always wanted.
The original signed contract from March.
The real one.
Not the copy in your folder — that's mine, and you're welcome to keep it as a souvenir.
I want the original document with your actual signature, which I believe you have stored in a safety deposit box at Meridian Private Bank."
Ethan said nothing.
"That contract proves a business relationship between us that you would prefer remained private.
I don't intend to expose it.
I intend to use it — as leverage — to ensure a separate transaction goes smoothly.
Once it does, the contract comes back to you.
You have my word."
"Your word," Ethan repeated.
"I understand that's not worth much to you right now.
But consider your position." A pause.
"You have a forged document in your hand that will destroy you if it reaches the right desk.
You have a woman in your sitting room who was about to make your situation considerably worse.
And you have a seven-year-old boy in the house who doesn't need to grow up watching his mother's employer go to prison for something he didn't do."
Clara went very still.
"Don't," Ethan said quietly.
"I'm not threatening the child.
I'm making an observation.
You have people in that house who depend on you.
I'm offering you a clean exit.
Give me the contract.
This ends tonight."
Ethan looked at the documents in his hand.
Then at Madison, who was watching him with an expression that had shifted from calculation to something that looked, unexpectedly, like warning.
She gave the smallest shake of her head.
Don't.
"I need twenty-four hours," Ethan said.
"You have until tomorrow morning.
Eight o'clock." Harlan's voice remained pleasant.
"I'll be in touch with instructions."
The call ended.
The sitting room was silent except for the faint sound of Noah breathing.
Ethan set the phone down on the chair beside him.
He looked at Madison.
"The transfer record," he said.
"The one you were going to plant.
Where is it?"
Madison reached into her jacket again.
Produced a folded sheet of paper.
Held it out.
Ethan took it.
Looked at it.
Then looked at her.
"You were going to let me go to prison for money you stole from Harlan Voss."
"I needed a way out," she said.
"You were convenient."
"And now?"
She looked at the door.
"Now I need a different way out."
Ethan folded the transfer record and placed it with the other documents.
"Sit down," he said.
"You're not going anywhere until I understand everything.
From the beginning."
Madison looked at him for a long moment.
Then she sat down.
Clara met Ethan's eyes across the room.
He gave her a look she understood without words: *Stay.
I need you to hear this.*
May you like
She settled back into her chair, Noah tucked against her side.
And Madison began to talk.
