Chapter 4: Patricia Makes a Call
Patricia Voss had a corner office on the fourteenth floor of a building in downtown San Jose, and she had seen a great many betrayals walk through her door over the years.
But when Haley's photographs arrived on her phone — clear, sequential, every page accounted for — she set her coffee down and did not pick it up again for a long time.
She called Haley back within the hour.
"I have the documents."
"And?" Haley said.
"The transfer is real.
It was structured as a voluntary divestiture — your signature makes it look like you chose to give up your equity stake.
If this had gone to a notary without you knowing what it was, the company would have been entirely his.
Legally.
No contest."
"He was going to hand me a pen when we got home."
"Yes.
And once it was notarized, your signature on the February document would have been used as evidence of prior intent.
You would have had very little ground to stand on."
Haley was quiet for a moment.
Outside her hotel window, the ocean was flat and bright.
"What do I do now?"
"First — do not sign anything.
Not a single piece of paper he puts in front of you, for any reason, until you've spoken with me.
Second, do not let him know you've seen the documents.
Third, come home."
"He expects me to be there when he lands."
"Good.
Be there.
Be exactly what he expects."
"You want me to pretend."
"I want you to give me seventy-two hours.
I'm filing an emergency motion to freeze the asset transfer.
I'm also contacting a forensic accountant who specializes in hidden marital assets.
If there's a second account, we'll find it."
"He mentioned it by name.
He said she doesn't know it exists."
"You have that recorded?"
"Yes."
Patricia's chair shifted.
"Send it to me.
All of it.
Every recording, every video, every text."
Haley had already forwarded everything to Dana.
She forwarded the same package directly to Patricia.
"There's something else," Haley said.
"The lawyer at the hotel.
The one meeting with Beckham this morning.
I photographed his badge."
"Can you read the name?"
"Garrett Lund.
The firm name underneath was Lund and Associates."
A pause on Patricia's end.
Longer than the others.
"You're certain?"
"I have the photograph."
"Send it."
Haley sent it.
"Haley." Patricia's voice had changed slightly.
Not alarmed.
But precise in a way it hadn't been before.
"Garrett Lund is a specialist in offshore asset protection.
He doesn't do divorce work.
He doesn't do corporate restructuring.
What he does is move money in ways that are very difficult to trace and even more difficult to recover."
The ocean outside was still bright.
It looked exactly the same as it had five minutes ago.
"How long has this been planned?" Haley asked.
"Based on the February document — at minimum, three months.
But I suspect longer." Patricia paused.
"Do you know when your husband first met your sister?
I mean, when they became close."
Haley thought about it.
Cathy had started coming to Sunday dinners more often.
Beckham had started suggesting it.
He'd called it family time.
He'd said Haley seemed lonely, that she and Cathy had grown apart, that it would be good for them.
He had engineered it.
"About eighteen months ago," Haley said quietly.
"Then this has been in motion for at least a year and a half."
Haley sat down on the edge of the bed.
"He built the whole thing," she said.
"The dinners.
The closeness.
He brought Cathy in on purpose."
"That's what the evidence suggests."
May you like
"Does Cathy know how long he's been planning this?"
"That," Patricia said, "is exactly the right question."
