Chapter 5 - THE EASTER TRAP
I called him back.
The number was already disconnected.
Claire immediately stepped away and began issuing instructions to our security team.
Vanessa sank into her chair.
“What did he mean?”
“I don’t know.”
But I did know one thing.
Jonathan Vale never said anything accidentally.
Seaside Springs had not been the target.
Then what had?
I opened the acquisition folder again.
StyleHub.
Seaside Springs Hospitality.
Three logistics properties.
Two distribution centers.
A dormant intellectual-property subsidiary.
Everything looked familiar.
Everything had been reviewed by lawyers, bankers, accountants, consultants, regulators.
Then Claire returned.
“We need to go inside.”
“Why?”
“Security flagged a vehicle.”
Daniel immediately looked toward the entrance.
That was enough.
“What vehicle?”
“A black Escalade entered the service driveway eight minutes ago. Plates don’t match the reservation system.”
Dad frowned.
“So?”
Claire kept her eyes on Daniel.
“It belongs to a security contractor used by Harbor Crest.”
Vanessa stood.
“You knew they were coming.”
“No.”
“You looked at the door.”
“Because she said vehicle.”
“You looked before she finished talking.”
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
“I’m leaving.”
Two men in resort security uniforms stepped through the terrace doors.
Daniel stopped.
They walked toward us.
One spoke quietly to me.
“Ms. Bennett, we need everyone to remain on property for a few minutes.”
Daniel laughed.
“You can’t detain me.”
“No, sir.”
The guard looked toward the driveway.
“But federal agents can.”
Every head at the table turned.
Vanessa whispered, “Federal?”
Three unmarked vehicles pulled in near the main building.
Claire looked surprised.
That worried me.
“You didn’t call them?”
“No.”
Within sixty seconds, two agents entered the terrace.
One showed credentials.
“Daniel Parker?”
Daniel backed away.
“I want an attorney.”
The agent nodded.
“That’s your right.”
Vanessa started shaking.
“What is this about?”
The agent did not answer her.
Daniel looked at me with hatred.
“You planned this.”
“I didn’t.”
For once, he believed me.
That scared him more.
The agents asked him to step away.
He did.
Then one of them turned.
“Margaret Bennett?”
My mother made a sound like all the air had left her body.
Dad stepped in front of her.
“What do you want with my wife?”
“We need to speak with Mrs. Bennett regarding transfers associated with Northlight Strategy.”
Mom started crying again.
Dad looked at me.
“Fix this.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“You have lawyers. People. Fix it.”
The request hit me strangely.
For years, my career had been a joke.
Now, thirty minutes after discovering its size, my father expected it to save them.
“I don’t control federal investigators.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, Dad. I don’t.”
Mom reached for him.
“I’ll answer their questions.”
He turned on her.
“No more answers until we have a lawyer.”
Claire quietly called our outside counsel anyway.
Not because Mom deserved protection from consequences.
Because I needed to understand the attack.
The agents escorted Daniel and Mom inside separately.
Vanessa remained standing beside the destroyed brunch table.
Mascara had begun running beneath one eye.
She looked at me.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Would you tell me if you did?”
“Yes.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You’ve been lying to us for years.”
I absorbed that.
“I kept my finances private.”
“You let us think you were nobody.”
“I didn’t realize I had to prove I was somebody.”
Her face tightened.
Then she whispered:
“He knew before we got married.”
“What?”
“Daniel.”
She looked toward the doors.
“He knew you owned StyleHub before we got married.”
My skin prickled.
“How do you know?”
“Because two weeks before our wedding, he suddenly started asking questions about you.”
“What questions?”
“Your bank. Your apartment. Who you worked with. Whether you traveled. Whether you had a boyfriend.”
Claire had returned.
She heard everything.
“When was the wedding?”
“Five years ago.”
Claire and I exchanged a look.
That was approximately when Jonathan’s second acquisition attempt collapsed.
Vanessa continued.
“I thought Daniel was trying to be nice.”
“What else?”
She looked ashamed.
“He asked whether you had ever signed a family trust.”
I froze.
Dad, standing nearby, looked at us.
“What family trust?”
Vanessa wiped her face.
“The Bennett Family Trust.”
I shook my head.
“There is no Bennett Family Trust.”
“Yes, there is.”
The voice came from behind us.
Aunt Rebecca.
Until that moment, I had almost forgotten she was there.
She looked terrified.
“Your grandfather created it.”
Dad stared at his sister.
“What are you talking about?”
Rebecca swallowed.
“Richard, you were never supposed to know until Margaret died.”
Nobody moved.
She reached into her handbag.
Her hands trembled as she pulled out a small brass key.
Then she looked at me.
“Your mother wasn’t the only person keeping secrets.”
She placed the key in my palm.
“There’s a safe-deposit box in Monterey.”
I stared at it.
“What’s inside?”
Rebecca’s eyes filled with tears.
“Something your grandfather left for Audrey.”
My father stepped closer.
“Why her?”
May you like
Rebecca looked at him.
“Because he knew one day somebody in this family would try to take everything she built.”
