Chapter 4 - CAROLYN WAS NOT THE ENEMY
Carolyn Davenport arrived at Kincaid Manor without her father.
Good.
Reed had assumed she was part of the machinery.
Maybe willingly.
Maybe not.
She entered his study wearing the same composed expression she wore during engagement ceremony.
Then said:
“I don’t want to marry you.”
Reed stared.
That was efficient.
“Good.”
She blinked.
“Good?”
“I don’t want to marry you either.”
For first time, Carolyn laughed.
Briefly.
Then became serious.
“My father told me the alliance was necessary because someone inside your organization planned to move against both families.”
“Did he name them?”
“No.”
“Marshall?”
“He said Marshall discovered it.”
Of course.
Then Carolyn produced emails.
Marshall to Senator Davenport.
Warnings:
Labor investigation.
Judicial exposure.
Threat of competing family alliance.
All solvable if Kincaid and Davenport united.
But dates preceded actual problems.
Some issues arose only later.
Almost as though Marshall predicted them because he created them.
Carolyn said:
“My father thinks he’s a strategist.”
“He is.”
“He may also be a traitor.”
Reed looked at her.
Interesting.
“What made you suspect?”
“A payment.”
Carolyn worked as a corporate attorney.
Not decorative daughter.
She reviewed family foundation books after engagement.
Found consulting payment from Davenport Political Strategies to a shell company:
North Gray Advisory.
Owner hidden.
Amount:
$600,000.
Purpose:
Coalition stabilization.
Then same shell received money from a Kincaid vendor.
Reed recognized vendor.
Marshall controlled it.
Carolyn had followed trail.
North Gray leased office owned by Marshall’s sister.
There.
Not enough for full proof.
Enough for suspicion.
Then she asked:
“Who is Nenah?”
Reed became still.
Carolyn looked apologetic.
“My father mentioned a cook.”
Of course.
“Did you know when you signed?”
“No.”
“About us?”
“She knew about engagement.”
“Not what I asked.”
Reed looked toward window.
“There was no us officially.”
Carolyn saw through him.
“Men only use that sentence when there was absolutely an us.”
Fair.
Then Reed told her enough.
Not intimate details.
Truth.
Carolyn listened.
Then:
“Go find her.”
He stared.
“What?”
“Our agreement can be dissolved.”
“Your father?”
“Will survive embarrassment.”
“What about alliance?”
“If it depends on two adults pretending marriage, it isn’t stable.”
Reed almost respected her immediately.
Then Carolyn said:
“But first, figure out why Marshall wanted her gone.”
Exactly.
Political marriage was mechanism.
Nenah was obstacle.
Why?
Her lineage?
Maybe something she inherited.
Then Arthur called with another discovery.
Evelyn Blake had created a trust for Nenah shortly before her death.
Not money initially.
Voting rights.
Six percent of Kincaid Consolidated.
Reed went still.
At current ownership structure, six percent could swing internal council votes.
Who controlled those shares during Nenah’s disappearance?
Temporary trustee.
Marshall Puit.
There it was.
For twenty years, Marshall had voted Nenah’s shares as though they belonged to dormant trust.
If Nenah returned legally identified, his voting bloc collapsed.
And Reed suddenly understood why she had been kept invisible.
May you like
Not because she was dangerous emotionally.
Because on paper, Nenah Blake could remove Marshall from power.
