Chapter 5 - THE LAWYER WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Gerald Foss had spent the entire trial acting like my father’s weapon.
By sunrise, I understood he might also be his shield.
Rebecca filed the Hawthorne disclosure before court opened.
Judge Okafor read it in chambers.
When proceedings resumed, Foss looked ten years older.
He stood.
“Your Honor, I move to withdraw as counsel.”
Dad turned toward him so sharply his chair scraped the floor.
“What?”
Judge Okafor folded her hands.
“On what grounds?”
“A professional conflict has arisen.”
Dad whispered something vicious.
Foss ignored him.
Judge Okafor denied the immediate withdrawal pending examination of the conflict.
Then Rebecca called Dr. Steven Keller by video.
Keller had supposedly examined Gran eighteen months before she died.
Under oath, he stated he had never met her.
Never spoken with her.
Never reviewed her file.
His signature had been copied from an unrelated medical consultation.
Dad stared straight ahead.
Foss stared at the table.
Then Rebecca displayed a payment.
$85,000.
White Heritage Holdings to Hawthorne Clinical Consulting.
Authorized through Foss’s client escrow account.
Judge Okafor looked at Foss.
“Counsel?”
He stood slowly.
“I invoke my right not to answer questions that may expose me to criminal liability.”
The gallery erupted in whispers.
Dad exploded.
“You coward.”
Every face turned toward him.
Foss finally looked at my father.
And whatever professional relationship existed between them died in that instant.
“You were told not to speak.”
“You work for me.”
“Not anymore.”
Dad’s face became purple.
Judge Okafor struck the bench with her gavel.
“Mr. White, sit down.”
He sat.
Barely.
Rebecca leaned toward me.
“This case is collapsing.”
I didn’t feel relief.
People like Dad were most dangerous when losing control.
After court, federal investigators interviewed Foss separately.
I was not allowed inside.
Lauren sat beside me in the hallway.
She kept rubbing her wedding ring even though she had been divorced for four years.
“Do you think he’ll blame me?”
“Yes.”
Her head snapped toward me.
I refused to lie.
“But that doesn’t mean you go back to protecting him.”
She nodded.
A door opened.
Foss came out.
His suit jacket was hanging over one arm.
He saw me.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then he approached.
“Lieutenant Colonel.”
“What do you want?”
He glanced toward Lauren.
“Five minutes.”
“No.”
His mouth tightened.
“Your father hasn’t been trying to win this house because of its sentimental value.”
“I figured that out.”
“You haven’t figured out enough.”
Rebecca stepped between us.
“Anything you say goes through counsel.”
Foss laughed without humor.
“You think I care about privilege now?”
He looked exhausted.
Terrified.
And strangely relieved.
“Ronald has borrowed against that property.”
Rebecca frowned.
“He doesn’t own it.”
“I know.”
My stomach dropped.
Foss continued.
“He pledged it as security for private financing twelve years ago.”
“That’s impossible.”
“He used a deed.”
Rebecca’s face sharpened.
“A forged deed?”
Foss looked at me.
“I prepared it.”
Lauren made a choking sound.
Foss closed his eyes.
“I told myself your grandmother had approved it. Ronald brought me signed documents.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“How much money?”
Foss hesitated.
“Initially? Three million.”
Rebecca stared.
“Initially?”
Foss looked down the corridor before answering.
“The obligation has been refinanced five times.”
“How much does he owe now?”
“Just under eleven million.”
For the first time, the lawsuit made complete sense.
Dad did not merely want Gran’s house.
He needed legal title to prevent lenders from discovering he had pledged property he never owned.
“Who holds the debt?” Rebecca asked.
Foss looked at me.
“That is the part you won’t like.”
“Who?”
“A company registered in Delaware.”
“What company?”
“Briar Ridge Capital.”
The name meant nothing to me.
But it meant something to Lauren.
Her face went completely white.
“What?” I asked.
She stared at Foss.
“That’s Emma’s company.”
I turned to her.
“Emma doesn’t have a company.”
May you like
Lauren’s voice trembled.
“Dad created one in her name when she was six.”
