The general’s voice became firm.
“But because you’ve now been appointed to an oversight command connected to the procurement, the matter must be formally investigated.”
I looked at Clara.
One day old.
And already her father had managed to drag her mother into a federal ethics review.
“Will this affect my promotion?”
“We’ll protect you if the evidence shows you were unaware.”
“If?”
He met my eyes.
“Rebecca, I know you.”
That helped.
“But paperwork doesn’t know people. It knows evidence.”
Fair enough.
I had built my career believing exactly that.
I picked up my phone.
“I need Rachel.”
Part Four — Twenty Million Dollars Wasn’t What Daniel Wanted
Rachel Sloan arrived three hours later.
She had represented Grandpa Arthur for twelve years and had the emotional range of a federal tax form.
That afternoon, I had never been happier to see anyone.
I told her everything.
When I finished, she became very still.
“You said Lawson Strategic Solutions has cash-flow problems?”
“Yes.”
“How serious?”
“I don’t know.”
Rachel opened her laptop.
“Then I think I do.”
She pulled up documents from the trust review.
“There were two unusual credit inquiries connected to your identity over the last six weeks.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“We originally assumed they were routine because neither resulted in access to the trust.”
“What kind of inquiries?”
“One was from a private lender.”
Rachel turned the screen.
The application listed Daniel’s company.
Borrower:
Lawson Strategic Solutions LLC.
Requested credit line:
$4.5 million.
Proposed guarantors:
Daniel Lawson
and
Rebecca Bennett Lawson
I stopped breathing.
“I didn’t sign this.”
“I know.”
At the bottom was an electronic signature.
My name.
Not my handwriting.
But my name.
Rachel continued.
“The application claims you have a pending inheritance in excess of fifteen million dollars.”
My mouth went dry.
Daniel knew.
“He knew about the money.”
“Yes.”
“But I never told him.”
“Then we need to figure out how.”
She scrolled further.
“There is also a representation that you intended to invest part of the inheritance in Lawson Strategic Solutions once the trust cleared.”
“I never said that.”
“I know.”
“How much?”
“Five million.”
I laughed.
I couldn’t help it.
The whole thing was so absurd.
“He threw me out because I was dead weight while telling lenders I was about to give him five million dollars?”
Rachel looked at me.
“Apparently.”
Then something hit me.
“The ring.”
“What?”
“Lauren’s ring.”
