Chapter 13 - The Employee Who Vanished
Her name was Rebecca Sloan.
Thirty-four.
Talented.
Quiet.
Dependable.
And apparently gone.
Meredith stood beside Rebecca’s empty desk while Graham called their attorney.
“I hired her.”
Graham looked at her.
“That doesn’t make this your fault.”
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Don’t rush to make me feel better.”
He stopped.
Meredith appreciated it.
“I checked her references myself.”
“Then we check them again.”
This time, the references collapsed.
The architecture firm Rebecca claimed to have worked for had employed a Rebecca Sloan.
But not this Rebecca Sloan.
The real woman lived in Oregon.
Someone had borrowed her professional history.
By evening, Meredith’s fear had become anger.
Not because someone had infiltrated her company.
Because someone had turned trust itself into a weapon again.
At home, Graham found her sitting on the nursery floor after Clara fell asleep.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He sat beside her.
Meredith rested her head against the crib.
“I hate that this makes me suspicious.”
“Of everyone?”
“Yes.”
“Me too.”
She looked at him.
“Really?”
“I checked Walter’s location history yesterday.”
Meredith stared.
Graham grimaced.
“I know.”
“Your father?”
“He was offended for six straight hours.”
Despite herself, Meredith laughed.
Then she became serious.
“What happens when trust becomes stupidity?”
Graham considered the question.
“I think trust without verification can be dangerous.”
“That sounds like a lawyer.”
“It probably is.”
“And marriage?”
He looked at her.
“Trust in marriage means I tell you the truth before you have to investigate me.”
Meredith’s expression softened.
“Better.”
His phone rang.
Nathan.
Rebecca had been found.
Not by police.
By Patricia.
She was sitting inside Patricia Lawson’s penthouse.
And Patricia wanted a meeting.
Meredith insisted on attending.
Patricia’s apartment overlooked Central Park.
She greeted them wearing pearls.
Rebecca sat on a sofa nearby, pale and frightened.
Patricia poured tea.
“No one wants tea,” Graham said.
“I do.”
Meredith accepted a cup.
Graham looked at her.
“What?”
“I’m curious.”
Patricia almost smiled.
“I understand why you married her.”
“Don’t.”
Patricia ignored him.
She turned toward Meredith.
“You’ve caused considerable trouble for this family.”
Meredith set down the cup.
“That’s an interesting opening from someone who entered my office without permission.”
Patricia’s smile vanished.
“I own the building.”
“You don’t own my company.”
Rebecca stared at the floor.
Graham stepped forward.
“Did you fabricate the bank records?”
“No.”
“Did Rebecca?”
Patricia looked toward her.
Rebecca began crying.
“Yes.”
Meredith’s chest tightened.
“Why?”
Rebecca whispered, “Money.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
Patricia said sharply, “I paid her to find evidence.”
Graham stared.
“You paid someone to infiltrate Meredith’s company?”
“I paid an investigator.”
“She used a false identity.”
“I didn’t know.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“That’s not true.”
The room froze.
Patricia turned.
Rebecca’s hands trembled.
“You told me exactly what name to use.”
Patricia’s face hardened.
Rebecca continued.
“You gave me the old bank files.”
Meredith leaned forward.
“Did she tell you to alter them?”
“No.”
Patricia smiled slightly.
Then Rebecca whispered, “Someone else did.”
Graham’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Rebecca looked terrified.
“I never met him.”
“Him?”
“He called himself David.”
Meredith’s pulse jumped.
“What did David want?”
“Copies. Emails. Financial records. Anything connected to the Lawson family.”
“Who introduced you?”
Rebecca looked toward Patricia.
Patricia finally lost her composure.
“I did not know who he was.”
Graham stepped closer.
“You gave a stranger access to my wife?”
“I gave him access to an investigator.”
“You opened the door.”
Patricia snapped, “Because Nathan was destroying everything I built!”
Nathan, standing behind them, spoke for the first time.
“By acknowledging my son?”
Patricia looked at him.
“By allowing private mistakes to become public liabilities.”
Nathan’s expression went cold.
“Noah is not a mistake.”
Patricia said nothing.
That silence answered more than words could.
Nathan walked out.
Graham followed.
Meredith stayed.
Patricia looked surprised.
“You should go with your husband.”
“No.”
Meredith stepped closer.
“You keep calling this family protection.”
Patricia’s expression hardened.
“I protected the Lawson name for forty years.”
“No. You protected your ability to control it.”
Patricia’s eyes narrowed.
“You think you understand this family because Graham cried in therapy and put his wedding ring back on?”
Meredith smiled faintly.
“No.”
She leaned closer.
“I understand because I nearly lost my marriage to people who thought they knew what was best for me.”
Patricia became still.
“I won’t make that mistake twice.”
Then Meredith left.
In the elevator, Graham took her hand.
“What?”
“You drank her tea.”
“It was excellent.”
He laughed.
For one moment, tension broke.
Then Meredith’s phone rang.
Rebecca.
Meredith answered.
Rebecca whispered quickly.
“I remembered something.”
“What?”
“David asked me to find one specific file.”
“Which file?”
“Clara’s birth certificate.”
Meredith stopped breathing.
Graham saw her face.
“What?”
Rebecca continued.
“He also wanted your hospital discharge records.”
Meredith gripped the phone.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Then the call disconnected.
Graham immediately called back.
No answer.
Meredith looked at him.
This was no longer about Lawson Capital.
Someone was interested in Clara.
And suddenly every instinct Meredith possessed changed.
“You asked me what I want to do,” she said.
Graham nodded.
May you like
Meredith picked up her coat.
“Now I want to find him.”
