Chapter 5 - THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED
By five o’clock, they had another answer.
Renee found a contract amendment in a routing folder bearing what appeared to be Grant’s signature.
Grant had never signed it.
The corporate seal looked perfect.
The amendment contained a penalty clause directing a large payment to an unfamiliar LLC if Northstar canceled a certain equipment agreement.
Claire read it twice.
“This isn’t amateur work.”
Madison began crying again.
“I printed that.”
Grant looked at her.
“When?”
“Two days ago.”
“Who sent it?”
She didn’t need to answer.
Emma looked at the photograph of Grant’s signature on Madison’s phone.
Then at the false signature on the contract.
They were almost identical.
Reed hadn’t been stealing documents randomly.
He had been collecting ingredients.
A signature.
A seal.
A vendor name.
A routing process.
Pricing data.
Client schedules.
Madison had been opening doors one by one, convinced she was helping the secret owner of a company she expected to marry into.
And Reed had promised her exactly what vanity wanted to hear.
You won’t be an assistant much longer.
You’ll be an owner.
You’ll never have to take orders again.
Emma suddenly remembered Madison standing in the lobby.
My husband owns this company.
Now she understood.
Madison had not simply been rude.
She had been rehearsing an identity Reed had sold her.
A throne that did not exist.
At seven thirty, Claire ended the internal interviews.
“Madison, your system access is suspended. We’ll continue the employment process formally tomorrow. No one here is asking you to destroy, modify or surrender your personal device. Preserve your messages. Speak with your own attorney if you wish.”
“Am I fired?”
Grant looked exhausted.
“We’ll handle that separately.”
Madison nodded.
Then looked at Emma.
“I owe you an apology.”
Emma held her gaze.
“Yes.”
Madison swallowed.
“I’m sorry.”
“For the insult?”
“For all of it.”
Emma picked up her handbag.
“The insult is the least serious thing you did today.”
Madison’s face crumpled.
Emma’s voice softened, but only slightly.
“That doesn’t mean it was harmless.”
Madison nodded.
Emma and Grant left together twenty minutes later.
In the elevator, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.
“This might be the worst lunch date I’ve ever canceled.”
Emma looked at him.
“You think?”
He opened one eye.
“Can I make it up to you?”
“You can start by eating.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion.”
Grant laughed weakly.
Then the elevator opened.
Outside, autumn rain had started falling over downtown Chicago.
They walked toward the parking garage under one umbrella.
Grant suddenly stopped.
“Reed once told me I’d hand him everything I had built.”
Emma turned.
“What?”
“When we dissolved our old partnership.”
“You never told me that.”
“It was nine years ago. He was angry. I thought it was theater.”
Emma stared at him.
“You need to stop deciding which problems I’m strong enough to know about.”
Grant’s face changed.
“That’s not what I—”
“It is.”
He remained silent.
Emma continued.
“We have been married twenty-one years. I mortgaged a house with you. I ate pizza on a warehouse floor with you. I sat beside you when Northstar had seven employees and one client who paid ninety days late.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t protect me by keeping me ignorant.”
Grant looked down.
“You’re right.”
Emma slipped her hand into his.
“I’m still furious.”
“I know.”
“Also, you owe me lunch.”
“Definitely.”
They had taken three more steps when Grant’s phone rang.
He answered.
It was Claire.
Grant stopped walking.
“What?”
Emma saw his face change.
“When?”
A pause.
“Has her mother been called?”
Another pause.
“All right. We’re coming back.”
He ended the call.
Emma’s stomach tightened.
May you like
“What happened?”
“Madison never got home.”
