Chapter 18: The Brother's Warning
Olivia was still in her robe after her shower when Nathan called, and she knew at once that it was not a social call.
"You are alone," he said. It was not a question.
"I am getting ready," she said. "Chase is meeting me at the Glass Pavilion at eight. Why are you using that voice?"
"What voice?"
"Say it plainly, Nathan."
"I had coffee with Daniel Reyes today. Compliance at First Meridian. He called me after, from his car."
"And?" she said.
"A loan application naming the Ashworth trust crossed a desk today," he said. "Bell Harbor Private Lending. Your trust portfolio was listed as collateral. The beneficiary signature line was blank."
The room went very still.
"Repeat that," she said quietly.
"This morning," he said. "Bell Harbor. The trust as collateral. No signature from you."
"Applicant?" she asked.
"Chase Donovan."
"Amount," she said.
"Olivia."
"Amount, Nathan."
"Two point eight million dollars."
She closed her eyes for one second, then opened them. "Time stamp?"
"Nine forty two this morning."
"Nine forty two," she repeated. "He was here at nine forty two. He brought croissants. He kissed me and said his driver was double parked."
"I know," Nathan said.
"Was my signature forged, or left blank?" she asked.
"Blank," he said. "That is why Daniel flagged it. Someone tried to route it as if a signature was coming."
"He saw Ashford Capital as administrator, and you as beneficiary," Nathan said. "And Chase called himself senior vice president, the title no one can verify."
Olivia walked to the window. Miami was sliding into evening below.
"Cancel tonight," Nathan said.
"No."
"You do not walk into a viewing with a man who tried to borrow against your trust this morning," he said. "Let me handle Chase."
"And then he tells a clean story," she said. "Daniel misread a draft. It was exploratory. He meant to tell me after the viewing, once he had secured the car as a surprise."
"You think he was buying the car with it," Nathan said.
"He has talked for two weeks about making a statement tonight," she said. "Two point eight against a three million dollar prototype. The numbers are close enough to make me sick."
"Then stay home."
"If I stay home, I get a phone call and a performance," she said. "I have had two years of performances. The fumbled names. The mail that goes somewhere else. This week I catalogued every small thing that did not fit, and I promised myself I would watch him tonight with clear eyes. I meant it before I knew this."
"Watching is not a strategy," he said.
"It is tonight," she said. "If I go, if I smile, if I stand beside him in that room, I will see what he does when no one is warning him. I need to see his face when the room tells the truth."
"What truth?" he asked. "That room is full of salesmen and champagne."
"Then I will watch the salesmen too," she said. "Who he defers to. Who he avoids. This afternoon I stood at the heritage wall admiring the founder sketches, and I felt an unexpected kinship with whoever built that company. She built it by looking closely. I can look closely."
"You are not going alone," Nathan said.
"Come, then," she said. "Stand where you want. But do not swoop in, do not confront him in the lobby, and do not speak for me if this breaks open."
"You are my sister before you are his girlfriend."
"Then trust me like your sister," she said. "Not like something fragile you have to carry out of a building."
He was silent longer this time. "Daniel could be wrong," he said, more gently.
"He could be," she said. "That is why I am asking about stamps and lines instead of screaming. If he is wrong, tonight is just a viewing. If he is right, Chase will show me the rest himself. Men like that cannot resist a room."
"You sound very calm," Nathan said.
"I feel very calm," she said, and discovered it was almost true. Under the calm was something colder and cleaner than anger.
She set the phone on speaker and crossed to the chair where two dresses waited, black and deep green. The black was elegant and expected. The green was sharper, the color of a bottle held up to light. She lifted the green one and held it against herself in the mirror. Her face looked pale and entirely composed.
"You are choosing a dress while I say this," Nathan said, hearing the rustle.
"I am choosing armor," she said. "There is a difference."
She zipped it slowly, checking the mirror one last time.
"Nathan," she said. "If it is true, I will end it myself."