Chapter 6 - THE PRICE OF SILENCE
“He won't need Matthew either.”
Evelyn stared at Alexis.
For the first time, she realized her husband wasn't Donald Barry's partner.
He was Donald's temporary convenience.
“Does Matthew know?” Evelyn asked.
Alexis shook her head.
“I don't think he understands what my father intends.”
“Then why are you telling me?”
Alexis looked toward the closed conservatory doors.
“Because I heard my father discussing the workers. He called them an unnecessary expense.”
Her hand moved to her stomach.
“I grew up with every comfort imaginable. I never asked where the money came from.”
She looked ashamed.
“But I don't want my son growing up believing people are disposable.”
Evelyn studied her.
“You still have a choice.”
Alexis nodded.
“So do you.”
The two women stood silently for a moment.
They weren't friends.
They might never become friends.
But for the first time, they understood that Donald Barry and Matthew Harrison had been making decisions about both their lives without asking either of them.
Evelyn folded the redevelopment brochure.
“May I keep this?”
Alexis hesitated.
Then she handed it over.
“Yes.”
The following morning was Christmas Eve.
Evelyn visited Ruth Delgado again.
The warehouse office was nearly empty.
Workers had gone home early.
Ruth was sitting at her desk surrounded by records.
“I've been comparing the invoices,” she said.
“Did you find anything?”
“Enough to prove that Harborlight wasn't a real shipping expense.”
She placed several sheets in front of Evelyn.
One column showed invoices.
Another showed actual truck movements.
A third showed money transferred between accounts.
The discrepancies were unmistakable.
Evelyn traced a figure with her finger.
“Twenty-eight point six million dollars.”
Ruth nodded.
“Twenty-four point four million from the partners' unpaid distributions and another four point two million from employee reserves.”
“Does anyone else know?”
“Not the full amount.”
Ruth looked frightened.
“If Matthew loses control of the company, Donald could still try to enforce his financing agreement. Those jobs aren't automatically safe.”
Evelyn thought about the redevelopment brochure.
“Then we'll have to make sure he can't.”
Ruth shook her head.
“Evelyn, you're seven months pregnant.”
“Thirty weeks.”
“You should be resting.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“When Grace has a home where nobody can use her as a bargaining chip.”
Ruth's expression softened.
Evelyn reached across the desk.
“I need your help preserving the original records. But I won't ask you to confront Matthew.”
Ruth squeezed her hand.
“Somebody needs to tell the truth.”
That afternoon, Evelyn met Carl and Samuel in the quiet dining room of Samuel's house.
She showed them the records.
Samuel read silently.
Then he removed his glasses.
“My God.”
Carl examined the transfer provisions.
“The agreement has serious problems,” he admitted. “The shared waterfront interests couldn't properly be pledged without the informed approval required by the partnership.”
Samuel looked at him.
“You prepared this?”
Carl nodded.
“On Matthew's assurances that the partners understood the transaction.”
“And you didn't verify?”
“No.”
Samuel stared at his old friend.
“Then you've forgotten what your job was.”
Carl accepted the accusation.
“I know.”
Evelyn opened the redevelopment brochure.
“Donald plans to close the docks.”
Samuel's face darkened.
“Those employees have been with us for decades.”
“And Matthew used their reserve money to hide his losses.”
Carl began organizing the records.
“We need the other partners to understand the actual numbers before the Christmas approval.”
Samuel nodded.
“I'll speak to them.”
“Carefully,” Evelyn warned.
But Samuel hesitated.
“What is it?” she asked.
He looked uncomfortable.
“Matthew has already approached several partners privately.”
“How many?”
“Six.”
Evelyn's stomach tightened.
“About the Barry agreement?”
“He told them that approving the financing would protect their investments.”
“Did they agree?”
“They promised their support.”
Evelyn looked at Carl.
“So Matthew already believes he has enough votes.”
Carl nodded.
“But he hasn't disclosed the missing money. Their agreement was based on incomplete information.”
Evelyn understood the problem.
The men trusted Matthew because they had known him since he was a boy.
Most remembered his father.
They wouldn't easily believe he had stolen millions from them.
Especially when the accusation came from the pregnant wife he intended to replace.
By the time Evelyn returned to Oyster Bay, darkness had fallen.
Matthew was waiting in the nursery.
Her brown accounting notebook lay open on the dresser.
He had found it.
“What is this?”
Evelyn stopped.
“My records.”
“Records of my business?”
“Records of transactions I could verify.”
Matthew held up the notebook.
“You've been investigating me?”
“I've been trying to understand why people aren't receiving money they're owed.”
He slammed the notebook shut.
“Who helped you?”
Evelyn remained silent.
“Was it Carl?”
She didn't answer.
Matthew picked up the book.
“This is exactly why I didn't want you involved.”
“Because I know how to add?”
His face tightened.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
Evelyn looked directly at him.
“I think twenty-eight million dollars is a lot of money to lose without telling anyone.”
Matthew went pale.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then he walked to the fireplace.
Evelyn watched him.
“Matthew, don't.”
He opened the metal screen.
And threw her notebook into the flames.
The old brown cover curled.
Pages blackened.
Eight years of handwritten records disappeared into the fire.
Evelyn felt tears sting her eyes.
The notebook had belonged to her father.
Matthew knew that.
He looked at her.
“Now this stops.”
Evelyn stared at the burning pages.
Then she said something that made him uneasy.
“You should have asked whether that was the only copy.”
Matthew stopped smiling.
Before he could answer, Evelyn reached into her coat pocket.
There was nothing there but the small silver watch Samuel had given her.
She closed her fingers around it.
And Matthew saw the engraving when she lifted her hand.
A MAN OWNS HIS WORD.
His expression changed.
“Where did you get my father's watch?”
Evelyn met his eyes.
“From someone who still remembers what your father stood for.”
Matthew stared at the watch.
Then he said something she hadn't expected.
“You don't understand, Evelyn. If Donald doesn't get those docks, he destroys everything.”
She looked at him carefully.
“Then why are you helping him?”
May you like
Matthew's voice dropped.
“Because I already gave him something I can't get back.”
