Chapter 8 - The House in Charlotte’s Name
The transfer had happened eleven months earlier.
Gavin had signed the paperwork.
He claimed he did not remember doing it.
I believed him.
Not because I trusted him.
Because by then I understood how Mason operated.
He buried dangerous documents inside stacks of ordinary ones.
Board consents.
Tax authorizations.
Subsidiary approvals.
Banking resolutions.
Gavin signed dozens every month.
Northline Holdings had been presented to him as a real estate liability vehicle.
He never asked why Charlotte owned it.
He never asked why our house was transferred into it.
He never asked anything.
That negligence did not absolve him.
But it explained how deep Mason’s control had become.
Nathan obtained a temporary order blocking the sale or transfer of the property.
Gavin called within twenty minutes.
“You froze my house.”
“Our house.”
“It isn’t yours.”
“Then whose is it?”
He said nothing.
I continued.
“Charlotte’s?”
Another silence.
“That was Mason.”
“You signed it.”
“I didn’t know what I was signing.”
The irony hung between us.
Neither of us mentioned it.
We did not need to.
Finally I asked, “How does it feel?”
“Sabrina.”
“To learn that somebody put papers in front of you, hid what they really meant, and expected your signature to settle everything?”
He exhaled slowly.
“I deserve that.”
“Yes.”
His voice became quieter.
“I found something.”
I waited.
“Charlotte contacted me.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“From where?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did she want?”
“Money.”
That did not surprise me.
“How much?”
“Twenty-five million.”
I sat straighter.
“For what?”
“The laptop.”
“What’s on it?”
“She says proof Mason has been moving money out of SwiftFreight for years.”
“Why would she have that?”
“She claims she kept copies because she didn’t trust him.”
“And you believe her?”
“No.”
That answer surprised me.
“Good.”
“She also said something about you.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“What?”
“That Mason needed you out before Crestview closed.”
The room seemed to become smaller.
“Why?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
“When did Mason first know Crestview had contacted me?”
Gavin hesitated.
“I told him months ago.”
Of course he had.
Elaine had interviewed me informally as part of founder character diligence.
I had assumed those conversations were private.
Gavin apparently mentioned them to Mason.
“What exactly did you tell him?”
“That Elaine respected you.”
My eyes closed.
“What else?”
“That you had concerns about his accounting controls.”
There it was.
Mason knew I was a risk.
Not because I wanted Gavin’s money.
Because I might notice his.
The scratches on Charlotte’s car suddenly looked different.
The divorce timing looked different.
The second agreement looked different.
Even Gavin’s violence had been useful to them.
Mason had needed me frightened.
Charlotte had needed me discredited.
And Gavin had been arrogant enough to become their weapon.
I called Elaine.
May you like
She answered immediately.
“I think the divorce was part of the fraud.”
