Chapter 5 - Margaret Hartman Speaks
Margaret Hartman looked twenty years older than she had at our wedding.
Yesterday she had worn an elegant silver dress and smiled for photographs beside her husband.
Now she sat inside a private interview room at the Nassau port wearing dark slacks, a loose blouse, and sunglasses despite being indoors.
When she removed them, I understood why.
There was a faint yellow mark beneath her left eye.
Not fresh.
Not obvious.
But familiar enough that I knew what I was seeing.
Margaret noticed me looking.
She touched the bruise automatically.
Then dropped her hand.
“I walked into a cabinet,” she said.
Neither of us believed her.
I sat across from her.
“Why are you here?”
She glanced toward the door.
Captain Warren and a local investigator waited outside.
Margaret had insisted on speaking to me first.
“I heard what Gregory did.”
“Walter told you?”
“No.”
Her mouth trembled.
“I heard Walter shouting at his attorney.”
I said nothing.
Margaret looked at my wedding ring.
“I should have warned you.”
“Yes.”
The answer came out harder than I intended.
But I did not take it back.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
“You stood at our wedding yesterday.”
“I know.”
“You watched your husband give Gregory that speech about wives letting husbands lead.”
“I know.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I know.”
Her voice cracked on the last word.
For a moment I saw not Gregory’s mother.
Not Walter’s wife.
Just a frightened woman who had spent years becoming smaller.
But compassion did not erase responsibility.
“Tell me what the plan was.”
Margaret looked toward the door again.
“I don’t know everything.”
“Tell me what you know.”
She folded her hands.
“When Gregory told Walter he wanted to marry you, Walter was pleased.”
“Why?”
“Your company.”
I already knew that answer.
Still, hearing it hurt.
“Gregory told me he loved me.”
“I think part of him believed he did.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
“No.”
She swallowed.
“Walter researched Mercer Strategic almost immediately.”
“How?”
“He had people prepare reports.”
“Financial?”
“Everything.”
“Your contracts.”
“Your clients.”
“Your investments.”
“Your property.”
“Your military record.”
I felt my jaw tighten.
“Walter knew exactly what I did in the Marines.”
“Yes.”
“Gregory didn’t.”
Margaret shook her head.
“Walter told him your service background was mostly administrative.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“I think Walter wanted Gregory confident.”
That was disturbing.
Gregory’s father had intentionally hidden information from his own son.
He had sent Gregory into that cabin believing I was easier to overpower than I actually was.
“Did Walter know about the bat?”
Margaret looked down.
“Yes.”
“Did he give it to Gregory?”
“Yes.”
The room became very quiet.
“At the wedding?”
“The night before.”
I leaned back.
Margaret continued.
“Walter called it a family tradition.”
I felt sick.
“What tradition?”
She looked directly at me.
“The first lesson.”
Those three words carried decades of history.
“What did Walter do to you?”
Margaret’s face collapsed.
She pressed one hand against her mouth.
I immediately regretted asking it so directly.
But she answered.
“On our honeymoon, he locked our hotel room.”
I felt cold.
“He had a leather belt.”
I said nothing.
“He told me his father had done the same thing to his mother.”
The pattern stretched backward.
Father to son.
Fear to obedience.
Violence disguised as tradition.
“And Gregory knew this story?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Since he was sixteen.”
I closed my eyes.
Gregory had not accidentally repeated his father’s behavior.
He had studied it.
Inherited it.
Chosen it.
Margaret leaned closer.
“Ashlynn, the documents matter more than the bat.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head urgently.
“You don’t.”
“What am I missing?”
“Walter doesn’t only want your company.”
My attention sharpened.
“What else?”
“He wants access to your client files.”
I stared at her.
Mercer Strategic Group advised corporations during mergers, restructurings, acquisitions, and sensitive executive transitions.
Our client files contained confidential financial projections.
Private negotiations.
Unannounced deals.
Information that could move markets if misused.
“That would be illegal.”
Margaret gave me a sad look.
“Walter has never been frightened of illegal.”
My pulse increased.
“Why does he want them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
She shook her head.
“I heard one conversation.”
“What conversation?”
“Walter and Gregory.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“What did they say?”
Margaret lowered her voice.
“Walter said there were three clients in your system worth more than your entire company.”
My mouth went dry.
“He said if Gregory could get administrative access, Hartman Holdings would never have to worry about money again.”
I stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
This was not only coercion.
It might be corporate espionage.
Insider trading.
Theft.
Potentially crimes involving companies that had trusted me.
I reached for my phone.
Margaret caught my wrist.
Very gently.
“Wait.”
I looked down at her hand.
She released me immediately.
“There’s more.”
I sat again.
Margaret’s eyes filled with fear.
“When Walter realized security had separated you from Gregory, he made another call.”
“To whom?”
“I only heard the first name.”
“What name?”
“Calvin.”
My stomach dropped.
I knew a Calvin.
Calvin Reese.
My company’s chief technology officer.
A man who had worked beside me for five years.
A man who had access to every system Gregory wanted.
Margaret whispered the next words.
“Walter told him to finish what they started.”
May you like
For the first time, Gregory’s betrayal was no longer the thing that hurt most.
Because Gregory might not have been the only person close to me who had sold me out.
