Chapter 9 - The Offer That Wasn’t Protection
Rebecca didn’t ask us to forgive her. She asked if we would stay close while she met Eric.
“Close enough that I can see you,” she said. “Far enough that he can’t say you came to intimidate him.”
Daniel looked at her for a long moment. “You’re the one who asked him to meet.”
“I know.”
“And you’re going to tell him what you want.”
“Yes.”
He didn’t say he trusted her. He didn’t say he didn’t. He only nodded once, as if leaving the choice with her cost him something.
We met Eric in the lounge of a hotel near the river. Rebecca had picked the place and the table: tucked behind a carved wooden screen, but with a clear view of the entrance. Daniel and I sat two tables away. The room was warm, all brass lamps and dark wood, but every time the door opened, winter air crept across the floor.
Eric arrived five minutes late. He glanced at us before sitting down across from Rebecca.
She didn’t offer him coffee.
“Tell me why Northline was on the transfer schedule,” she said.
Eric placed his gloves beside the water glass. “It was a contingency.”
“A contingency that sent Daniel’s clients and equipment to a company you own.”
“Some of the assets were at risk. I was trying to keep the business alive.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me Northline was yours?”
His gaze settled on her. “Because you weren’t involved in the business.”
“You involved me when you asked me to help build a custody case.”
Daniel’s shoulders tightened. I felt the movement beside me, but he kept his hands flat on the table.
Eric lowered his voice. “You told me what Daniel was doing. I didn’t ask you to lie.”
“You asked me to make it persuasive.”
“Was it untrue?”
Rebecca went still. For a second, I thought she might look toward us. She didn’t.
“That’s not what I asked.”
“It’s the answer you’re going to have to live with.”
A server passed between the tables carrying a tray of drinks. Eric waited until she was gone, then leaned toward Rebecca.
“You’re angry because you don’t like how it looks now. That doesn’t mean I did anything wrong.”
“I kept a copy of the schedule.”
That got his attention. His fingers stopped beside the glass.
“You kept what?”
“The transfer schedule.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
The word came out quiet, but it landed hard enough that Eric sat back.
“You don’t know what you’re holding,” he said.
“Then explain it.”
“It was a working document. Dates shifted. Names changed. You know that.”
“I know Northline is yours.”
Eric’s expression barely moved. “You know that now.”
“Was it yours when you gave me the schedule?”
“Does it matter?”
“It matters if you hid where the assets were going.”
He glanced once toward the wooden screen. Toward us. Daniel didn’t move. I could feel his anger in the small, deliberate stillness of him.
Eric turned back to Rebecca. “You want to be careful here. If you start changing your story, I’ll have to explain why.”
“I’m not changing what happened.”
“You told me he was unstable. You asked me to make your examples persuasive. You described the argument in front of Caleb.”
Rebecca’s mouth tightened. “I remember what I said.”
“Good. Because I kept it all.”
“I’m not denying my part.”
“You should be more concerned about the part you haven’t admitted yet.”
For the first time, her voice shook. “Is that a threat?”
“It’s protection,” Eric said. “I’m trying to keep you from making this worse for yourself.”
“That’s what you called the schedule, too?”
The lounge seemed to shrink around their table. A spoon clicked against china somewhere behind us. Daniel’s hand curled once, then opened.
Eric’s voice sharpened. “You can repeat what you told me, or you can stand beside Daniel and let everyone hear what you did to help him.”
“I did help you.”
“You helped yourself.”
“I was afraid of him,” she said. “I’m not going to pretend that wasn’t true. But you don’t get to use my fear to hide what you did.”
Eric’s eyes went cold. “You think anyone will care about the distinction?”
“I care.”
“That won’t protect you.”
Rebecca pushed her chair back. She didn’t stand yet. “I’m not asking you to protect me.”
“You will be.”
“No,” she said. “I won’t.”
For a moment neither of them moved. Then Eric picked up his gloves and stood.
“If you want to make this public, be prepared to hear the whole story.”
“I am.”
He looked past her again, directly at Daniel this time. “Are you?”
Daniel rose. I put a hand against his wrist—not to hold him down, just to give him a beat to choose. He looked at me, then at Eric.
“You don’t get to ask me that,” he said.
Eric gave a small, dismissive smile and walked out.
Rebecca remained at the table, staring at the water she hadn’t touched. Neither Daniel nor I spoke until she came over.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“For what?” Daniel asked. His voice wasn’t loud. That made the question harder to answer.
“For bringing you into it again.”
“You didn’t bring me into it. I was already there.”
She nodded, accepting the correction. Then she drew a folded sheet of paper from inside her coat and gave it to him.
“I kept a copy. I don’t know if it’s the first version or the final one. I can’t prove when I saw the destination name. I can only tell you when I found this.”
Daniel unfolded it. Several lines of dates and equipment descriptions ran down the page. Northline Asset Services appeared in a column near the bottom.
“Why keep it?” I asked.
Rebecca looked at the page, not at me. “Because Eric kept telling me there was nothing to worry about. I wanted to be able to see what he meant by that.”
Daniel read the sheet again. “And now?”
“Now I don’t know how to prove what I knew, or when.” She looked up at him. “I’m not going to ask you to believe more than I can show you.”
He folded the copy carefully and slipped it into the battered envelope. He didn’t offer her forgiveness. She didn’t ask for it.
Outside, the cold hit like a door thrown open. Rebecca stopped beneath the hotel awning while Daniel checked his phone. His face changed as he read the message.
“What is it?” I asked.
He turned the screen toward me.
May you like
The message was from Eric.
By morning, the custody court will hear a new version of the old threat.
