Chapter 6: What Richard Confessed
Ethan found a reason to step outside just after ten o'clock — a phone call, he told Vanessa, from his attorney in Chicago.
She watched him go with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
He called Richard from the burner phone, standing at the far end of the garden near the iron gate where the catering trucks had parked.
I stood close enough to hear both sides.
Richard picked up on the first ring.
"You found the camera," he said.
No greeting.
No pretense.
"Yes," Ethan said.
"Talk to me, Richard."
A long pause.
The sound of a door closing on Richard's end.
"I met Vanessa fourteen months ago," Richard said.
"At a conference in Atlanta.
She approached me.
I thought it was social.
She was — she's very good at making things seem accidental."
"What did she want?"
"Information.
Not immediately.
She was patient.
We had dinner twice.
She asked questions about the company, about you, about the acquisition pipeline.
I answered because I thought she was just — I thought she was curious.
I didn't know who she was working for yet."
"When did you find out?"
"Seven months ago.
Warren Pryce called me directly.
He told me that Vanessa had been reporting our conversations to him for months.
He told me that if I went to you, he would send you everything — every dinner, every conversation, everything that would make it look like I was the one who had been feeding them information deliberately."
Ethan's hand tightened around the phone.
"So you stayed quiet."
"I stayed quiet." Richard's voice was rough.
"I'm not proud of it, Ethan.
I told myself I'd find a way out.
I told myself it would collapse on its own.
And then six months ago you asked me directly if I'd ever met her and I—" He stopped.
"You lied to my face."
"Yes."
The garden was very still.
Somewhere inside the house, music was still playing.
"The message tonight," Ethan said.
"Why send it now?"
"Because Pryce called me this afternoon.
He told me the timeline had moved up.
He said after tonight, they wouldn't need me anymore.
He said—" Another pause.
"He said the situation was going to resolve itself very cleanly."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know exactly.
But the way he said it—" Richard's voice dropped.
"Ethan, I think they're planning to move against you tonight.
Not tomorrow.
Tonight."
Ethan looked at me.
I was already thinking about the board members Vanessa had been meeting.
About David Marsh and the clause in the bylaws.
About the phrase *we already have what we need.*
"Richard," I said, stepping closer to the phone.
"This is Ethan's mother.
I need you to answer one question."
A brief silence.
"Mrs.
Carter," Richard said carefully.
"The two board members Vanessa has been meeting with.
Do you know their names?"
A pause.
"Holloway and Brennan."
"Did Pryce mention either of them tonight?"
The pause this time was longer.
"He mentioned Holloway," Richard said slowly.
"He said Holloway had already signed something.
I assumed it was a consulting agreement.
But now—"
"It wasn't a consulting agreement," I said.
"It was a board resolution.
A preliminary vote of no-confidence, pre-signed and dated for filing.
All they need is one more signature to reach the threshold."
"Brennan," Ethan said.
"Yes."
"Brennan is here tonight." Ethan turned toward the house.
"He's been here all evening.
I thought he came as a guest."
"He didn't come as a guest," I said.
Ethan was already moving toward the door.
"Richard," I said into the phone.
"Are you willing to put what you just told us in writing?"
Another long silence.
"If I do that," Richard said, "Pryce will release everything he has on me."
"Yes.
He will.
And it will be damaging.
But it will be significantly less damaging than what happens to you if this succeeds and your name is attached to the outcome." I kept my voice even.
"You have one window to be the person who came forward.
After tonight, that window closes."
The music inside the house stopped.
In the sudden quiet, I could hear the sound of voices shifting — the particular change in tone that happens when something unexpected occurs in a room full of people.
"Richard," I said.
"I need your answer now."
"Yes," he said.
"I'll put it in writing."
"Good.
Don't call anyone else tonight.
Don't speak to Pryce.
Stay where you are and wait for my attorney to contact you."
I ended the call and looked at Ethan.
"Brennan," he said.
"Go find him.
Don't confront him.
Just keep him in conversation.
Keep him in the room."
"And Vanessa?"
The sliding doors opened from inside.
Vanessa stepped onto the patio.
She was looking directly at us across the dark garden, and even at this distance, in this light, I could see that her expression had changed.
May you like
The performance was gone.
"I'll handle Vanessa," I said.
