Chapter 8: What Diane Found
Marcus called at 7:14 a.m.
on the second morning.
"The subpoena was executed yesterday afternoon.
We have Gordon's firm records, including the original signed document from two years ago." A pause.
"Rachel, the document you signed was a durable financial power of attorney covering four accounts, not a rebalancing authorization.
It was mislabeled on the cover page.
Deliberately."
"That's fraud."
"That's fraud," he confirmed.
"Gordon prepared the document.
Daniel presented it.
Both of them are named in the referral I filed this morning with the U.S.
Attorney's office."
I was sitting at Natalie's kitchen table.
She was standing at the stove with her back to me, but I saw her go still.
"What happens now?" I asked.
"Federal investigators take it from here.
My involvement shifts to supporting your civil case.
But Rachel — it's out of our hands now in the best possible way."
After I hung up, Natalie turned around.
"Federal?" she said.
"Federal."
She turned back to the stove.
After a moment she said, quietly, "Good."
I called Marcus back an hour later.
"Diane Pryce," I said.
"Can I call her now?"
"Yes.
But I'd like you to do it with me on the line if she's willing."
We called her together that afternoon.
Diane Pryce was fifty-one years old and had been married to Gordon for twenty-two years.
Her voice on the phone was the voice of someone who had been holding something very heavy for a long time and was finally setting it down.
"I found the files eight days ago," she said.
"Gordon keeps a secondary laptop in his home office.
He doesn't know I know the password." A pause.
"There are client files on it.
Dozens of them.
Not just yours."
Marcus leaned forward.
I could hear it in his voice.
"Mrs.
Pryce, what kind of files?"
"Transfers.
Holding accounts.
The same structure, repeated across multiple clients.
Different names, different amounts, but the same pattern." Her voice steadied.
"My husband has been doing this for years.
You and your husband weren't the only ones."
The room felt very quiet.
"Diane," I said.
"Are you safe?"
A pause.
"Gordon doesn't know I found anything.
He thinks everything is fine between us." Another pause.
"It isn't."
"I want you to talk to Marcus directly," I said.
"He can tell you what your options are.
What protections are available to you."
"I don't want to protect Gordon."
"I know.
I mean protections for you."
A longer pause.
When she spoke again, her voice was different.
Softer.
"I kept thinking — why would I protect him?
He built this whole thing and I had no idea.
Twenty-two years and I had no idea." She stopped.
"I'm sorry.
That's not your problem."
"It's all right," I said.
And I meant it.
After the call, Marcus was quiet for a moment.
"She's going to be a significant witness," he said.
"If those files show what she's describing, Gordon's exposure goes well beyond your case."
"What about Daniel?"
"Daniel is one thread in a larger pattern now.
Which actually helps you — it makes it harder for him to claim he was an unwitting participant.
He sought Gordon out specifically."
I thought about the trip to Portugal.
Daniel relaxed on a beach, taking photographs of me, sending them to his mother.
Already planning.
"Marcus," I said.
"How long before this becomes public?"
"Federal investigations move at their own pace.
Could be months.
But the civil case — your divorce proceedings — those move faster.
Rebecca can use the fraud referral as significant leverage."
I called Rebecca immediately after.
"Leverage," she said, and I could hear her smiling.
"Yes.
Let's talk about leverage."
That evening, I was sitting on Natalie's couch when my phone rang.
Daniel.
I let it ring.
Then a text.
*I know about the federal referral.
Rachel, please.
Call me.
This is bigger than both of us now and I need you to understand what's at stake for me.*
I read it once.
What's at stake for me.
Not for us.
Not even a pretense of us.
For me.
I set the phone face-down on the cushion.
Natalie looked over from the other end of the couch.
"Him?"
"Yes."
She reached over and turned the television on.
We watched the rest of the evening in silence, and it was the most peaceful silence I had felt in a very long time.
But just before midnight, Rebecca sent a message that made me sit up straight.
*Daniel's attorney contacted me tonight.
He's changed his position.
He's not negotiating anymore.
He says he's going to fight everything — the freeze, the fraud referral, the divorce terms.
All of it.
He's hired someone new.
A litigator named Harlan Cross.
Look him up.*
May you like
I looked him up.
Harlan Cross had never lost a high-asset divorce case.
