Chapter 7: Gerald Makes His Move
Adrienne called me twenty minutes later.
"He reached out to you directly," she said.
"That's either confidence or panic."
"Which do you think?"
"Panic wearing a confident suit." I could hear her typing.
"He knows we have the USB drive.
He doesn't know yet how much is on it.
He's trying to find out what you know before we file."
"Do we let him think he has a chance?"
"We let him talk," she said.
"Once.
Controlled setting.
My office.
Today if possible."
Gerald arrived at Adrienne's office at two in the afternoon.
He wore a dark suit and carried a leather portfolio that he set on the conference table without opening.
He looked at me.
He looked at Adrienne.
He didn't look at Marcus, who was seated quietly in the corner with a laptop.
"I appreciate you making time," Gerald said.
"Sit down, Gerald," Adrienne said.
He sat.
"I want to be straightforward with you both," he began.
"There has been some communication between my office and a third party that may appear irregular out of context.
I think before anything is filed, we owe it to our professional relationship to discuss — "
"The handwritten draft of the guardianship clause," Adrienne said.
"The one you sent to Dorian Harlan for revisions before Claire ever saw it."
Gerald's hand moved to the portfolio.
He didn't open it.
"That was a preliminary — "
"The fourteen months of wire transfers between your personal account and Harlan Family Holdings."
His mouth closed.
"The email chain in which you referred to a six-year-old child as 'the asset.'"
The room was very quiet.
"Gerald," I said.
"What version of this works for everyone?"
He looked at me.
Something behind his eyes shifted — the confidence draining out of it, leaving something smaller underneath.
"I can give you Dorian," he said.
"Everything.
The original plan.
The share acquisition strategy.
The names of the contacts inside the estate firm.
All of it."
"We already have all of it," Adrienne said.
"Not the offshore component." He leaned forward slightly.
"There's a secondary account in the Cayman Islands.
It was set up to receive Lily's trust distributions once the guardianship review began.
Dorian doesn't know I have the account details.
I kept them as insurance."
Adrienne and I looked at each other.
"You kept evidence against your own co-conspirator," she said, "as a personal safety net."
"I kept my options open."
"Write it down," Adrienne said.
She slid a legal pad across the table.
"Account numbers.
Institution.
Every name attached to that account.
And then you're going to sit in that chair while Marcus verifies every digit before you leave this room."
Gerald picked up the pen.
His hand was shaking.
He wrote for eleven minutes without stopping.
When he finished, Marcus took the legal pad and began typing.
Gerald sat with his hands flat on the table and stared at the portfolio he had never opened.
"Gerald," I said.
"Did you know Claire?
Before she p@ssed?"
He didn't look up.
"I was her attorney too.
Before she was yours."
"Did you know what Dorian intended when you drafted that clause?"
A long pause.
"I told myself it was a civil matter," he said quietly.
"Asset management.
Estate planning with an unusual structure." He finally looked up.
"I told myself a lot of things."
Marcus looked up from the laptop.
"Account verified.
Funds are still there."
Adrienne picked up her phone and stepped out of the room.
Gerald looked at me across the empty table.
"I am sorry," he said.
"For what it's worth."
"It's worth something," I said.
"Not much.
But something."
Adrienne came back in.
"The financial crimes unit will be in contact with your attorney by end of business today," she told Gerald.
"Do not leave the city.
Do not contact Dorian Harlan.
Do not contact my client." She paused.
"And do not contact Lily."
Gerald nodded once.
He picked up his portfolio and walked out.
The door closed behind him.
"Dorian doesn't know yet," Adrienne said.
"No," I said.
"He doesn't."
"He will by tonight."
May you like
I nodded.
"Then we need to be ready."
