Chapter 9: The Attorney and the Accountant
The Vale family attorney arrived at nine fifteen.
His name was Phillip Crane.
He was sixty-two years old, silver-haired, and he carried a briefcase that cost more than Clara's first car.
He sat across from Ethan in the formal sitting room and he smiled the way men smile when they believe the meeting is a formality.
"My client is prepared to move past this unfortunate misunderstanding," Crane said.
"She understands that the evening was stressful for everyone involved, and she has no wish to make a difficult situation worse."
"That's generous of her," Ethan said.
"It is.
In that spirit, the Vale family is prepared to offer Ms.
Bennett a severance package — six months' salary, a strong reference letter, and relocation assistance — in exchange for a signed agreement that the events of last evening remain private."
Ethan looked at him.
"They want to pay Clara to be quiet," he said.
"They want to reach an amicable resolution."
"Like they did with Donna Reyes."
Crane's smile didn't move.
"I'm not familiar with that name."
"You drew up her NDA.
Eighteen months ago.
Your firm's letterhead is on the document." Ethan set a printed page on the table between them.
"My attorney received a copy this morning.
Donna Reyes has agreed to provide a full statement.
She has also agreed to speak with the Connecticut Labor Board, which my attorney contacted at eight o'clock this morning."
Crane looked at the page.
He picked it up.
He read it.
His smile was gone by the second paragraph.
"Additionally," Ethan said, "I have a sixty-one-page handwritten log documenting seven months of incidents in this house.
I have statements from four members of my household staff who witnessed multiple incidents and were too afraid to report them.
And I have a phone record showing a call made from Madison's personal cell to your office the week after Donna Reyes filed her original complaint." He paused.
"That call lasted forty minutes."
Crane set the paper down.
"Mr.
Whitmore," he said carefully.
"I would encourage you to think about what you're doing here.
The Vale family has significant relationships in this state.
Business relationships.
Civic relationships.
Relationships that have, in the past, been very beneficial to Whitmore Systems."
"Are you threatening my business?"
"I'm describing a landscape."
"I see." Ethan leaned back.
"Then let me describe one for you.
I am a cybersecurity company.
My entire business model is built on the idea that I find things people try to hide.
I have been doing this for ten years.
I am very good at it." He looked at Crane steadily.
"If the Vale family would like to make this adversarial, I will find every financial arrangement, every suppressed complaint, every payment made to every person who was ever pressured into silence.
And I will hand it to the Labor Board, the state attorney's office, and three journalists I trust." He paused.
"Or Madison leaves this house today, the engagement is ended, and we resolve this without any of that."
Crane was quiet for a long moment.
He picked up his briefcase.
"I'll need to speak with my client," he said.
"Take your time.
My attorney is in the dining room."
Crane stood.
He walked to the door, then stopped.
"The Bennett woman," he said.
"She stays?"
"She stays as long as she wants to."
Crane left.
Ethan sat alone in the sitting room for a moment.
Through the wall, he could hear the low murmur of Crane's voice in the hallway, and then Madison's voice answering — clipped, controlled, and then not controlled.
He picked up his phone and sent a message to Clara.
*Still in the north wing?*
Her reply came back in under a minute.
*Yes.
Lily is eating cereal.
She wanted to know if the quiet prince is okay.*
He looked at the message for a moment.
May you like
*Tell her the quiet prince is fine.
Tell her it's almost over.*
