Chapter 5 - THE BOARDROOM EXECUTION
By Monday morning, every major newspaper in the state carried Claire’s photograph.
Not Eleanor’s.
Claire’s.
FORMER BLACKWOOD WIFE RETURNS AMID FAMILY SCANDAL.
Questions Raised About Missing Foundation Funds.
Past Embezzlement Allegations Resurface.
Claire threw the newspaper onto Ethan’s kitchen table.
“They’re doing it again.”
Ethan read the headline.
The article quoted unnamed Blackwood Foundation sources.
It described Claire as unstable.
Financially desperate.
Obsessed with her estranged husband.
Not one sentence mentioned that Eleanor had been recorded putting both hands on Claire moments before the fall.
Not one sentence mentioned Peter’s abduction.
Not one sentence mentioned Richard’s recording.
Claire stared at Ethan.
“This is how she destroyed me last time.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Not this time.”
His phone rang.
Blackwood Holdings.
He answered.
His expression became colder with every word.
“What meeting?”
Claire watched him.
“When was it called?”
He looked toward the clock.
“I’m twenty minutes away.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?”
“The board called an emergency session.”
“About Eleanor?”
“No.”
“About me.”
The Blackwood Holdings headquarters occupied forty-two floors of glass and steel in downtown Chicago.
Ethan entered the boardroom at 10:06 a.m.
Claire came with him.
Every director was already seated.
At the opposite end of the table sat Eleanor.
Claire stopped.
Ethan did too.
“You said you didn’t know where she was.”
His general counsel, Marcus Reed, looked uncomfortable.
“Mrs. Blackwood arrived fifteen minutes ago.”
Eleanor smiled.
“Good morning, Ethan.”
He walked toward her.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“I own fourteen percent of this company.”
“You’re involved in an active criminal investigation.”
“So is your wife.”
Claire stared at her.
Eleanor enjoyed that reaction.
The chairman, Harold Pierce, cleared his throat.
“We’re here because the situation has become damaging.”
Ethan remained standing.
“Then remove Eleanor from the board until the investigation is complete.”
Eleanor laughed softly.
Harold shifted uncomfortably.
“The motion before us concerns you.”
Claire understood immediately.
“They’re removing you.”
Ethan looked around the table.
“How many of you knew?”
No one answered.
Harold slid a document forward.
“Temporary suspension as CEO.”
“Pending review.”
“Of what?”
“Failure to protect corporate interests.”
Ethan laughed.
“You mean failure to protect my mother.”
Eleanor crossed her hands.
“You dragged Blackwood Holdings into a personal vendetta.”
“My father may have been murdered.”
A director at the far end looked down.
Ethan saw it.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“Half of you didn’t react.”
Harold frowned.
“To what?”
“When I said my father may have been murdered.”
Ethan looked around the room.
“You already knew there were questions.”
Eleanor interrupted.
“Enough theatrics.”
Ethan turned to Claire.
“Show them.”
Claire opened her laptop.
Eleanor’s smile disappeared.
Claire connected to the wall monitor.
She displayed the old foundation transfers.
Company names.
Amounts.
Dates.
“Between 2018 and 2023, at least nineteen point seven million dollars moved through six entities connected to Blackwood Foundation projects.”
Harold leaned forward.
“What entities?”
“Three no longer exist.”
“One has a registered address that belongs to a laundromat.”
“One was incorporated by a dead man.”
“And the last is controlled through a trust in Luxembourg.”
Eleanor remained silent.
Claire continued.
“Three years ago, I was accused of stealing four point eight million dollars.”
“These are the transactions supposedly tied to me.”
She displayed the records.
“My authorization appears on all seventeen.”
“Except there is one problem.”
She zoomed in.
“I was in Seattle on the date eleven of these approvals were supposedly signed in Chicago.”
“Flight records prove it.”
Eleanor smiled.
“Electronic signatures can be used anywhere.”
Claire nodded.
“They can.”
“So I checked the authentication logs.”
Another screen appeared.
“Every signature was processed from the same device.”
She highlighted the number.
“A Blackwood Holdings executive tablet.”
Ethan looked toward IT director Samuel Cross.
“Whose?”
Samuel swallowed.
“It was issued to…”
He stopped.
Eleanor stared at him.
“Answer.”
Samuel looked at Ethan.
“Your mother.”
Silence.
Claire watched Eleanor.
Eleanor did not react.
“That tablet was frequently used by assistants.”
Claire smiled.
“I expected you to say that.”
She displayed another record.
“Fingerprint authentication was required.”
Eleanor’s face finally changed.
Harold stood.
“Eleanor?”
She did not answer.
Then the boardroom doors opened.
Mara entered with two federal agents.
Eleanor looked almost amused.
“Detective.”
Mara held up a warrant.
“We’re seizing financial records.”
Harold looked horrified.
“This is a private board meeting.”
“Not anymore.”
Agents moved toward the cabinets.
Eleanor stood.
“I want my attorney.”
“You’ll have one.”
Mara looked at Ethan.
“And you need to know something.”
Ethan crossed the room.
“What?”
“We found the vehicle used to abduct Peter.”
“Who owns it?”
“A shell company.”
Claire almost laughed.
“Of course.”
Mara looked at Eleanor.
“The shell company has the same registered agent as one of Claire’s fraudulent foundation accounts.”
Eleanor’s expression hardened.
“That proves Claire arranged her own witness kidnapping.”
Mara nodded slowly.
“That would be convenient.”
Eleanor smiled.
“Because it’s true.”
Mara continued.
“Except the vehicle was purchased fourteen months after Claire disappeared.”
Eleanor stopped smiling.
“And the purchase was authorized using your executive tablet.”
The boardroom erupted.
Eleanor’s attorney rushed toward her.
“Don’t say anything.”
Ethan stared at his mother.
“Did you have Peter taken?”
“No.”
“Did you push Claire?”
“No.”
“Did you steal from the foundation?”
“No.”
“Did you help Julian hide what happened to Dad?”
Her eyes flickered.
That was the only answer Ethan needed.
He stepped closer.
“Where is Julian?”
Eleanor whispered.
“You really have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Then tell me.”
“You think Claire returned because she loves you?”
Claire stiffened.
Ethan’s face hardened.
“Don’t.”
“She returned because Richard gave her something.”
Claire stared at Eleanor.
Eleanor continued.
“Something worth far more than twenty million dollars.”
Harold looked confused.
“What are you talking about?”
Eleanor smiled.
“The original Blackwood Trust.”
Ethan frowned.
“There is no original trust.”
“Oh, Ethan.”
“There is.”
“And your father changed it six days before he died.”
Ethan felt the room tilt.
“Changed what?”
Eleanor looked directly at Claire.
“He gave controlling authority over this company…”
“…to her.”
Every director turned toward Claire.
Claire looked shocked.
“I didn’t know.”
Eleanor laughed.
“Of course you knew.”
“I didn’t.”
“You expect everyone to believe Richard secretly gave you control of a multibillion-dollar company and never told you?”
Claire looked at Ethan.
“I swear.”
Eleanor walked slowly around the table.
“That is why she came back.”
“Not justice.”
“Not your father.”
“You.”
Ethan remained silent.
Eleanor saw the hesitation.
She smiled.
Claire saw it too.
And it hurt.
“Don’t do this again.”
Ethan looked at her.
“I’m not.”
“You hesitated.”
“For one second.”
“That was all it took last time.”
Claire closed her laptop.
She turned toward Mara.
“I’m done here.”
Ethan followed.
“Claire.”
She kept walking.
Then one of the federal agents spoke.
“Ms. Blackwood.”
Claire stopped.
“We found something in the archive.”
He held an old sealed envelope.
Richard Blackwood’s signature was across the flap.
“For Ethan Blackwood only.”
Ethan took it.
Eleanor’s face drained of color.
He broke the seal.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
And a copy of a legal document.
Ethan read the first sentence.
Then he looked at Claire.
“What?”
His voice shook.
“My father knew you were innocent.”
Claire stopped breathing.
Ethan continued reading.
And then his face changed completely.
“What else?”
He looked at his mother.
“He knew exactly who framed you.”
Eleanor stepped backward.
May you like
Ethan lifted the letter.
“And he wrote down the name.”
