Chapter 15 - Echoes of Holloway
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Officer Torres carefully lifted the titanium cylinder from the frozen earth and placed it on a flat wooden bench inside the cemetery chapel.
Using specialized tools from her police vehicle, she broke the pressurized rubber seal and opened the cylinder.
Inside were several yellowed corporate ledgers, original paper stock certificates, and a small, vintage micro-cassette tape wrapped in sealed plastic.
“That’s my father’s dictation tape,” Caleb said softly, pointing to the cassette. “He recorded it forty-eight hours before the crash.”
Officer Torres produced a portable digital recorder with an adapter and inserted the tape.
A moment later, the quiet chapel was filled with the static-heavy voice of a man I hadn't heard in twenty-five years.
My father. Andrew Rowan.
“If anyone is listening to this recording,” my father’s voice rang out, clear and steady despite the background hiss, “it means I have failed to protect my family. The illegal transfer of Northstar’s tracking software to international buyers was not orchestrated by Jonathan Mercer or my son Caleb. It was facilitated by our legal counsel.”
I held my breath, clutching my pregnant belly tightly.
“The primary architect of the shell accounts and forged board authorizations,” my father’s recorded voice continued, “was Warren Holloway, senior partner at Holloway, Trent & Pierce.”
A collective gasp echoed through the chapel.
Warren Holloway.
Grant’s father.
My mind reeled as the terrifying, grotesque truth shattered my reality completely.
Grant hadn't just married me for a random inheritance. His family had been tied to the destruction of mine twenty-five years ago.
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“Oh my God...” I whispered, the air leaving my lungs. “Grant knew. He knew everything.”
“He didn't just know, Natalie,” Caleb said, his eyes burning with cold rage. “Grant’s father left behind massive debts when he died four years ago. Grant hired a private investigator to track me down six months ago. He was desperate to find out if the original Northstar ledgers still existed... because if those ledgers came to light, his family’s entire fortune would be seized by federal prosecutors!”
