Chapter 6 - What Rachel Wanted Me to Lie About
Rachel admitted that Northline was partly in her name.
A payment processor had terminated Trent’s previous account eighteen months earlier because of excessive refund disputes. To obtain a new one, he listed Rachel as the majority owner.
“She signed the applications?” Caroline asked.
Rachel nodded.
“Did she understand them?”
“I understood some of them.”
“Did you receive company income?”
“No.”
“Did you sign tax returns?”
“Yes.”
Caroline stopped taking notes.
Rachel was not merely the spouse of a reckless businessman. On paper, she was an owner responsible for representations made to banks, processors, and customers.
Trent had persuaded her that the arrangement was temporary. She had persuaded herself that signing documents she did not fully review was an act of marital faith.
Then she made the request that ended any softness I felt toward her.
“If the assault complaint becomes a fraud investigation, they’ll examine everything,” she said. “I need you to tell the prosecutor Trent pushed you while trying to leave.”
“He punched me.”
“I know.”
“You took my phone.”
“I panicked.”
“You lied to the police.”
“I was protecting my marriage.”
“No. You were protecting yourself.”
She covered her face.
Caroline quietly advised her that correcting a false statement sooner would be better than allowing investigators to disprove it later.
Rachel asked whether I would let her stay with me if she corrected it.
I looked at the bruise reflected in the conference-room window.
“You may obtain your own lawyer. You may tell the truth. You may enter counseling, cooperate with investigators, and leave Trent.”
Hope moved across her face.
“But you will not live in my house.”
Her expression hardened again.
“So you’ll help strangers prosecute your daughter, but you won’t give me a bedroom?”
“I gave you a house.”
Rachel stood so abruptly that the chair rolled backward.
She left with Caroline following several steps behind.
On the conference table, she had forgotten the bank envelope.
Inside was a transaction summary.
May you like
The day before Rachel and Trent came to my door, fifty-two thousand dollars had been transferred out of Northline’s account.
The receiving account belonged to Rachel alone.
