CHAPTER 5: The Contact He Forgot to Delete

Ryan stood so quickly his seat belt snapped against the leather.
"Give me that," he said.
Claire held the phone in her palm. She did not unlock it. She did not need to. The message had already done what secrets hate most: it had become visible to strangers.
Across the aisle, Daniel Parks from Northbridge Bank looked down at his tablet with sudden intensity. The board secretary stopped typing. One of the junior attorneys turned pale and pretended to check the flight map.
Claire tapped the emergency call icon on her own phone, not Ryan's.
Her screen showed a short list of names: General Counsel, Trustee Office, Flight Security, Cecilia Hart.
Brooke saw the last name and lost some of the shine in her smile.
Cecilia Hart had drafted the original Ellison Trust before Ryan married into it. She was seventy, terrifying, and loyal to signatures rather than charm.
Ryan forced a laugh. "Claire, don't embarrass yourself."
She pressed call.
"Cecilia," Claire said when the line opened. "I need you to listen from the air."