“But you love the art.” Stella’s voice softens slightly with nostalgia. “He never has.”
Caroline just nods, because maybe that’s true. Then, after a pause, she finally reveals why she came.
“I would like to be the one to expose the fraud.” Her voice is measured, deliberate. “Let me be the whistleblower here. It has to be me if the rest of the company is going to stay intact. If anything is to remain of Swanson Enterprises and Grandfather’s legacy.”
I study her, trying to decide if she actually cares about saving the company or about saving her own ass.
Stella’s sly smile suggests Caroline’s offer is exactly what she’s been waiting for, the moment she’s steered her granddaughter toward all along. Stella has been pulling strings from the start, manipulating every one of us into playing the roles she scripted.
“And what will happen to your father?” Stella presses, her tone almost playful. “He’ll put up a fight.”
Caroline doesn’t flinch. “Then we have to make sure we have enough ammunition to win.”
The certainty in her voice is more frightening than any threat.
“You’ll destroy him? You’d do that?” Stella asks, a hint of satisfaction behind the question. “He’ll lose everything. And everyone.”
Caroline’s lip curls in a sneer that makes her look suddenly older, harder. “If you want to stop the devil, you don’t lock him in a cage. You cut out his heart.”
She means it. Every word. I squeeze Lucie’s and Colette’s hands tighter.
Stella nods in pleased agreement, as though their pact is sealed. Caroline’s involvement in what we are doing here will give the whole thing a different kind of legitimacy.
And yet, why go through all this? If Stella truly needed Caroline, why not reach out to her directly from the beginning? Nothing fits cleanly. Every answer sparks another question, and I can’t tell who’s lying, who’s telling the truth, who is continuing to play whom. As if she can sense my suspicion, Stella finallycomes to the three of us, kneels before me, and winces as her brittle knees creak.
“Forgive me.” She looks me directly in the eyes. “I had my reasons for not sharing everything with the three of you. I wanted Caroline to make the choice here. I believed it was the only way we could truly trust her. And, Emma, I was afraid if I mentioned how Pascal was involved I would scare you. But I was selfish. I should have trusted all of you more.”
Her words are sincere, but it’s not enough. I stand and pull both Lucie and Colette up with me.
“We should leave.”
“No.” Lucie pulls us back down. “We’ve come this far. They owe us.” She squeezes my hand, clamps her palm on my thigh to keep me sitting with her. “I want what you promised us, Stella.”
Caroline cuts her off.
“When will the experts be here?” Her voice is all business again.
Stella turns her wrist and checks her watch. “An hour.”
Caroline doesn’t move, just glances over at Lucie.
“We don’t have much time right now, but you will be well compensated…Whatever she promised you.” She turns back to Stella before Lucie can say anything else.
“And who have you enlisted to look at these paintings?”
“Mare Lindquist, Eliza Sachs”—Stella ticks them off on her fingers—“and a woman from America who I’m not sure you know.”
Caroline tilts her head in consideration, lips pursed. “Not Henrik Blau?”
“Too cocky,” Stella snorts, folding her arms. “He’d turn himself into the star of all this.”
“Same as Pascal would have,” Caroline muses with a disdainful laugh. “We don’t have much time. Should I be here when the experts arrive or will that alarm them?” she asks her grandmother.
“I’ll leave that up to you. At this point I think they’re ready for anything.”
“I’ll stay,” Caroline decides after a moment. “Will they take the paintings with them?”
“I’m not certain. They have some equipment they will bring here, and we’ll see what they can determine with that. It could be quite obvious to them. As you know, none of the museums ever do a thorough examination of anything donated by the Swansons. The company doesn’t allow it in the contracts. And these are incredibly accurate and excellent reproductions of paintings that the family certified. But I do think mistakes have been made and once an expert eye is looking for them, they will become obvious. The problem is that no one has been looking.”
