The Murderer They Brought Home

Chapter 3 The Foundation

The Ashford Foundation had its offices downtown, in a building made of glass and steel that reflected the harbor. I'd never been inside a building like that. I stood in the lobby for a minute, just looking.

Then I went up to the twentieth floor.

The receptionist was expecting me. "Ms. Ashford, Mr. Ashford is ready for you."

She led me down a hall to Henry's office. It was bigger than the bedroom I'd been given, with floor-to-ceiling windows and a view of the water.

"Delia." He waved me in. "Sit."

I sat. He pushed a folder across the desk.

"The foundation has an internship program. Your father thought it would be good for you to participate. Learn how the family does business."

I opened the folder. Marketing. Events. Research. A list of responsibilities.

"I don't have experience with any of this," I said.

"You'll learn."

I looked at him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Giving me a chance. You don't trust me. You had me investigated. You threatened me in this very office." I leaned back in my chair. "So why?"

He was quiet for a moment. Then he spoke.

"Because you're my sister. And because I know what it's like to be an outsider in this family."

I frowned. "You're a Ashford. You've been one your whole life."

"Blood doesn't make you family. Ask anyone who's married into it." He leaned forward. "I've spent my whole life trying to earn my place. To prove I'm worthy. And I see the same thing in you."

"You don't know me."

"I know enough." He folded his hands on the desk. "I know you've been through things I can't imagine. I know you've had to fight for everything you have. And I know you're not here because you want to be."

I didn't say anything.

"But I also know this: if you want to be a part of this family, if you want the trust and the money and the future it represents, you have to prove you're willing to work for it. That's what this is." He tapped the folder. "An opportunity."

I looked at the folder. Then at him.

"And if I don't take it?"

"Then you can leave. The trust stays frozen. You go back to whatever life you had before." He shrugged. "Your choice."

I thought about the life I'd had before. The group homes. The jobs I'd done to survive. The future that awaited me if I walked away: nothing. No family, no money, no hope.

"I'll take it," I said.

"Good." He stood up. "You start tomorrow. Nine sharp."

I nodded and left.

In the elevator, I thought about what he'd said. You're my sister. I know what it's like to be an outsider. It's what I would have said, if I were trying to manipulate someone.

But maybe he meant it.

I didn't know. I didn't know anything about these people, not really. I knew what I'd read in files and what I'd seen in the house. I knew the surface. The facade.

But underneath, who were they? What were they hiding?

I was going to find out.

The internship was boring. Marketing reports. Spreadsheet updates. Meetings where I sat in the back and took notes.

But I listened. I learned.

I learned that the foundation was in trouble. Donations were down. There was a scandal brewing, something about a grant that had been mishandled. Henry was dealing with it, but I could see the strain.

I learned that Eleanor was involved, too. She had a role in the foundation, something vague to do with fundraising. But she never came to the office. She worked from home, in her room, with her blanket and her tea.

I learned that the family had secrets. Old ones, buried deep. A cousin who'd been cut off. A scandal that had been swept under the rug. A will that had been contested.

And I learned that Henry was at the center of all of it.

He was the fixer. The one who cleaned up messes. The one who made problems go away. Everyone depended on him, and he carried that weight like a cross.

It made me think.

He wasn't just the protective older brother. He was the one holding the whole family together. If something happened to him, the whole thing would fall apart.

I filed that away and kept watching.

A week into the internship, I found the first c***k.

It was late. Most of the office had gone home. I was still there, finishing a report, when I heard voices through the wall.

Henry's office. He was on the phone.

"I don't care what it takes. Fix it." A pause. "I know. I know. But we can't have this coming out. Not now."

Another pause.

"Eleanor can't know. Promise me. She can't know."

I sat very still, listening.

"I'll handle it. Just give me time."

The line went dead. Then footsteps. I grabbed my papers and headed for the elevator, like I'd been leaving anyway.

Henry came out of his office just as the doors closed. He looked at me. I looked at him.

"Late night," I said.

"Delia." His voice was calm. "How much did you hear?"

"Nothing. I was leaving."

He stared at me. I stared back.

"Good," he said.

The elevator doors closed.

I went home and lay in bed and thought about what I'd heard.

Fix it. Can't have this coming out. Eleanor can't know.

So Henry was hiding something. Something big. Something that would hurt Eleanor, or the family, or both.

I could use this. Maybe. If I needed leverage.

Or I could do nothing. Keep my head down. Take the money and run.

I fell asleep trying to decide.