Chapter 11 - Rachel Baird
Rachel flew to Wichita.
No lawyers initially.
Then Samuel’s attorney insisted.
Good.
She was thirty nine.
Architect.
Not restaurant employee.
Handled family trust paperwork after her mother died.
She looked exhausted.
“I knew about Prairie Horizon.”
Samuel stared.
“You knew they were using the old covenant?”
“I knew their lawyers believed it existed.”
“Why did you not tell me?”
“Because I was considering their offer.”
Silence.
Samuel leaned back.
The betrayal was personal now.
Rachel continued.
“I thought you should sell.”
“You knew I said no.”
“You were recovering from surgery and driving two hours to check pie inventory.”
“That is my decision.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Rachel cried.
Not loudly.
“I thought the diner was killing you.”
Jenna listened only because Samuel invited staff representatives to the meeting.
Rachel had a legitimate fear.
Samuel’s heart surgery followed years of stress.
Maple Street lost money during pandemic years.
He refused to let go because it was Margaret’s diner.
Rachel saw attachment becoming danger.
Then Colin approached her.
Not with bribe.
With plan.
Prairie Horizon would buy.
Samuel could retire.
Employees receive retention packages.
Rachel could stop worrying.
She agreed to hear them.
That was why she received covenant memo.
“Did you know about employee trust?” Samuel asked.
“Yes.”
“Why was it missing from sale draft?”
Rachel looked confused.
“It was not supposed to be.”
She produced her own email.
Rachel to Colin:
Employee trust funded at closing?
Colin:
Handled separately.
Rachel:
Need confirmation before Dad sees final.
Colin:
Will do.
He never did.
Rachel assumed it would be included.
“Did you know about fake temp billing?”
“No.”
“Wage deductions?”
“No.”
“Todd hitting staff?”
“No.”
Eleanor asked:
“Did Colin ever tell you employee complaints were making the sale difficult?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That Todd had a few disgruntled servers who would be gone before due diligence.”
Jenna felt cold.
Rachel turned toward her.
“I am sorry.”
“Did you ask why they were disgruntled?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Rachel had no good answer.
Because she wanted the sale.
Again.
Outcome first.
Questions later.
Then another issue.
Colin used Rachel’s support when talking to Samuel’s attorney.
He wrote:
Family is aligned except Samuel’s emotional resistance.
Rachel did not authorize that wording.
But she had provided enough encouragement for him to weaponize.
Samuel looked at his daughter.
“You thought I was irrational.”
“I thought you were grieving.”
“I am.”
“I thought that meant you could not see the business clearly.”
“Maybe sometimes.”
He looked at Jenna.
“Still my property.”
Rachel nodded.
“Yes.”
Their conflict remained.
No instant reconciliation.
Then Rachel reviewed Todd’s staff vote plan.
Her face turned white.
“I never saw this.”
The alternative employee trust proposal listed Rachel as family sponsor.
She had not approved it.
Her name used again.
Signature?
No signature yet.
Just draft.
Colin planned to present her as supportive.
Then Eleanor showed her Prairie Staff invoices.
Rachel recognized one name.
“Michael Trent.”
“What about him?”
“He is my contractor.”
Architectural renderer.
Never worked Maple Street.
Prairie Staff billed sixty hours of “kitchen prep” under his identity.
Identity misuse.
Rachel’s vendor files may have supplied names.
Who had access?
Colin.
She had sent him a list of contractors while discussing possible renovation after sale.
Todd’s fake temp invoices used those identities.
That tied the fraud to data Rachel unknowingly provided.
Again, not mastermind.
An information source.
Then Samuel asked:
“Did you give Colin access to the employee trust document?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
Before Todd began collecting acknowledgments.
So Colin knew exactly what staff approval was required.
He had lied about not understanding the trust.
Then Rachel produced something else.
A text from Colin.
Three months earlier:
Need 15 long term staff comfortable before we can move.
Rachel:
Comfortable with what?
Colin:
Transition benefits.
Rachel:
Talk to Dad first.
Colin:
Eventually.
She never followed up.
Another failure.
Then the current security archive revealed someone remotely accessed Maple Street’s cloud backup at 7:31 p.m., thirteen minutes after Todd slapped Jenna.
Attempt:
DELETE CURRENT SESSION.
Denied because Eleanor’s contractor had changed admin credentials.
User:
RBAIRD.
Rachel’s account.
She stared.
“I was on a plane.”
Flight records confirmed.
Could someone have her password?
“Yes.”
Colin.
She had shared temporary access months earlier during property review.
Changed afterward?
No.
Another shortcut.
The deletion attempt came from a Kansas City IP associated with Heartland corporate VPN.
Colin’s office.
May you like
He had tried to erase the new footage after Todd’s slap.
Continue to the next part: Colin used Rachel’s old credentials to try deleting Jenna’s assault footage remotely minutes after Todd realized the hard drive was gone.
