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“What? Did you ever find out what it was about?”
“Something about them attempting to scam a business out of money. They were good at covering their tracks, so that there wasn’t ever proof, but people at the local paper always suspected them of something.”
“How many businesses did they scam?”
“Oh god, I have no clue. Too many to count probably, but they never really discussed that with me.”
“Wow. I’m sorry you had to go through all that at such a young age.”
I was shocked she shared so much with me, and with such ease. She hadn’t even hesitated before incriminating her family in front of me. I briefly wondered how much she trusted me, if I should ask about her real ownership of Dudley’s property, and why she had lied to me.
“I just spent most of my time away from them,” she continued. “I had a few distant relatives that also despised my family. Sometimes they’d take me in for a few weeks when I just couldn't take it anymore.”
“That was nice of them.”
“Come to think of it. I do remember one of their scandals. It involved an up and coming business. The company was featured in Forbes. I remember because I found the magazine all marked up in the kitchen one day. I asked my parents about it and they had told me it was just some venture my uncle had taken up.”
“Wait, when was this?”
“I was probably like nine, so twenty-ish years ago.”
“That would have been right around the time TruFruit was first featured in Forbes. You don’t think…”
Helen’s face tightened as she tried to think back.
“That has to be a coincidence…” she trailed off.
“But if it wasn’t,” I continued, putting the pieces together. “Then the uncle they were talking about could have been Dudley, right?”
“It couldn't ha—”
“I told you my father had considered Washington Industries to be our investors, but never followed through. He hired Dudley though. Maybe your family wanted revenge.”
“Oh my god. My family tried to scam TruFruit!”
“What if that’s why my father fired Dudley? It would make sense. His family tried to steal from us, so my father could no longer trust him.”
“Jesus.”
We had stopped walking now. Helen was looking straight ahead, but was not entirely present. The gears in her head were working on overdrive, trying to solve the riddle that was the connection between our families.
“I’ll do some more digging when I get home,” I told her. “I’ll try to find some evidence in our financial records. My lawyer might be able to find something too now that I have a clear direction to steer him in.”
“I’ll do more digging around Dudley’s too.”
We walked the rest of the way home in almost complete silence, both of us too stunned and confused to speak. At one point, Helen wasn’t looking where she stepped and she tripped over an exposed tree root. I caught her before she fell, bracing her arms tight.
“Careful there. We’re almost back and with no injuries.”
“Thanks,” she breathed out.
That brief touch gave me the courage to come out and ask her about her deception. We were building newfound trust and I didn’t want to be weighed down by any doubts.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“I mentioned my lawyer earlier. He’s my best friend, Charlie. He helped me with my divorce settlement and he helps me with my business sometimes. Anyway, he’s been trying to help me acquire Dudley’s property ever since I took over the business, but your arrival complicated things as you know.”
