Chapter 3 - THE MAN LAURA TRUSTED
Richard carried Sophie upstairs himself.
Not to the master bedroom.
Never there again.
He took her to the guest suite beside his office, where sunlight spilled through wide windows overlooking the gardens.
Mrs. Kelly stayed with her.
Two armed security officers stood outside.
Only then did Richard return to the call.
“Say that again.”
Daniel Reed’s voice remained steady.
“Laura’s death was not an accident.”
Richard gripped the phone.
“You have ten seconds to tell me who you are before I hang up and give your number to the police.”
“That would actually save me a phone call. Detective Mallory already knows my name.”
Richard stopped.
The first patrol cars were turning through the gates outside.
“Who are you?”
“I was an investigator hired by your wife.”
“For what?”
“Financial fraud.”
Richard stared through the hallway window.
“What financial fraud?”
“The Sterling Foundation.”
For a moment, Richard thought he had misunderstood.
The Sterling Foundation funded pediatric medical care across three states.
Laura had chaired it for five years.
It had been her passion.
“What about it?”
“Approximately four million dollars was being redirected through St. Augustine Private Medical Center.”
Richard’s stomach tightened.
“That’s impossible.”
“I thought so too.”
“You expect me to believe millions disappeared from my own foundation without my finance department seeing it?”
“I expect you to believe sophisticated thieves know how to make theft look like administration.”
Richard paced.
“And Vanessa?”
“She worked for Kern.”
Richard stopped.
“No. Vanessa told me she met Laura through a charity committee.”
“She lied.”
Of course she had.
Daniel continued.
“Vanessa Cole was Dr. Miles Kern’s executive assistant and patient liaison for almost six years.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“How did Laura know?”
“She found billing inconsistencies. Children receiving grants from your foundation were being invoiced for procedures they never received. Some patient names were duplicated. Others were fabricated.”
“And she hired you instead of telling me?”
“She planned to tell you when she had proof.”
Anger cut through Richard’s fear.
“She was my wife.”
“Yes.”
“She should have come to me.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From doing exactly what you’re doing right now.”
Richard said nothing.
“Charging forward angry,” Daniel continued. “Calling people. Making it obvious she knew. Laura believed somebody inside your financial department was helping Kern.”
Richard’s mind immediately began sorting through names.
CFO.
Controller.
Foundation director.
Accounting staff.
Dozens of possibilities.
“How much did she know before she died?”
“Enough to scare them.”
Richard looked toward the master suite.
“Did she know Vanessa personally?”
“Yes.”
“How personally?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Richard, this part is going to hurt.”
“Everything today hurts.”
“Vanessa was assigned to Laura when Laura went to St. Augustine for treatment.”
“What treatment?”
“Migraines. Fatigue. Sleep problems.”
Richard remembered.
He had been traveling constantly that winter.
New York.
London.
Chicago.
Laura had told him doctors believed stress was causing the headaches.
He had sent flowers to her appointments.
Flowers.
As if flowers could replace being there.
“Vanessa had access to her schedules?”
“Appointments, medical files, prescriptions, physician notes. Everything.”
Richard’s eyes moved toward the medication bottle upstairs.
“She had access to drugs.”
“Yes.”
The word landed heavily.
“Do you have proof she drugged Laura?”
“No.”
Richard’s hope collapsed.
“I have reasons for suspicion,” Daniel said, “but suspicion doesn’t get a murder conviction.”
“Then why tell me it wasn’t an accident?”
“Because Laura told me somebody had been inside her car two days before she died.”
Richard went silent.
“What?”
“She found the passenger door unlocked. The seat moved. Nothing stolen.”
“Did she report it?”
“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because she was already scared you’d stop her investigation if you knew how dangerous it had become.”
Richard sat heavily on the bench near the window.
She had been right.
He would have stopped her.
He would have demanded private protection.
He would have moved Sophie.
He would have torn apart anyone who came within a mile of his family.
But he had known nothing.
“Where were you after she died?” Richard asked.
“Trying to figure out whether I was next.”
“You disappeared.”
“I did.”
“You left my daughter unprotected.”
Daniel’s voice hardened for the first time.
“I watched your house for three months.”
Richard stood.
“What?”
“Laura made me promise something.”
“What?”
“If she died before she could finish the investigation, I was to watch Sophie from a distance until I knew whether the threat was still active.”
Richard’s anger sharpened.
“You watched my child?”
“Yes.”
“Without telling me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t know who inside your household I could trust.”
Richard almost laughed.
“You thought it might be me?”
“I investigate facts, not feelings.”
“You had no right.”
“Maybe not.”
Daniel paused.
“But Vanessa never came near your family during those first months.”
Richard remembered.
He met Vanessa fourteen months after Laura’s death.
At a hospital charity gala.
She had spilled champagne on his jacket.
At least that was the story.
Daniel spoke again.
“When she appeared in your life, I tried to contact you.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I sent three registered letters.”
Richard frowned.
“I never received them.”
“I called your office eleven times.”
“Nobody told me.”
“I emailed your general counsel.”
Richard’s blood cooled.
“Who?”
“Martin Vale.”
Richard stood perfectly still.
Martin had been Sterling Industries’ general counsel for nine years.
He had helped draft Richard’s estate documents.
He had attended Sophie’s christening.
Daniel continued.
“After my third attempt, somebody broke into my apartment.”
Richard said nothing.
“They didn’t take money. They took my copies of Laura’s files.”
“Did you report it?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t the police connect it?”
“No evidence.”
Richard rubbed his forehead.
“Do you still have anything?”
Daniel was quiet.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Enough that Vanessa would kill to get it.”
A crash sounded upstairs.
Richard looked toward the staircase.
“Marcus!”
Footsteps thundered.
A security officer shouted.
Richard ran.
The master bedroom door stood open.
One window had been smashed.
Vanessa was gone.
Marcus leaned over the balcony.
“East garden!”
Richard reached the shattered glass.
Below, Vanessa was running across the lawn barefoot.
A black SUV suddenly accelerated from the service driveway.
“Who is that?” Richard demanded.
Marcus grabbed his radio.
“Stop that vehicle!”
The SUV reached Vanessa.
She yanked open the rear door.
Security vehicles moved to block the drive, but the SUV swerved across the grass, clipped a stone planter and burst through a maintenance gate.
Richard stared.
“She had help.”
Daniel’s voice came through the phone.
“What happened?”
“Vanessa escaped.”
Silence.
Then Daniel cursed.
Richard returned to the drawer.
The burner phone remained.
The photograph remained.
The medication bottle remained.
But a small velvet box he remembered seeing was gone.
So was a red phone.
“She took something.”
“The red phone?” Daniel asked instantly.
Richard’s head snapped toward the phone.
“You know about it?”
“Laura used a red prepaid phone for the investigation.”
“Why?”
“So messages couldn’t be erased through company systems.”
Richard stared at the empty drawer.
“What was on it?”
“Everything she had collected during her last month.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Vanessa now had it.
“Can she unlock it?”
“She must already know the code.”
“How?”
Daniel paused.
“Laura suspected somebody was watching her.”
Richard’s anger returned.
“Stop talking in riddles.”
“I’m not. I’m telling you Laura believed her movements were being tracked.”
“By Vanessa?”
“Possibly.”
Sirens grew louder outside.
Daniel asked, “Has Sophie told you why Vanessa was punishing her?”
“She said she hid the photograph.”
“That isn’t enough.”
Richard frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“If Vanessa already knew about the drawer, she could have destroyed the photograph years ago.”
Richard looked at it.
“Then why keep it?”
“That’s what you need to ask.”
The answer came from the doorway.
Sophie stood there.
Mrs. Kelly behind her.
Richard rushed toward her.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Sophie looked at the broken window.
“Did Vanessa leave?”
“Yes.”
Sophie’s shoulders relaxed.
That reaction hurt him more than anything else.
Daniel’s voice came through the phone.
“Is Sophie with you?”
Richard hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Don’t question her about Laura’s death.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good. Let a trained child interviewer handle anything serious.”
Richard looked at Sophie.
She was staring at the open drawer.
Then she whispered, “She took Mommy’s phone.”
Richard crouched.
“You knew about it?”
Sophie nodded.
“Did Vanessa know you knew?”
Another nod.
“How?”
Sophie’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because I saw her watching the videos.”
Richard’s stomach dropped.
“What videos?”
“Mommy.”
Sophie wiped her face.
“Mommy was talking on the phone.”
Richard forced himself to stay calm.
“What did Mommy say?”
Sophie looked frightened.
“You said I shouldn’t talk about it.”
“I did?”
“Vanessa said you did.”
Of course.
Richard swallowed.
“What did Vanessa tell you?”
“She said Mommy was confused before she died. She said Mommy told lies. She said if I repeated Mommy’s lies, you would stop loving me.”
Richard’s jaw clenched so hard it hurt.
Sophie continued.
“But Mommy wasn’t confused.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she looked at the camera and said my name.”
Richard stopped breathing.
Daniel said nothing on the phone.
Sophie whispered, “Mommy made a video for me.”
Richard’s throat closed.
“Did Vanessa show it to you?”
“No.”
“Then how did you see it?”
Sophie looked toward Laura’s old desk.
“I found it before Vanessa did.”
“When?”
“A long time ago.”
“How long?”
Sophie shrugged.
“Before my birthday.”
Her birthday had been four months earlier.
Richard asked gently, “What did Mommy say?”
Sophie closed her eyes as if trying to remember.
Then she repeated words that had apparently lived inside her for months.
“She said, ‘Sophie, if Daddy is watching this, Daniel found the money.’”
Daniel inhaled sharply.
Richard stood.
“What money?”
Sophie looked at him.
“Then Mommy said something about the blue room.”
Richard froze.
There was no blue room in their home.
“What blue room?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel suddenly said, “I do.”
Richard raised the phone.
“Where?”
“The Sterling Foundation offices.”
Richard remembered.
Laura’s private conference room had once been painted dark blue.
After her death, the room had been remodeled.
“Tell the police nobody enters that room,” Daniel said.
“It was renovated two years ago.”
“Laura knew that office better than anyone.”
Richard looked at Marcus.
“Call Foundation security.”
Daniel continued.
“And Richard?”
“Yes?”
“Do not tell your general counsel.”
Richard’s blood went cold.
“Martin?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the financial transfers Laura was investigating were approved under one executive authorization.”
Richard already knew he did not want the answer.
“Whose?”
Daniel said it anyway.
“Martin Vale.”
Richard stared at the broken window.
Vanessa had escaped.
Laura’s phone was gone.
Millions had disappeared.
And a man Richard had trusted for nearly a decade might have helped make it happen.
Then his own phone buzzed.
A text.
From Vanessa.
A photograph appeared.
The red phone lay on the passenger seat of the getaway vehicle.
Beneath it was one sentence.
Stop looking into Laura’s death, or Sophie learns what really happened to her mother.
Richard read it once.
Then he handed the phone to Marcus.
“Trace it.”
Daniel’s voice remained calm.
“What did she say?”
Richard looked at Sophie.
His daughter was watching him.
So Richard gave her the only thing Vanessa had tried to steal from both of them.
The truth.
“She threatened us.”
Sophie’s eyes widened.
Richard took her hand.
“But she made one mistake.”
“What?”
“She thinks Daddy is scared of the truth.”
May you like
He looked toward Laura’s photograph.
“I’m not anymore.”
