Chapter 6 - What Vanessa Told the Detectives
Vanessa changed her story three times in twenty-four hours.
First, Elena had attacked her.
Then Elena had fallen during an argument.
Then Vanessa claimed she had gone to the house because Elena had threatened to expose a family secret.
Detective Reed listened to every version.
Then he placed still images from the security footage on the interview table.
Vanessa stopped talking.
Her attorney requested a break.
The interview resumed forty minutes later.
Vanessa refused to answer questions about Alan Pierce.
She refused to answer questions about Silver Track Consulting.
She refused to explain the handwritten schedule.
But when Detective Reed mentioned the federal audit, something changed.
Vanessa smiled.
It was small.
Almost involuntary.
“You think Daniel survives that audit?”
Reed leaned forward.
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa looked at her attorney.
The attorney told her not to answer.
She ignored him.
“My brother thinks everyone loves him.”
Reed waited.
Vanessa’s eyes hardened.
“They love his name.”
“What does that have to do with the audit?”
“Everything.”
She said nothing else.
At the hospital, Daniel received a transcript of that exchange from his attorney.
Elena read it twice.
“She hates you.”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“I knew she resented me.”
“This is more than resentment.”
Daniel had spent years trying to protect Vanessa.
When she dropped out of graduate school, he gave her a job.
When she accumulated debt, he paid part of it.
When she wanted a larger role in the company, he promoted her.
He had believed patience would eventually make them closer.
Instead, every favor had apparently become evidence of what she thought she deserved.
Daniel’s mother, Patricia Mercer, arrived from Florida that afternoon.
She walked into Elena’s room crying.
“Elena.”
Elena allowed her to hug her.
Then Patricia turned to Daniel.
“I need to see Vanessa.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“No.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“She nearly cost me my wife and children.”
Patricia flinched.
“I’m not defending her.”
“Then don’t ask me to help her.”
“I need to understand.”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“So do I.”
Patricia sat down.
For the first time, she looked older than her sixty-three years.
“There’s something I should have told you years ago.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What?”
“Vanessa always believed your father intended to leave you the company.”
“He did leave me controlling shares.”
“I know.”
“She received shares too.”
“Not the same amount.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Patricia continued.
“After your father died, Vanessa found an early draft of his estate plan.”
Elena listened carefully.
“In that version, ownership was divided equally.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why was it changed?”
“Because your father discovered Vanessa had been taking money from a scholarship account when she was twenty-two.”
Daniel went still.
“He never told me.”
“He wanted to protect her.”
Patricia began crying.
“He made me promise.”
Daniel looked away.
Vanessa had already stolen from the family once.
And his father had quietly changed the inheritance because of it.
Patricia wiped her eyes.
“There’s more.”
Daniel turned back.
“Your father kept copies of everything.”
“Where?”
“In a safe deposit box.”
Daniel leaned forward.
Patricia’s next words made Elena look at him immediately.
May you like
“Vanessa asked me for the key three months ago.”
*
