Chapter 13 - THE MISSING TECHNICIAN
Evan’s apartment was empty.
His phone was switched off.
His car remained in the parking lot.
For several hours, Daniel feared the worst.
Then a message arrived from an unknown number.
I DIDN’T TAKE THE MONEY.
I HAVE THE REST OF THE FILES.
DO NOT TRUST RICHARD.
Daniel showed Emily.
“Can we trace it?”
The security director shook his head.
“Not quickly.”
Another message appeared.
OLD ASHFORD STORAGE FACILITY.
7 P.M.
COME WITH EMILY.
NO POLICE.
Margaret objected immediately.
“It could be a trap.”
Daniel agreed.
Which was why he contacted investigators anyway.
They would remain out of sight.
At seven that evening, Daniel and Emily entered the abandoned storage building on the edge of the city.
Evan stepped from behind a row of old filing cabinets.
He looked exhausted.
“I didn’t steal anything.”
Daniel answered.
“I know.”
Evan held up a hard drive.
“This is everything.”
“What everything?”
“Vanessa never trusted the mansion network.”
“She made me install a private camera in the archive room.”
“She wanted recordings of Margaret removing documents.”
Daniel stared at him.
“For leverage?”
Evan nodded.
“But I copied the feed.”
Emily looked at the drive.
“What did it record?”
Evan’s expression changed.
“Richard.”
He connected the drive to a laptop.
A video appeared.
Richard stood inside the archive room with Vanessa.
Vanessa held three original deeds.
Richard placed them into a briefcase.
Then Vanessa spoke clearly.
“Once Daniel signs the marriage license, the trust becomes easier.”
Richard laughed.
“And if he starts asking questions?”
Vanessa answered without hesitation.
“Emily takes the fall.”
Richard asked.
“For everything?”
Vanessa smiled.
“She already has a dead mother who was accused of stealing from the family.”
“It makes the story believable.”
Emily felt all warmth leave her body.
Vanessa had researched Caroline.
She had known Emily’s history.
That was the real reason.
Emily had not only been poor.
She had inherited an accusation.
Vanessa believed a family already stained by scandal would be easy to stain again.
On the recording, Richard asked.
“What if Emily proves her mother was framed?”
Vanessa’s expression hardened.
“Then we make sure she never gets close enough.”
Daniel stopped the video.
He looked at Emily.
She was staring at the frozen image.
All these years she had wondered whether her mother’s ruined reputation had followed her.
Now she had the answer.
It had.
But this time, there was a camera.
May you like
This time, the lie had witnesses.
And this time, Emily was not alone.
