Chapter 4
I stared at the hotel wall.
“Say that again.”
“There’s a device registered to your security account as Office Interior.”
“I never installed one.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“When was the last time you checked all the devices connected to your system?”
I sat down.
“I don’t know. Months.”
Melissa exhaled.
“Then Vanessa may have installed a hidden camera.”
I thought about my office.
The shelves.
The printer.
The framed photograph of Sarah and Lily.
The smoke detector above my desk.
“How long has it been active?”
“We’re requesting that now.”
My hands started shaking.
“What was she recording?”
“Daniel, don’t go to the house.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were thinking about it.”
I hated how well she knew me.
“Police still consider it a shared marital residence. Vanessa may have access. Let investigators handle it.”
“She put a camera in my office.”
“And if you storm in there and she films you confronting her again, she wins another round.”
I closed my eyes.
“Fine.”
“Good.”
“What do we do?”
“We find out what she wanted.”
We got an answer sooner than expected.
At 7:30 the next morning, two detectives executed a limited warrant related to suspected surveillance and evidence tampering.
They found the camera.
It was inside a digital clock Vanessa had given me for my birthday.
I remembered opening it at dinner.
She had kissed me and joked that I needed a better sense of time.
The camera had been watching me for eight months.
Eight months.
Melissa called while I was driving to her office.
“They recovered local storage.”
“What’s on it?”
“Mostly you working.”
“Mostly?”
“Phone calls. Video meetings. Conversations with Rachel. Financial discussions.”
I tightened my grip on the wheel.
“Why?”
“We don’t know.”
Then she hesitated.
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“She also placed an audio recorder under your desk.”
My stomach turned.
“Eight months?”
“Possibly longer.”
I pulled over.
I couldn’t drive.
“What was she doing?”
“We’re going to find out.”
At Melissa’s office, I watched the recovered footage from the living room.
The video showed exactly what I had seen.
Vanessa sitting on the couch.
Lily kneeling.
The slap.
The threats.
But it was worse than I remembered.
Because there were hours of it.
Monday morning.
“Pick those toys up.”
Tuesday.
“Bring my coffee.”
Wednesday.
“You don’t get lunch until this room is clean.”
My hands went numb.
Then a clip from the previous week started.
Lily stood near the stairs.
Vanessa crouched in front of her.
“Do you want Daddy to love you?”
Lily nodded.
“Then you have to help me.”
“I do help.”
“Not enough.”
Lily’s lip trembled.
Vanessa grabbed her shoulders.
“Your real mommy left, remember?”
I couldn’t watch.
I stood.
“Turn it off.”
Melissa paused the video.
I walked to the window.
My breathing was ragged.
“I left her with that woman.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
“You trusted your wife.”
“I trusted wrong.”
“You can punish yourself later. Right now Lily needs you useful.”
The words hit hard.
Useful.
Not furious.
Not ashamed.
Useful.
I sat again.
“Keep going.”
The next hour changed everything.
The cameras showed Vanessa on phone calls while Lily was in another room.
Most were unremarkable.
Then we found one.
Vanessa paced beside the couch.
“No, he still hasn’t noticed.”
Pause.
“I know what I’m doing.”
Pause.
“Because once I have temporary control, we move fast.”
Melissa and I looked at each other.
A man’s voice came through faintly from speakerphone.
“What if he fights it?”
Vanessa laughed.
“He will.”
“Then?”
“Then we use the recordings.”
The man said something unclear.
Vanessa replied, “His company can’t afford the scandal.”
My skin went cold.
My company.
Carter Biomedical.
My father had started it thirty-one years earlier.
After he died, I inherited a controlling share.
The company employed nearly four hundred people.
I stared at Melissa.
“This is about the business.”
“Maybe.”
Vanessa continued.
“If the board thinks he’s unstable, they’ll force a leave of absence.”
The male voice became clearer.
“And the shares?”
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“That depends on whether he signs.”
The recording ended.
I stood.
“Who was she talking to?”
“We’ll subpoena records.”
“I recognize the voice.”
Melissa looked at me.
“Who?”
I replayed the clip.
Just the man saying, “What if he fights it?”
I knew that voice.
Not well.
But enough.
“Ethan Cole.”
“Who is Ethan Cole?”
“My chief financial officer.”
Melissa stared at me.
“Your CFO is working with your wife?”
I reached for my phone.
She grabbed my wrist.
“No.”
“I need to call the board.”
“Not yet.”
“He’s inside my company.”
“And you don’t know who else is.”
I stopped.
She was right.
Again.
“What do we do?”
“You act normal.”
“I was arrested yesterday. Nothing is normal.”
“Then act shocked, confused, distracted. Let him think you don’t know.”
I sat back.
My phone buzzed.
Ethan.
We both stared at it.
Melissa said, “Answer.”
I put it on speaker.
“Hello?”
“Daniel, thank God.”
His voice was full of concern.
Perfect concern.
“I heard what happened.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you okay?”
“Not really.”
“I can imagine.”
No, you can’t, I thought.
Or maybe you can.
Maybe you imagined it in advance.
Ethan continued.
“Listen, the board is nervous.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He paused.
“Daniel, they saw the arrest report.”
“How?”
“Someone sent it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Liar.
“Vanessa is also alleging that I abused her.”
“I heard.”
“And?”
Ethan sighed.
“As your friend, I believe there are two sides to everything.”
I almost laughed.
As your friend.
“As CFO,” he continued, “I have to protect the company.”
“Meaning?”
“The board wants an emergency meeting.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“That fast?”
“Stockholder confidence matters.”
“We’re private.”
“You know what I mean.”
Yes.
He was nervous.
“Who asked for the meeting?”
“The board collectively.”
“Who called you first?”
Silence.
Then he said, “I don’t remember.”
I looked at Melissa.
She wrote on a pad.
KEEP HIM TALKING.
“I understand,” I said. “Maybe I should step back for a while.”
Ethan went silent.
That silence was worth more than any confession.
“You think so?”
“I don’t know. My head is a mess.”
“Well… temporary leave could reduce pressure.”
“And who runs things?”
“Operationally? I would.”
Of course.
“Could you handle it?”
“I’d do whatever the company needs.”
Melissa wrote another note.
ASK ABOUT SHARES.
I swallowed.
“My voting shares complicate things.”
Ethan answered too quickly.
“There are mechanisms for temporary proxy authority.”
My pulse jumped.
“How do you know?”
“I’m CFO, Daniel.”
“Right.”
He lowered his voice.
“You should focus on Lily.”
I looked at the frozen image on Melissa’s screen.
Vanessa.
Lily.
The maid costume.
“I am.”
We ended the call.
Melissa leaned back.
“He walked right into that.”
“He wants control.”
“He wants something.”
“Same thing.”
“Not necessarily.”
My phone buzzed again.
This time it was my mother.
I answered.
“Daniel, someone came to my house.”
I stood.
“Who?”
“A man.”
“What man?”
“He said he was from Vanessa’s attorney’s office.”
“Did you let him in?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“He asked me to sign a statement.”
Melissa was already reaching for her coat.
“What statement?”
“That I had seen you lose your temper around Lily.”
My blood ran cold.
“What did you say?”
“I told him to leave.”
“Mom, lock the doors. We’re coming.”
She started crying.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Vanessa called me last night.”
“Why?”
“She said if I didn’t cooperate, she would tell you the truth.”
My stomach tightened.
“What truth?”
Mom started sobbing.
“About Sarah.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“What about Sarah?”
“I never wanted you to find out this way.”
“Mom.”
Melissa stopped moving.
May you like
My mother whispered four words I never expected to hear.
“Sarah didn’t die accidentally.”
