Chapter 7
I had met Celeste Hart exactly six times.
That was six times too many.
She was elegant, cold, and always dressed like she was attending a board meeting.
At Vanessa and Adrian’s wedding, Celeste had looked me up and down and asked whether “the staff” ate separately.
At Noah’s baptism, she complained because the baby cried during photographs.
Once, when Noah reached toward her, she handed him to me without even looking at his face.
I had thought she was distant.
I had never imagined dangerous.
Adrian did not believe Gavin.
“Celeste is awful,” he told Detective Harris. “But planning to hurt her grandson?”
Harris shrugged.
“Gavin says she was involved.”
“Gavin is facing prison.”
“Yes.”
“He’ll say anything.”
“Yes.”
I appreciated that the detective wasn’t pretending otherwise.
Adrian paced across the room.
“What exactly is Gavin claiming?”
“That Celeste pushed Vanessa to secure her financial future.”
“That’s not a crime.”
“No.”
Harris opened his notes.
“He also claims Celeste suggested that an accident involving Noah would solve several problems.”
Adrian stopped pacing.
“What words did she use?”
“According to Gavin? ‘Infants are fragile. Families survive tragedy every day.’”
My stomach turned.
Adrian looked toward Noah.
The baby was sleeping in a playpen near the windows.
“Why would a grandmother say that?”
Nobody answered.
Because there was no answer that made sense to a decent person.
Harris continued.
“Gavin also claims Celeste helped Vanessa find the insurance broker who issued the policy on Noah.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“That can be verified.”
“We’re working on it.”
“What about arresting her?”
“Gavin wanting her arrested is not probable cause.”
Adrian nodded.
He understood.
I did too.
But that didn’t stop me from wishing Celeste were somewhere behind a locked door.
The following morning, Marlene was questioned.
She admitted giving Gavin the old service gate code.
She cried the entire time.
“I didn’t know what he wanted,” she told police.
Detective Harris let me listen to part of the recorded interview because my name came up.
Vanessa had paid Marlene to give her information about my schedule.
Marlene claimed she believed Vanessa was trying to prove that I was overbilling overtime.
“Why didn’t you ask me?” I whispered when Harris paused the recording.
He looked at me.
“She says she was embarrassed.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Twenty-five thousand dollars buys a lot of embarrassment.”
Marlene also admitted opening the estate’s side entrance for a private investigator twice.
The investigator had photographed me.
That explained the folder.
But Marlene swore she knew nothing about plans involving Noah.
The police believed some of her story.
Not all of it.
Adrian fired her anyway.
I couldn’t blame him.
By afternoon, another problem arrived.
Adrian’s younger sister, Claire, showed up at the safe house.
She had flown in from California.
The moment she entered, she hugged Adrian.
Then she saw me holding Noah.
Her expression changed.
“Can we speak privately?”
Adrian glanced at me.
“Rachel knows everything.”
Claire folded her arms.
“Does she?”
I felt the insult immediately.
Adrian did too.
“Claire.”
“I came because Mom is terrified.”
“Mom knows I’m safe.”
“She sees the news.”
“So do I.”
Claire looked at me again.
“Exactly.”
I handed Noah to Adrian.
“I’ll give you privacy.”
“No,” Claire said.
I stopped.
“If you’re at the center of this, maybe you should hear it.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“What are you accusing her of?”
“I’m asking questions.”
“You’ve known Rachel for years.”
“I also knew Vanessa.”
The room became quiet.
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“I introduced you to her.”
Adrian’s anger disappeared.
That changed everything.
I remembered.
Claire had met Vanessa at a charity event.
She had encouraged Adrian to ask her out.
Now her own guilt was turning into suspicion.
“Claire,” I said gently.
She looked at me.
“I understand why you’re scared.”
“No, you don’t.”
“You think you helped bring Vanessa into Noah’s life.”
Her face broke.
“I did.”
Adrian moved toward her.
“She fooled me too.”
“But I pushed you.”
“You introduced us. You didn’t force me to marry her.”
Claire shook her head.
“I told you she was exactly what you needed.”
Adrian’s voice softened.
“You didn’t know.”
I saw a family beginning to break under blame.
I also knew Vanessa would love that.
“Claire,” I said, “if you want to know what happened, watch the footage.”
She looked at me.
“All of it?”
“All of it.”
Adrian hesitated.
Then opened his laptop.
Claire watched the nursery recording.
The phone call.
The iron.
The scorch mark.
Then the stroller video.
By the end, she was crying.
“I’m sorry.”
I didn’t know whether she was speaking to Adrian, Noah, or me.
Maybe all of us.
Then something strange happened.
Claire wiped her face.
“Wait.”
She leaned toward the screen.
“Play the phone call again.”
Adrian did.
Vanessa’s voice filled the room.
“Once the baby is out of the way, everything belongs to me.”
The man answered.
“You said the trust changes if he’s gone.”
Claire frowned.
“That isn’t Gavin.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
Adrian replayed it.
“You know Gavin’s voice?”
“He’s my sister-in-law’s brother. Of course I do.”
She listened again.
“That isn’t him.”
My skin prickled.
Detective Harris had identified the phone number as one tied to Gavin’s business.
But the voice could belong to someone else.
Adrian called Harris immediately.
The detective listened remotely.
“We assumed Gavin because of the number.”
Claire shook her head.
“You assumed wrong.”
Harris became quiet.
“We’ll run voice comparison.”
Claire looked at Adrian.
“Do you know who it sounds like?”
He shook his head.
She swallowed.
“I do.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“Who?” I asked.
Claire looked sick.
“Vanessa’s attorney.”
Adrian stared at her.
“What attorney?”
“Not Helen.”
Claire looked toward the laptop.
“The private lawyer who handled her family’s business for years.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“What’s his name?”
Claire answered.
“Julian Cross.”
I knew that name too.
He had attended Christmas dinner.
He had shaken my hand.
He had given Noah a silver rattle.
Adrian called Helen.
She went silent when he told her.
Then she said something that made my heart pound.
“Adrian, Julian Cross is also the attorney who prepared Noah’s five-million-dollar insurance policy.”
Nobody spoke.
Helen continued.
“And if Claire is right about that voice, we have a much larger problem.”
“What problem?”
“A lawyer who helped Vanessa understand the estate structure.”
May you like
Helen paused.
“A lawyer who knew exactly what Noah’s death would be worth.”
