Chapter 5 - VANESSA HAD A PLAN
By seven the next morning, Adrian was sitting in a conference room with his attorney, his accountant, and the company’s financial manager.
Copies of transfers covered the table.
$45,000.
$72,000.
$110,000.
$38,500.
The amounts had been spaced carefully across several months.
Enough to avoid immediate attention.
Small enough compared to the company’s annual revenue that Adrian had not noticed while managing payroll, projects, suppliers, and clients.
But together they formed a devastating pattern.
The receiving accounts were connected to a holding company.
The holding company was registered to Vanessa’s cousin, Trevor Hale.
Adrian knew Trevor.
He had met him twice.
Vanessa described him as a struggling real estate consultant.
Adrian’s attorney looked at the documents.
“This was not impulsive.”
Adrian stared at the signatures.
“They look exactly like mine.”
“They’re digital.”
“I use two-factor approval.”
“Your phone was used for several authorizations.”
Adrian thought back.
Vanessa often brought him coffee while he worked from home.
She knew his phone password.
She knew his schedule.
She had access to his office.
The attorney leaned back.
“You need a forensic accountant.”
“Already called one.”
“You also need to change every password you have.”
“Done.”
“And you need to understand that Vanessa’s attorney is going to argue you gave her permission.”
“I didn’t.”
“Can you prove that?”
Adrian looked at the papers.
Not yet.
His phone rang.
It was Clara.
For a moment, Adrian could not answer.
Then he stepped outside the conference room.
“Hello?”
Clara’s voice was cautious.
“Olivia texted me.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“She shouldn’t have dragged you into this.”
“She didn’t.”
A pause.
“She said you found the bank letters.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Over six hundred thousand.”
Clara was silent.
Then she whispered.
“I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I should have told you sooner.”
“No.”
Adrian leaned against the wall.
“You tried to survive inside a house where my wife was targeting you and I wasn’t paying attention.”
Clara did not respond.
He continued.
“I’m not going to make you responsible for my failure.”
Another pause.
“How’s Emma?”
“She’s okay.”
“Did a doctor check her?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Adrian swallowed.
“And your knee?”
“Bruised.”
“Your face?”
Clara’s voice became colder.
“It’ll heal.”
Adrian accepted the answer.
“I spoke to the police again.”
Clara remained quiet.
“I told them I’ll cooperate with anything involving what I did.”
“You don’t have to tell me that.”
“I know.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“I just need you to know I’m not going to pretend panic excuses it.”
Clara breathed out slowly.
“Good.”
Then she said something Adrian did not expect.
“There’s something else.”
He straightened.
“What?”
“Vanessa approached me last week.”
“When?”
“After you left for the airport.”
“What did she want?”
“She offered me money to quit.”
Adrian felt his jaw tighten.
“How much?”
“Twenty thousand dollars.”
“Why didn’t you take it?”
Clara almost laughed.
“Because I like your children.”
The simple answer broke something inside him.
Clara continued.
“She said Emma needed someone more professional.”
“You are professional.”
“I told her that.”
“What happened?”
“She raised the offer to thirty thousand.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“And when you refused?”
“She told me everybody has a price.”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“What did you say?”
“I told her some people have principles instead.”
Despite everything, Adrian almost smiled.
Then Clara added.
“She didn’t like that.”
“Did she threaten you?”
“Not directly.”
“Clara.”
“She said if I stayed, sooner or later you would ask me to leave.”
Adrian looked through the conference room glass at the forged signatures.
“She planned to frame you.”
“I think so.”
“She needed you gone because of what you saw.”
“That’s what I thought last night.”
Adrian’s phone buzzed.
A text from his attorney.
COME BACK IN.
IMPORTANT.
Adrian returned to the conference room.
His attorney rotated a laptop toward him.
A photograph filled the screen.
Vanessa was standing outside a storage facility.
Beside her was Trevor.
Between them sat three banker’s boxes.
Adrian frowned.
“When was this taken?”
“Yesterday morning.”
“Before the stroller incident?”
“About four hours before.”
Adrian stared at the boxes.
“What’s in them?”
“We don’t know.”
His attorney clicked to the next image.
Vanessa was carrying one box.
A company logo was visible on the side.
Adrian recognized it immediately.
It belonged to his business.
The financial manager leaned forward.
“That’s an archive box from our accounting room.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Are any missing?”
The man hesitated.
“I checked after you called.”
Adrian’s stomach tightened.
May you like
“And?”
“Three.”
