Chapter 7 - ELENA’S SECOND COPY
Vanessa led Daniel back to the hidden room.
Adrian stayed close behind her.
Grant followed.
Lily remained upstairs with Margaret and a guard Daniel trusted completely.
Vanessa pointed toward the filing cabinets.
“Move the third cabinet.”
Daniel and Adrian pushed it away from the wall.
Behind it was a narrow recess.
Inside sat a waterproof document case.
Vanessa entered the combination.
Daniel noticed her hands shaking.
She opened it.
Inside were three envelopes.
One read DANIEL.
One read LILY.
The third read FILE 17.
Daniel reached for it.
Vanessa stopped him.
“If you open that, Ethan will say I fabricated everything.”
“Why?”
“Because I touched it.”
Daniel looked at Grant.
Grant put on gloves and opened the envelope.
Inside was a flash drive.
A handwritten ledger.
And a letter.
The handwriting belonged to Elena.
Daniel recognized it instantly.
His chest tightened.
Grant handed him the letter.
Daniel,
If you are reading this, then I failed to tell you myself.
Someone has been moving money through Lily’s trust.
I thought it was an accounting mistake.
It isn’t.
I followed the transfers.
They lead back to Ethan.
Daniel stopped reading.
His brother stared at the floor.
Daniel continued.
I confronted him.
He said I misunderstood.
That night someone entered my office.
Nothing appeared missing, but my files had been moved.
I no longer feel safe.
I am leaving copies with people I trust.
There is something worse.
Ethan is not working alone.
The final line on the first page had been underlined twice.
The person helping him has access to our home.
Daniel turned the page.
It was blank.
The rest had been torn away.
“Where’s the second page?”
Vanessa whispered.
“I never found it.”
Ethan suddenly laughed.
Everyone turned.
Daniel stared at him.
“What’s funny?”
“You still don’t understand.”
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
“She isn’t some frightened accomplice.”
“She was Elena’s assistant.”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
He knew Vanessa had worked with Elena years earlier.
That was how she had first entered their lives.
Ethan continued.
“Vanessa had access to every account.”
“Every schedule.”
“Every vehicle.”
Vanessa snapped.
“You paid me.”
Ethan smiled.
“There.”
“She admits it.”
Daniel looked between them.
“Paid you for what?”
Vanessa stared at Ethan.
“For information.”
Daniel’s stomach twisted.
“What information?”
“Where Elena went.”
“Who she met.”
“What she knew.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You were spying on my wife.”
Vanessa nodded.
Tears finally appeared in her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed money.”
Daniel’s expression remained cold.
Vanessa continued.
“My mother was dying.”
“I had medical debt.”
“Ethan offered me fifty thousand dollars.”
“He said Elena was trying to destroy the company.”
“I believed him.”
“Then the payments became larger.”
“And by the time I understood what he was doing, I was already involved.”
Daniel looked at the hidden room.
“And four years later you moved into my house.”
Vanessa did not answer.
Daniel finally understood why she had been so patient.
Why she knew exactly what Lily liked.
Why she knew Elena’s favorite restaurants.
Why she understood Daniel’s routines.
She had studied their family long before Elena died.
Grant plugged the flash drive into an isolated laptop.
A single encrypted folder appeared.
The file name contained one date.
The night before Elena’s crash.
Adrian’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then looked at Daniel.
“The memory card from Elena’s car has been recovered.”
Daniel felt his pulse jump.
“What did they find?”
May you like
Adrian’s face was grim.
“Audio.”
