Chapter 2 - THE POLICY NOBODY WAS SUPPOSED TO READ
I woke to fluorescent light and the sound of someone whispering near the door.
For several seconds, I did not know where I was.
Then the pain returned.
My ribs.
My wrist.
My face.
My stomach.
I immediately reached for my belly.
A nurse stepped toward me.
“He’s okay.”
I looked at her.
“The baby?”
“Strong heartbeat.”
Relief came so fast that my eyes filled.
“Where am I?”
“Whitaker Medical Center.”
Of course.
Richard owned half the buildings carrying that name.
The nurse checked the monitor beside my bed.
“You’ve been unconscious for almost seven hours.”
“Seven?”
“You had severe hypothermia, two fractured ribs, a fractured wrist, significant bruising, and early contractions.”
My throat tightened.
“Am I in labor?”
“Not active labor.”
The nurse smiled gently.
“But your son clearly has opinions about tonight.”
The door opened.
Richard entered with two men.
One wore a navy suit.
The other wore a winter jacket over a police uniform.
Richard walked straight to my bed.
“How do you feel?”
“Like I fell off a mountain.”
His expression darkened.
“You didn’t fall.”
The police officer stepped forward.
“Mrs. Vale, I’m Detective Aaron Cole.”
He kept his voice quiet.
“Your father told me what you said during the rescue.”
My father.
The words still felt strange.
Richard noticed my reaction but said nothing.
Detective Cole pulled a chair beside my bed.
“I need you to tell me exactly what happened.”
So I did.
I told him about Preston suggesting we drive to Ravenstone Cliff because he wanted to “clear his head.”
I told him Vanessa had been waiting near the overlook.
I told him Preston had argued with me about the insurance policy.
I told him I had threatened to remove him as beneficiary after learning about his affair.
I told him he pushed me.
I repeated every word I remembered.
“They both froze to death.”
“That useless woman deserved it.”
“For fifty million dollars? She’d better be.”
Detective Cole wrote slowly.
When I finished, the room was silent.
The man in the navy suit finally introduced himself.
“David Mercer.”
He handed me a card.
“Chief legal counsel for Whitaker Atlantic.”
I looked at Richard.
“You brought your lawyer?”
“I brought the man responsible for making sure nobody touches that policy.”
David opened a leather folder.
“Your policy is unusual.”
“How?”
“Fifty million dollars is a very high personal life-insurance amount.”
“I know.”
“Your husband initiated the increase eleven months ago.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
David placed several documents on the bedside table.
“The original policy was five million.”
I remembered that.
Preston had insisted we needed protection because our financial situation was becoming more complicated.
He had described it as estate planning.
“When did it become fifty?”
“Eleven months ago.”
My blood went cold again.
That was one month before I became pregnant.
“I never approved that.”
David’s eyes sharpened.
“That is what concerns us.”
He placed a signature page in front of me.
My name was there.
Madison Eleanor Vale.
The signature looked almost perfect.
Almost.
I immediately shook my head.
“That isn’t mine.”
Richard stepped closer.
“You’re certain?”
“I make the M differently.”
I pointed with my uninjured hand.
“And I never use my middle name on financial documents.”
David nodded.
“We already suspected forgery.”
Detective Cole leaned forward.
“Who had access to your signatures?”
“My husband.”
“Anyone else?”
I thought about Vanessa.
Preston’s assistant.
Preston’s mistress.
The woman who had stood above the cliff asking whether I was dead.
“Vanessa worked in his office.”
“What is her full name?”
“Vanessa Crane.”
Detective Cole wrote it down.
Richard stared at the insurance documents.
“The increase went through my company.”
His voice was almost dangerously quiet.
David looked uncomfortable.
“Yes.”
“Who approved it?”
“We are auditing that now.”
Richard lifted his gaze.
“I want every person who touched this application identified.”
“Already underway.”
“I want access logs, calls, emails, payment records, medical verification, underwriting notes, and every internal authorization.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Tonight.”
David hesitated.
“Richard, there may be compliance procedures.”
Richard turned toward him.
“My daughter was thrown off a mountain for a fraudulent policy issued by my company.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“If there is a procedure standing between me and the truth, remove it.”
David closed the folder.
“I’ll have the preliminary report by morning.”
Detective Cole stood.
“We also have another issue.”
He looked at me.
“Your husband reported you missing three hours after the incident.”
I felt my pulse jump.
“What did he say?”
“He claimed you became emotionally distressed during an argument and walked away from the vehicle near Ravenstone.”
Richard gave a humorless laugh.
Detective Cole continued.
“According to him, he searched for you before calling emergency services.”
“He left.”
“I believe you.”
“Vanessa was there.”
“He did not mention her.”
Of course he didn’t.
“What is he doing now?”
Detective Cole glanced at Richard.
Then back at me.
“He’s publicly asking people to pray for your safe return.”
A strange laugh escaped me.
It hurt my ribs.
Richard stepped closer.
“Madison.”
“He’s performing.”
I looked at the ceiling.
“He pushed me off a cliff, and now he’s performing.”
Detective Cole nodded.
“That performance can help us.”
“How?”
“If he believes you’re dead, he may make mistakes.”
David returned to the doorway twenty minutes later.
His face had changed.
He held his phone tightly.
“Richard.”
“What?”
“We found something.”
He looked at me.
“The fifty-million-dollar policy contains a special accidental-death rider.”
My stomach tightened.
“How much?”
“If your death is confirmed as accidental and exposure-related, the total payout is not fifty million.”
Richard stared at him.
David took a breath.
“It’s seventy-five million.”
The room went silent.
May you like
Preston had not pushed me off Ravenstone Cliff for fifty million dollars.
He had pushed me for seventy-five.
