Chapter 9 - Rachel’s Journal
Adrian did not open the journal alone.
He called Clara.
She almost refused to come.
Then he told her what had arrived.
Thirty minutes later, she stood in the library with Detective Reed present.
Adrian placed Rachel’s journal on the table.
Clara recognized it immediately.
Rachel had written in it during chemotherapy.
Some pages contained medical notes.
Others contained letters to Olivia and Emma.
Adrian opened the last month of entries.
Most were painful but ordinary.
Fatigue.
Nausea.
Fear.
Love.
Then Clara noticed a name.
Vanessa H.
Adrian read the entry aloud.
The billing woman came again today asking questions about the Mercer trust.
I told her our finances are none of her concern.
She apologized, but something about her makes me uneasy.
Adrian turned the page.
Another entry.
Vanessa H. appeared outside the infusion room.
She says it was coincidence.
I don’t believe her.
The next entry was dated eleven days later.
I told Clara today that if anything happens, she needs to watch the girls.
Adrian stopped reading.
Clara covered her mouth.
Rachel had known.
Maybe not exactly what Vanessa wanted.
But she had sensed danger.
Detective Reed photographed every relevant page.
“Why wasn’t this journal found after Rachel died?”
Adrian shook his head.
“I thought it was lost during the move from the hospital.”
“Who handled her belongings?”
“Clara.”
Clara shook her head.
“And Vanessa’s contractor.”
Everyone looked at her.
“They boxed the medical documents because there were billing records mixed in.”
Reed leaned forward.
“So Vanessa could have taken the journal before Adrian ever formally met her.”
“Yes.”
Adrian felt physically ill.
He remembered their supposed first meeting at a Mercer Capital charity dinner.
Vanessa had smiled.
She had introduced herself.
She had said, “I feel like I already know you.”
He thought it was flirtation.
Maybe it had been literal.
Reed’s phone rang.
He stepped away.
When he returned, his expression had changed.
“We found Martin Hale.”
Adrian stood.
“Where?”
“Providence.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
Martin had checked into a motel under another name.
Police found two hundred thousand dollars in cash inside his rental car.
He was now in custody.
“Did he confess?”
“Not yet.”
“Does he know Vanessa?”
Reed looked at Adrian.
“He knows her very well.”
Records showed Martin and Vanessa had exchanged more than nine hundred messages during the last year.
They had also stayed at the same hotel in New York twice.
Adrian’s face hardened.
“They were having an affair.”
“We don’t know the nature of the relationship.”
Clara looked at Adrian.
His expression was not jealousy.
That part of him had already died.
It was humiliation.
Vanessa had not loved him.
She had studied him.
Used him.
Turned his grief into access.
Reed continued.
“Martin’s attorney says he’s willing to cooperate.”
“In exchange for what?”
“A reduced sentence.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Reed opened his notebook.
“Martin claims Vanessa created the entire plan.”
Clara’s eyes narrowed.
“And he just followed along?”
“That’s his version.”
“What does he say the plan was?”
Reed looked toward Olivia’s empty chair.
Then back at Adrian.
“He says the stolen money was only phase one.”
Adrian’s body went cold.
“What was phase two?”
“Marriage.”
“And phase three?”
May you like
Reed hesitated.
“Making sure you were no longer capable of controlling the trust.”
