Chapter 14 - Victoria Talks
Victoria Harrington spent her second night in county detention wearing gray instead of white.
No designer clothes.
No private chef.
No father answering calls.
Her attorney had promised Charles would fix everything.
Charles never arrived.
At 10:40 a.m., Samuel sat across from her.
Nathan waited behind the observation glass.
Victoria smiled when she saw Samuel.
“Where’s Nathan?”
“He doesn’t want to see you.”
The smile faded.
Samuel placed photographs on the table.
Pike receiving money.
Judge Reese signing documents.
William Cole approving shell transactions.
Victoria entering Grace’s apartment four years earlier.
Victoria stared at the final photograph.
Samuel leaned back.
“Your father is preparing to blame you.”
Victoria laughed.
“No.”
Samuel slid over a draft affidavit recovered from one of Charles’s attorneys.
Victoria began reading.
Her face changed.
The document described her as emotionally unstable.
Obsessed with Nathan.
Acting independently.
Responsible for kidnapping Lily.
Responsible for intimidating Grace.
Responsible for coordinating Pike.
Charles Harrington claimed ignorance.
Victoria read the signature line.
Her father’s name.
Samuel watched her.
“He’s leaving you here.”
Victoria pushed the document away.
“It’s fake.”
Samuel stood.
“Then enjoy prison.”
“Wait.”
Samuel stopped.
Victoria looked toward the mirrored glass.
“Nathan is there.”
Samuel said nothing.
Victoria stood.
“Nathan.”
Behind the glass, Nathan did not move.
Victoria’s voice cracked.
“I loved you.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Samuel answered.
“No.”
“You loved what marrying him gave you.”
Victoria stared at the glass.
For several seconds, pride fought survival.
Survival won.
“My father has another account.”
Samuel sat again.
“Talk.”
Victoria inhaled.
“It’s called Bellweather.”
Nathan opened his eyes.
Victoria continued.
“Bellweather isn’t money.”
“It’s recordings.”
“Of what?”
“Private meetings.”
“My father recorded everyone.”
“Richard.”
“William.”
“Pike.”
“Politicians.”
Samuel leaned forward.
“Where?”
Victoria looked directly at the glass.
“I tell Nathan.”
Samuel waited.
Nathan entered.
Victoria’s face crumpled slightly when she saw him.
He remained standing.
“You attacked Grace.”
Victoria said nothing.
“You held a knife against my daughter.”
“I was scared.”
Nathan’s eyes hardened.
“So was Lily.”
Victoria looked away.
Nathan continued.
“You don’t get to use fear as an excuse when you were the person creating it.”
Victoria began crying.
Nathan did not move closer.
“Where is Bellweather?”
Victoria wiped her face.
“My father has a private house in Connecticut.”
“There’s a room behind the library.”
“Biometric lock.”
“Only his fingerprint opens it.”
Nathan turned toward the door.
Victoria called after him.
“There’s another way.”
He stopped.
“My fingerprint.”
Nathan looked back.
Victoria swallowed.
“He added mine six months ago.”
Samuel understood.
Victoria wanted a deal.
Nathan stared at the woman he had intended to marry.
Two weeks earlier, he had chosen flowers with her.
Now they were negotiating over evidence of criminal conspiracy.
“What do you want?”
Victoria whispered.
“Protection from my father.”
Nathan answered immediately.
“You testify.”
“You tell the truth about Grace.”
“About Lily.”
“About Pike.”
“About everything.”
Victoria nodded slowly.
“And you never ask me to forgive you.”
Her eyes filled.
Nathan opened the door.
“Nathan.”
He paused.
Victoria whispered.
“I really did love you.”
Nathan looked at her one final time.
“Then somewhere along the way, you decided possession was love.”
He left.
Three hours later, Victoria entered the Connecticut house wearing federal restraints.
Her fingerprint opened Bellweather.
Inside were 417 recorded conversations.
One recording carried a date from five years earlier.
Nathan pressed play.
His father’s voice filled the room.
“She’s pregnant.”
Then Charles Harrington answered.
“Then we remove the problem before Nathan learns he has one.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Richard responded.
“No.”
Everyone in the room froze.
Charles laughed on the recording.
“No?”
Richard’s voice became clearer.
“I said frighten Grace away.”
“Do not touch the child.”
Charles answered.
“You’re developing a conscience too late, Richard.”
Then another voice entered.
A woman.
Nathan recognized it instantly.
His mother.
May you like
Margaret Cole said five words.
“Then I’ll handle Grace myself.”
