Chapter 10 - The Call Richard Could Not Resist
Vanessa called Richard from a monitored room.
She cried before he even answered.
It was not difficult.
Her fear was real.
"Richard."
"Vanessa?"
"Oh my God."
"Where are you?"
"They're holding me."
"I know."
"They think I did it on purpose."
"Listen to me."
Richard's voice became low.
"Don't say anything."
Vanessa looked through the glass.
Harrison stood on the other side beside the prosecutor.
"I already told them it was an accident."
"Good."
"They keep asking about Voss."
Silence.
"Richard?"
"Why are they asking about him?"
"I don't know."
"Did you mention him?"
"No."
"Vanessa."
"I said no."
Richard breathed out.
"Good."
"They're asking about the trust too."
Another silence.
This one longer.
"What did you tell them?"
"Nothing."
Richard sounded relieved.
"Good girl."
Harrison's expression did not change.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"They say Khloe might remember everything."
Richard answered too quickly.
"She was concussed."
"So?"
"So memory can be unreliable."
"Richard, I'm scared."
"You'll be fine."
"What if she says you knew?"
"I didn't do anything."
"You brought her there."
"Lower your voice."
Vanessa looked toward Harrison.
"Why?"
"Because no one needs to know that."
Harrison's eyes sharpened.
Vanessa continued.
"You said once she signed the incapacity papers, we'd be done."
"That's not what I said."
"You said if she couldn't make decisions, you'd control the shares."
Richard cursed quietly.
Then he said the sentence prosecutors needed.
"That was before you pushed her."
Vanessa let several seconds pass.
"So you knew the paperwork wasn't real."
"Stop talking."
"Richard."
"I handled the paperwork."
"That doesn't mean I told you to throw her down a staircase."
Harrison looked at the prosecutor.
There it was.
Admission.
Vanessa began crying harder.
"What about Voss?"
Richard's tone changed again.
"I'll deal with Voss."
"How?"
"The Mercer vote is Friday."
"Khloe can't attend."
"I'm still director."
"I'll push it through."
"Then he'll protect us."
Harrison picked up his phone and typed a message to Khloe.
Richard plans to call the Mercer vote Friday.
Her answer arrived seconds later.
Let him.
Harrison frowned.
Then another message appeared.
I have something he doesn't know about.
Later that evening, Khloe explained.
Her father had anticipated the possibility that ownership could become disputed.
The corporate bylaws contained a special clause.
Any sale of the East Mercer property required not only majority shareholder approval but also the written consent of the founder's designated heir.
That heir was Khloe.
The right could not be transferred through incapacity.
Only death.
Richard had apparently never read the original bylaws carefully enough.
Harrison smiled for the first time in days.
"He can't sell."
"No."
"And he doesn't know."
"No."
"What do you want to do?"
Khloe looked at Eleanor sleeping in her incubator.
"Let him hold the meeting."
"Khloe."
"Let Voss think he's getting the land."
"And then?"
May you like
She turned toward her brother.
"Then I want to be the one who tells them no."
