Chapter 9 - Vanessa Changes Sides
Vanessa entered the interview room wearing county-issued clothing instead of designer silk.
For the first time, Harrison saw how young she looked without makeup and confidence.
Twenty-nine.
Afraid.
Still dangerous.
Her attorney sat beside her.
The District Attorney sat across from them.
Harrison attended as Khloe's counsel.
Vanessa looked at him.
"I want immunity."
Harrison almost smiled.
"You pushed my pregnant sister down thirty steps."
"I'm not offering immunity."
Martin Hale interrupted.
"We understand assault remains on the table."
Vanessa's eyes flashed toward him.
"You said—"
"I said we would negotiate."
Harrison folded his hands.
"What do you have?"
Vanessa looked at the camera in the corner.
Then at the prosecutor.
"I want protection."
"From whom?"
She hesitated.
"Charles Voss."
The room became quiet.
Harrison leaned back.
"Keep talking."
Vanessa explained that she began working for Voss three years earlier.
Not as a formal employee.
She attended events.
Introduced people.
Gathered information.
Sometimes she began relationships with men Voss wanted influence over.
Richard was supposed to be another assignment.
"My job was to get close to him."
"Then what?"
"Convince him that Khloe was holding him back."
Harrison's jaw tightened.
"Did Voss instruct you to have an affair?"
"He didn't need to."
"What does that mean?"
"He put me near Richard."
"He told me what Richard wanted."
"Attention."
"Admiration."
"Someone who made him feel powerful."
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
"It wasn't difficult."
"And the money transfers?"
"Richard thought he was investing in our future."
"Our?"
"He believed Kensington Strategic Holdings belonged to me."
"It doesn't."
"No."
"Who controls it?"
"Voss."
The prosecutor leaned forward.
"What happened at the courthouse?"
Vanessa stopped.
Her eyes dropped.
"Richard said Khloe would sign."
"Sign what?"
"A temporary control agreement."
"She refused."
"Then?"
"Richard was angry."
"Voss had given him a deadline."
"What deadline?"
"The Mercer property vote."
Harrison spoke.
"And the shove?"
Vanessa looked at him.
For the first time, shame appeared.
"Khloe told me she knew about Voss."
Harrison became very still.
"What exactly did she say?"
"She said, 'You don't love Richard, and Voss doesn't own me.'"
"I panicked."
"So you pushed her."
Vanessa's eyes filled.
"I didn't mean for her to go all the way down."
Harrison's voice remained cold.
"You pushed an eight-month-pregnant woman at the top of thirty marble steps."
"I know."
"No."
He leaned forward.
"You know now."
Vanessa wiped her face.
"Richard told me she had changed the trust."
"What trust?"
"The one with the incapacity clause."
Harrison looked toward the prosecutor.
"Richard knew it was forged?"
Vanessa nodded.
"He ordered it."
"Who prepared it?"
"A lawyer."
"Name."
Vanessa hesitated.
Martin whispered to her.
She finally answered.
"Stephen Mercer."
Harrison knew him.
Corporate attorney.
Former state senator.
Longtime adviser to Charles Voss.
The conspiracy widened again.
"Anything else?"
Vanessa stared at Harrison.
"Richard didn't expect Khloe to survive."
The room went silent.
Harrison's face did not move.
"What did you say?"
Vanessa swallowed.
"After she fell."
"Before the ambulance came."
"Richard whispered to me."
"What?"
"He said, 'If she doesn't make it, this gets easier.'"
Even Martin Hale looked sick.
Harrison stood.
Vanessa flinched.
He did not approach her.
He simply gathered his papers.
"Mr. Cole."
Vanessa's voice shook.
He looked back.
"I'm sorry."
Harrison studied her.
Then he said quietly.
"Save it for my sister."
He left the room.
Five minutes later, the prosecutor followed him.
"We can charge Richard with conspiracy."
"Do it."
"We need corroboration."
"You'll have it."
"How?"
Harrison looked through the courthouse window.
"Because Richard still believes Vanessa loves him."
The prosecutor understood.
"You want her wired."
May you like
Harrison nodded.
"And I want Richard to explain everything in his own voice."
