Chapter 2 - Victor Cole Stops the Game
Vanessa recovered quickly.
Too quickly.
"That's not mine."
Nobody answered.
She pointed toward the scattered contents of her purse.
"Someone planted it."
Ethan stared at her.
"In your purse?"
"I don't know how it got there."
Margaret held her pension card so tightly that the edge pressed into her palm.
"How did my card get there?"
Vanessa looked at Ethan instead of Margaret.
"Say something."
Ethan appeared unable to speak.
Victor turned to the security manager.
"Name."
"Owen Mercer."
"Not yours. Hers."
Owen understood.
He examined the VIP card again.
"Helena Eleanor Cole."
Victor closed his eyes for a fraction of a second.
Margaret saw grief pass over his face.
Not the polished grief of public memorials.
Something private.
Something raw.
Victor took the card.
"My wife's casino access was terminated when she died."
Owen shook his head.
"The physical card was never recovered."
Victor's eyes snapped toward him.
"What do you mean?"
"It wasn't in the property inventory."
"You told me every account was closed."
"They were. This card shouldn't have functioned."
"But it did."
Owen looked toward the monitor.
"Apparently someone found another way."
Vanessa grabbed her phone from the table.
Owen stepped between her and the aisle.
"I'm not detaining you," he said calmly. "But if you destroy anything while we are preserving evidence of suspected fraud, that choice will be documented."
Vanessa lowered the phone.
Margaret looked at Victor.
"I want to leave."
Victor nodded immediately.
"You can."
Margaret glanced toward Ethan.
"I wasn't asking permission."
Victor's expression changed slightly.
Perhaps respect.
Perhaps shame.
"I understand."
She tried to take a step.
Her injured knee nearly collapsed.
Victor pulled the velvet chair toward her.
"Sit."
Margaret hesitated, then lowered herself carefully.
Owen brought her a glass of water.
She opened the medicine bottle.
Her hand trembled.
Ethan moved closer.
"Mom."
"Don't."
"Mom, I didn't know about the pension."
"You knew you had my medicine."
His face tightened.
"I wasn't really going to keep it."
"You already did."
"I panicked."
Margaret looked at him.
"You let your wife put me on the floor."
He had no answer.
Vanessa gave a bitter laugh.
"Wonderful. We're all going to pretend Ethan is innocent now."
Ethan spun toward her.
"You told me the debt was mine."
"It is."
"You said I lost two hundred and forty thousand dollars."
"You did."
Owen spoke from the monitor.
"Not according to our records."
Everyone turned.
He had pulled up Ethan's verified player account.
The total losses were displayed.
Thirty-eight thousand four hundred twenty dollars.
A terrible amount.
But nowhere near two hundred and forty thousand.
Ethan walked toward the screen.
"No."
Owen expanded the timeline.
"Your documented casino losses over nineteen months total thirty-eight thousand four hundred twenty dollars. There are additional attempted transactions that were declined."
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
"You showed me statements."
Vanessa's face hardened.
"You lost money. Don't suddenly act like a saint."
"I know what I lost."
"Do you?"
Margaret watched her son's shock and felt no relief.
Thirty-eight thousand dollars was still gambling.
Still deceit.
Still enough for him to have participated in what happened tonight.
But it meant something else.
Someone had built a larger lie around his real weakness.
Victor was thinking the same thing.
"Where did the two hundred thousand figure come from?"
Ethan pointed at Vanessa.
"She handled everything after I told her."
Vanessa scoffed.
"You begged me to fix it."
"You told me the casino was adding penalties."
Victor's voice cooled.
"We don't add secret gambling penalties."
Ethan looked sick.
Owen changed screens.
The pension transactions appeared.
Small withdrawals first.
Two thousand.
Three thousand.
Five thousand.
Then larger amounts.
Nine thousand.
Twelve thousand.
Fifteen thousand.
Total transferred or withdrawn over seven months:
One hundred eighty-seven thousand six hundred dollars.
Margaret stared.
She could hear slot machines behind her.
Somewhere nearby, strangers laughed.
A cocktail glass touched a tray.
The world continued as though one hundred eighty-seven thousand dollars had not just disappeared from her retirement.
"That's impossible."
Owen looked toward her.
"Mrs. Hayes, did you authorize any casino transfers?"
"No."
"Any gaming account?"
"No."
"Any shared financial authority with your son or daughter-in-law?"
"No."
Vanessa interrupted.
"She's seventy."
Margaret turned slowly.
Vanessa continued.
"She forgets things."
Margaret stood despite the pain.
"Say that again."
Vanessa fell silent.
"My age does not make me confused. My bandaged knee does not make me stupid. My heart condition does not make my money yours."
Victor glanced at Owen.
"Preserve everything."
Owen nodded.
"Already started."
"Every transaction tied to Helena's card. Every camera angle. Every employee login. Every device identifier."
Vanessa stepped backward.
"You can't accuse me because of some card."
Victor looked at her.
"I haven't accused you of anything."
His gaze moved to Helena's name.
"Yet."
Then Owen stared at another window on the monitor.
His posture stiffened.
"Mr. Cole."
"What?"
"There is something else."
Vanessa moved toward the exit.
Owen didn't stop her.
He only said, "The card was used yesterday."
Vanessa froze.
Victor turned.
"Where?"
Owen enlarged the record.
"Not on the casino floor."
May you like
He looked directly at Victor.
"It accessed your late wife's private account archive."
