Chapter 9 - the bargain Jessica could not refuse
The police did not arrest Robert that afternoon.
The recordings showed intent to provoke Mark, but the trust fraud required further investigation. Jessica claimed the wine spill had been accidental. Robert insisted his words had been taken out of context.
Yet the officers documented Ava’s wrist, collected the stained trust agreement, and instructed everyone not to destroy potential evidence.
Robert agreed with polished cooperation.
Mark knew it meant nothing.
By nightfall, every important file could disappear.
Rachel secured a temporary order preventing changes to Ava’s trust. She also filed an emergency request to suspend Robert’s authority as trustee.
Mark took Ava home.
She remained quiet during the drive.
After changing out of her stained dress, she sat on the living-room floor with her stuffed fox.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Was Mommy’s name on the bad paper?”
Mark sat beside her.
“Yes.”
“But Mommy is dead.”
“Yes.”
“So someone copied it.”
“I think so.”
“Was it Grandpa?”
Mark did not want to place more fear inside her.
But he would not lie.
“I don’t know yet.”
Ava studied the fox’s fabric ear.
“If he did it, will he go to jail?”
“That is for the police and the court to decide.”
“Will he take me away?”
Mark moved closer.
“No.”
“He said you were unstable.”
“You heard that?”
She nodded.
Mark hated Robert for forcing his daughter to learn a word that had been sharpened into a weapon against her father.
“Being angry when someone hurts your child does not make a person unstable.”
“You shouted.”
“I did.”
“Were you scared?”
Mark considered the question.
“Yes.”
“Of Grandpa?”
“Of losing you.”
Ava leaned against him.
“You won’t.”
He put his arm around her.
“I won’t.”
At ten that night, the doorbell rang.
Mark checked the camera.
Jessica stood outside.
She wore a dark coat and carried the same handbag.
Rachel had advised him not to speak with any family member alone. Mark called her before opening the door.
Jessica entered with no sign of the confidence she had displayed at lunch.
“Is Ava awake?” she asked.
“No.”
It was a lie.
Ava was upstairs with the television playing quietly, but Mark did not want Jessica near her.
Jessica placed the silver key on the kitchen counter.
“Room 214.”
“Why did you have it?”
“Robert gave it to me yesterday.”
“What did he ask you to remove?”
“A metal case.”
“Where is it?”
“I gave it to the woman.”
“The woman in the blue coat?”
Jessica nodded.
“Who is she?”
“I don’t know her real name.”
“What name did she use?”
“Claire.”
Mark waited.
Jessica looked around the small kitchen.
“You really live here?”
He almost laughed.
She had helped target his daughter, yet she still found time to judge his home.
“Why are you here?”
Jessica sat at the counter.
“Robert will blame me.”
“He should.”
“He planned it.”
“You followed the plan.”
“He said no one would touch Ava.”
“You grabbed her.”
“She took the key.”
“She picked it up from the floor.”
Jessica looked away.
Mark continued.
“You spilled wine on a frightened child because Robert told you it would help steal her inheritance.”
“I didn’t know about the inheritance.”
“The recording says you discussed the trust.”
“I thought it was about the board vote.”
“That makes it better?”
“No.”
For the first time, Jessica sounded ashamed.
But shame was not the same as honesty.
Mark placed his phone on the counter where she could see it recording.
“Tell me about Claire.”
Jessica stared at the phone.
“If I help you, I need protection.”
“From Robert?”
“From everyone.”
“What does that mean?”
She opened her handbag and removed a small envelope.
Inside were three photographs.
The first showed Elena entering Hale Meridian headquarters two days before her death.
The second showed Elena speaking to Robert in the underground parking garage.
The third showed a woman in a blue coat watching them from inside a black car.
Mark’s hands became cold.
“Where did you get these?”
“They were inside the metal case.”
“You said you gave it to Claire.”
“I opened it first.”
“What else was inside?”
“Financial records. An old phone. A flash drive.”
“Where are they now?”
“With Claire.”
“Why did Robert want her to have them?”
Jessica swallowed.
“Because he said she could make them disappear permanently.”
Mark looked at Elena’s photograph.
She seemed alive in a way memory could no longer recreate. Her hair moved in the wind. Her hand was raised as if she were in the middle of an argument.
“What happened in that garage?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I was not there.”
“Then why did you mention the reason Elena was driving?”
Jessica’s face tightened.
“Robert told me she was meeting someone that night.”
“Who?”
“He never said.”
“Claire?”
“I don’t know.”
Mark leaned closer.
“Why did you come here?”
Jessica’s voice dropped.
“Because Robert sent me a message an hour ago.”
She showed him her phone.
The message contained only one sentence.
You failed once. Do not fail again.
Beneath it was a photograph of Jessica entering Mark’s house.
May you like
The picture had been taken minutes earlier.
Someone was watching from outside.
