Chapter 12 - THE NAME ABOVE VICTOR
Vanessa refused to answer questions.
She sat behind reinforced glass at the hospital, one wrist secured to the bed, and demanded immunity.
“You shot at police, abducted a child, participated in an attempted exchange, and assaulted Emma,” Reed said. “Immunity isn’t realistic.”
“Then Caroline stays hidden.”
Rachel stood outside the interrogation room.
Vanessa knew where Caroline was.
Or wanted them to believe she did.
Lily underwent surgery and was expected to recover fully. Charles also survived, though the bullet damaged one lung. Diane remained in custody.
Emma had not seen the news footage, but she knew Lily was hurt.
“Was it because she told the truth?” Emma asked.
“No.”
“Bad things happen when people tell.”
Rachel sat beside her.
“Bad people want you to believe that.”
“Lily got shot.”
“And because she told the truth, the police found her. She’s alive. Vanessa cannot take her again.”
Emma considered this.
“Is Mommy alive?”
Rachel could not lie.
“I don’t know yet.”
Emma hugged her rabbit, now repaired after the cylinder was removed.
“She is.”
“How do you know?”
“She promised she would come back.”
Rachel wished promises were enough.
The metal cylinder opened a private bank vault in Boston. The account was registered to Daniel Mercer under a false identity. Reed obtained judicial authorization to access it as part of the criminal investigation.
Inside were no financial records.
Only a sealed envelope addressed to Rachel.
She opened it under camera supervision.
Rachel,
If you are reading this, Caroline could not finish what we started.
Your father is guilty, but he is not the architect. Victor Hale is dangerous, but he takes orders from someone your family welcomes into their home.
The ledger is not on paper. It is stored where Charles can see it every day and never recognize it.
Do not trust the police officer who says he found me.
Protect Emma from the woman with the white rose.
Daniel
Rachel read the letter twice.
“What woman with the white rose?” Reed asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Does anyone in your family wear one?”
“Mom used to grow white roses.”
“Anyone else?”
Rachel thought of Joanna’s leather case. A small white rose had been embossed near the clasp.
She immediately rejected the suspicion.
Joanna had protected Emma and Lily.
But Daniel’s letter had been written years earlier. It might refer to a symbol, a company, or a person entirely unrelated to the social worker.
“The ledger is somewhere Charles can see every day,” Reed said. “His office?”
“Possibly.”
Police had already removed computers, documents, paintings, and decorative objects from the estate.
Rachel examined photographs of the office.
A large maritime map covered one wall. Model ships filled a glass cabinet. Charles’s desk faced a portrait of the Ashford family.
“He saw the family portrait every day,” Rachel said.
Technicians removed it from evidence storage.
Behind the canvas was a thin sheet of conductive material containing microprinted data. When scanned with specialized equipment, it revealed thousands of encrypted shipping entries.
The ledger.
The access key from Emma’s rabbit decrypted the first section.
Payments to judges.
Port officials.
Coast Guard personnel.
Private security contractors.
Members of law enforcement.
Then a category marked WR.
White Rose.
Payments flowed to White Rose Foundation, a children’s charity chaired by Eleanor Vale.
Rachel knew the name.
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Eleanor was the wife of Leonard Vale, the attorney her family hired after the attack.
More importantly, she was Joanna Bell’s mother.
