Chapter 6 - the person behind Lauren
Detective Cole told me not to respond.
I wanted to.
I wanted to type every threat I could imagine.
Instead I handed her my phone.
She photographed the messages and began the process of preserving them.
"Do you think Lauren sent these?"
"I don't know."
"Does she have this number?"
"Yes."
"Grant?"
"Yes."
"Anyone else?"
"Most foundation employees."
Cole nodded.
"Do not contact either of them tonight."
"Lauren is my sister."
"Tonight she's also connected to an incident involving your child."
The sentence hurt more than I expected.
I left Mercer House at six fifteen.
Helen came home with me.
I did not ask.
She simply got into my car after making sure the building was secured.
At home, she heated soup while I sat on the sofa holding Mila.
For almost an hour, neither of us discussed what happened.
Then Helen said, "Your mother once thought Lauren was taking money."
I stared at her.
"What?"
Helen placed the soup on the table.
"Three years ago."
"You knew?"
"I knew your mother was worried."
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"You were living in Denver."
"I would have come home."
"That may be why she didn't tell you."
I stood.
"What happened?"
"She started checking files after hours."
"Did she find anything?"
"I don't know."
"Did she tell you Lauren was involved?"
"Not directly."
Helen hesitated.
"She asked me once whether I'd ever seen Lauren using the upstairs office late at night with Grant."
My stomach tightened.
"Had you?"
"Yes."
"How often?"
"Enough that your mother asked."
I sat again.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"Because your mother died before she explained what she believed. Suspicion is not proof."
"She wrote L and G in her notes."
Helen's eyes narrowed.
"What notes?"
I told her.
She became very still.
"Where are they?"
"Copies are with the auditor."
"The originals?"
"In a safe deposit box."
She exhaled.
"Good."
I looked at her.
"You thought they might disappear."
"I think anything that frightens people can disappear."
That night I barely slept.
Every time Mila moved, I woke.
At three fourteen in the morning, I searched Brightwell Community Logistics again.
This time I used the registered agent name.
Thomas Vale.
Grant's older brother.
My heart started pounding.
I searched property records.
Brightwell's first mailing address had been a house owned by Lauren.
Not currently.
Three years earlier.
I took screenshots.
At seven, Detective Cole called.
"We identified the anonymous welfare call."
My breath caught.
"Who?"
"Prepaid phone."
Disappointment.
Then she continued.
"Purchased yesterday morning at a pharmacy four blocks from Mercer House."
"Camera?"
"Yes."
"Who bought it?"
"We're working on identification."
That meant they knew.
Or almost knew.
"Was it Lauren?"
"I can't confirm."
"Grant?"
"I can't confirm."
I understood the limits.
Before we ended the call, she added, "Do you know a man named Peter Sloan?"
The name was vaguely familiar.
"Foundation contractor?"
"Security consultant."
Then I remembered.
He had upgraded Mercer House cameras the previous year.
"What about him?"
"He entered the building Friday night after ten."
My skin prickled.
"Why?"
"His access card was used."
"We had no scheduled work."
"That's what we're investigating."
After the call, I searched Peter Sloan.
Former police officer.
Private security contractor.
Company owner.
Frequent subcontractor for nonprofits.
Then I remembered something else.
Peter had been at my mother's funeral.
Not as staff.
Standing beside Grant.
At nine, Samuel Price called.
"The board meeting Tuesday is now complicated."
"Because Lauren tried to hide my baby outside?"
"Because Lauren's attorney claims she was attempting to recover the baby from an unsafe situation."
I laughed in disbelief.
"She created the unsafe situation."
"That has not yet been legally established."
"She texted Evan."
"Yes."
"She lied about where Mila was."
"Yes."
"She knew the schedule."
"Claire."
"What?"
"Lauren has filed a statement saying you had been acting irrationally for weeks and that she became concerned you might have placed Mila somewhere and forgotten."
For a few seconds I could not speak.
Samuel continued carefully.
"She says she was searching for Mila when Helen returned."
"She told Evan to avoid the hallway."
"I know."
"She told everyone Mila was fine."
"I know."
"She arranged the donor photo that pulled Diane away from the room."
"We believe so."
"Then how can she say that?"
"Because people say many things when consequences arrive."
I closed my eyes.
"There's more, isn't there?"
"Yes."
"Say it."
"She has requested an emergency board vote Monday morning to place you on temporary administrative leave."
I almost admired the audacity.
Almost.
"On what grounds?"
"Reputational protection."
"She hid my daughter and now wants me removed because it looks bad?"
"Essentially."
"What happens to the audit?"
"Lauren's proposal suspends all nonroutine outside reviews pending board approval."
There it was.
Not the baby.
The audit.
Mila was not the target.
She was leverage.
I looked across the room at Helen.
She was rocking Mila near the window.
My voice became very quiet.
"Samuel."
"Yes?"
"Do whatever is necessary to stop the board vote until I can show them what this really is."
"Do you have proof?"
I looked at the folder of screenshots on my laptop.
Brightwell.
Grant.
Lauren's old address.
My mother's notes.
The threatening messages.
"Not enough."
"Then find enough."
After we ended the call, Helen handed Mila back to me.
"What did he say?"
"They want to remove me Monday."
Helen did not look surprised.
"Then whatever your sister planned Saturday isn't finished."
She was right.
And forty minutes later, Detective Cole called again.
This time her voice was different.
"We identified the person buying the prepaid phone."
"Who?"
"Grant Vale."
I gripped the phone.
Cole continued.
"And we found something else."
"What?"
"Grant left Mercer House at two fourteen yesterday."
"After Mila was found."
"Yes."
"He drove the black SUV?"
"Yes."
A pause.
Then she said, "Claire, he wasn't alone."
May you like
"Who was with him?"
"Peter Sloan."
