Chapter 10 - Vanessa's Second Phone
The emergency injunction was filed within three hours.
By sunset, a judge had frozen any transaction involving Lily's trust.
For the first time, the scheme hit a wall larger than Claire.
Banks were notified.
Corporate counsel was notified.
Regulators were notified.
Bennett Capital's board was notified.
Evelyn could no longer move quietly.
The next morning, she was removed temporarily as chairwoman pending an internal investigation.
Grant did not defend her.
He voted with the board.
Claire saw the news alert while making Lily breakfast.
EVELYN BENNETT STEPS ASIDE AMID GOVERNANCE REVIEW.
Lily looked at the phone.
"Is that Grandma?"
"Yes."
"Is she in trouble?"
Claire placed the phone face down.
"Adults are asking her questions."
Lily ate one strawberry.
"Did she make Vanessa cut my hair?"
Claire froze.
Children sometimes walked directly into truths adults spent days avoiding.
"We think she helped Vanessa make bad choices."
"Then she's bad too?"
Claire sat beside her.
"People can do bad things. Sometimes very bad things. But I don't want you to spend your life deciding who is bad and who is good."
Lily frowned.
"Why?"
"Because what matters most is whether someone is safe."
"Is Grandma safe?"
Claire's throat tightened.
"Not for you right now."
Lily accepted that answer more easily than Claire expected.
At noon, Ortiz called.
Vanessa wanted to talk.
Not through Richard.
Not through her new public defender.
To Claire.
"No."
Ortiz almost sounded relieved.
"That's what I expected."
"Why does she want me?"
"She says she'll explain Thomas."
Claire stared at the kitchen wall.
"Maya can hear it."
"Her attorney says only if Claire is present."
Maya advised against direct contact.
Then Vanessa offered something more.
The password to the third phone.
Claire agreed to sit behind one-way glass while Vanessa spoke to Ortiz.
Vanessa entered wearing county-issued clothing.
Her perfect hair was uneven where Claire had cut it.
For one shameful second, Claire remembered the fury of that moment.
Then she looked at Vanessa's face.
The woman no longer seemed cold.
She seemed terrified.
Ortiz sat across from her.
"Where is Thomas Vale?"
"I don't know."
"Then why did you ask Claire to come?"
Vanessa looked toward the mirror.
She knew Claire was there.
"Because she'll understand."
Claire did not.
Ortiz said, "Understand what?"
"Thomas doesn't care about Evelyn."
"Did Evelyn organize the custody plan?"
"Part of it."
"Which part?"
"Claire."
Vanessa rubbed her wrists.
"Evelyn wanted Claire discredited. She wanted Grant to have custody long enough to gain control of the shares."
"And then?"
"Thomas wanted Grant gone."
Claire's heart beat harder.
"How?"
Ortiz asked.
Vanessa looked down.
"I don't know."
"Your messages show you asked."
"He never answered."
"Who killed Eric Donnelly?"
Vanessa's head snapped up.
"I don't know anything about that."
"Who helped Thomas fake his death?"
"I don't know."
"Did Richard?"
Vanessa said nothing.
Ortiz leaned closer.
"Vanessa, Richard Vale disappeared yesterday."
Fear moved across her face.
"What?"
"You didn't know?"
She shook her head.
For the first time, Claire believed one of her reactions completely.
Vanessa whispered, "Then he's going after him."
"Who?"
"Thomas."
"Why?"
"Because Richard wanted out."
Ortiz waited.
Vanessa looked toward the mirror again.
"Claire."
Claire remained invisible.
Vanessa continued.
"I know you hate me."
Claire's jaw tightened.
"I deserve it."
Claire said nothing.
"You think I hurt Lily because I hated her."
Vanessa's eyes filled.
"I didn't."
Claire almost walked out.
Ortiz asked, "Then why did you cut her hair?"
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"Because Evelyn told me Claire had to explode."
"That's not an answer."
"I was scared."
"Of Evelyn?"
"Of Thomas."
Ortiz leaned back.
"Explain."
Vanessa took a breath.
"I met Thomas seven years ago. I thought he was charming. Rich. Connected."
"Did you know Richard Vale?"
"Only through Thomas."
"Did you know Thomas planned to fake his death?"
"No."
"Did you know you were pregnant?"
"Not until three weeks after he disappeared."
"Why didn't you tell Richard?"
"I tried."
"What happened?"
"He told me Thomas was dead and accused me of trying to extort the family."
"So you raised Chloe alone."
"Yes."
"How did you reconnect with Thomas?"
Vanessa looked at the table.
"He contacted me two years ago."
Claire felt her skin prickle.
Before Grant met Vanessa.
Before the divorce.
"What did he want?"
"He wanted access to Grant."
Claire closed her eyes.
There it was.
Vanessa's relationship with Grant had never been accidental.
Ortiz asked, "Did Thomas tell you to date Grant?"
Vanessa cried silently.
"Yes."
Claire looked away.
"He said Grant's marriage was already failing. He gave me places Grant would be. Charity events. Restaurants. Business dinners."
Grant had believed he met Vanessa by chance at a fundraiser.
There had been no chance.
"Why did you agree?"
Vanessa whispered, "He promised Chloe would finally have a father."
Ortiz's voice hardened.
"Thomas?"
She nodded.
"He said once everything was finished, we'd leave together."
Claire almost laughed at the cruelty.
Thomas had used Chloe to control Vanessa just as Vanessa later used the girls.
Ortiz asked, "When did Evelyn become involved?"
"Thomas introduced us."
"Did Evelyn know he was alive?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
"I think from the beginning."
"Why did she help fake his death?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"I don't know."
Ortiz pushed the third phone toward her.
"Password."
Vanessa looked toward the mirror.
"Claire has to promise something first."
Ortiz said, "You don't get to negotiate with her."
"Please."
Claire pressed the intercom button before Maya could stop her.
"What?"
Vanessa turned toward the glass.
Even though she could not see Claire, she spoke directly to her.
"Protect Chloe."
Claire's anger flared.
"You should have done that."
Vanessa began crying harder.
"I know."
"You made her watch you hurt Lily."
"I know."
"You made both of them afraid."
"I know."
"You don't get to ask me for anything."
Vanessa lowered her head.
"No."
Claire almost released the button.
Then Vanessa whispered, "Thomas wants her."
Claire froze.
"Why?"
"She's proof."
"Proof of what?"
"That he was alive after the lake."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Her DNA. Her birth date."
Claire's heartbeat quickened.
Vanessa continued.
"If investigators connect Chloe to Thomas, they can prove he was with me after his supposed death."
Claire looked at Ortiz.
Vanessa whispered, "He'll take her or he'll make sure no one can use her."
Claire's anger transformed.
"Password."
Vanessa gave it.
Owen unlocked the phone.
Inside the encrypted application were hundreds of messages.
Most from Thomas.
One contained a photograph taken three nights earlier.
Claire stared at it.
Chloe was asleep in Grant's house.
The photograph had been taken from inside her bedroom.
After police protection had already begun.
May you like
Under it, Thomas had written:
You were never the only one who could get inside.
