Chapter 6 - The Attorney Outside
Daniel stood between the front door and Vanessa.
Outside, Samuel continued pounding.
Inside, Olivia struggled through another contraction.
The mansion had become a locked courtroom.
Every person had a different story.
Every story accused someone else.
Daniel placed one hand against the door.
“Samuel, how did you get through the gate?”
“I used my emergency credentials.”
“The security system rejected mine.”
“Because someone removed you as an authorized user.”
Daniel looked toward Vanessa.
She shook her head.
“I didn’t do that.”
Samuel raised his voice.
“Do not listen to her!”
“She submitted fraudulent trust documents using Olivia’s identity.”
Vanessa moved closer to the door.
“You told me the documents were legal!”
A sudden silence followed.
Daniel slowly turned toward her.
“You worked with Samuel?”
Vanessa realized what she had revealed.
“I consulted him.”
“About stealing forty-eight million dollars?”
“It wasn’t stealing.”
Olivia spoke from the sofa.
“You created a private company to receive the money.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“That company was meant to protect the assets.”
“From whom?”
Vanessa pointed toward the door.
“From him.”
Samuel struck the door again.
“She is lying!”
Daniel looked at the security panel.
The system remained locked.
“Samuel, who sent you the video?”
“What video?”
“The recording of Vanessa attacking Olivia.”
There was a brief pause.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Daniel looked at Olivia.
That answer mattered.
Eleven people had received the video.
Samuel was listed first.
Either he was lying, or the sender had manipulated the recipient list.
“Tell me about Claire,” Daniel demanded.
Another pause.
“What does Claire have to do with this?”
“You were the last person she called.”
The pounding stopped.
Daniel waited.
Samuel’s voice became quieter.
“Who told you that?”
“Vanessa.”
“She will say anything to survive.”
“Did Claire call you?”
“Yes.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“What did she say?”
Samuel did not answer immediately.
Then he spoke.
“She said she had discovered the identity of the person stealing from Bennett Holdings.”
“Who?”
“She refused to say over the phone.”
“She asked me to meet her at the lake house.”
“The lake house was thirty miles from where she crashed.”
“I know.”
“Did you go?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Samuel’s voice tightened.
“Because Victor Hale called me first.”
Olivia lifted her head.
The chief financial officer.
The man who had reported the irregular trust withdrawals that morning.
“What did Victor say?” Daniel asked.
“He claimed Claire had stolen confidential financial records.”
“He warned that meeting her could make me an accomplice.”
Vanessa gave a bitter laugh.
“And you believed him.”
“I believed the evidence he provided.”
“What evidence?”
“Documents carrying Claire’s signature.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Documents you later admitted were forged.”
Samuel did not respond.
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“You knew the evidence was false?”
“I discovered that after her death.”
“And you never told me?”
“I was protecting the company.”
Daniel slammed his hand against the door.
“You were protecting yourself!”
Olivia tried to stand.
A severe contraction forced her back down.
“Daniel…”
He rushed toward her.
Her skin had become pale.
“We need to get her out,” he said.
Samuel answered immediately.
“I can override the doors from the exterior panel.”
Vanessa blocked Daniel’s path.
“Do not let him enter.”
“Our children are coming.”
“He won’t take her to a hospital.”
Daniel stared at Vanessa.
“What are you talking about?”
Vanessa removed the syringe from her handbag.
She held it carefully by the plastic casing.
“I found this in Samuel’s office yesterday.”
Samuel shouted through the door.
“That is not mine!”
Vanessa looked at Daniel.
“It contains a concentrated sedative.”
“In Olivia’s condition, it could stop her breathing.”
Olivia stared at the syringe.
Vanessa continued.
“Samuel told me we might need to keep Olivia unconscious long enough to complete the transfer.”
Daniel’s face transformed.
“You planned this together.”
“I thought he wanted to protect the trust.”
“You brought a weapon into my home.”
“I never intended to use it.”
“You punched my wife.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears that did not soften Olivia.
“I lost control.”
Samuel’s voice came through the door.
“She is manipulating you!”
“Open the door and I can prove it!”
A beep sounded from the security panel.
Someone outside had initiated an override.
The lock began counting down.
EXTERNAL ACCESS GRANTED
DOOR RELEASE IN THIRTY SECONDS
Vanessa stepped backward.
“He’s coming inside.”
Daniel picked up the fireplace poker.
Olivia reached for his arm.
“Daniel, listen to me.”
He looked down.
“Neither of them is telling the whole truth.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Open the door.”
Vanessa stared at her.
“Are you insane?”
Olivia’s eyes remained on Daniel.
“Samuel came here after the video was sent.”
“He knows we have evidence.”
“If he wanted to kill me, he wouldn’t choose this moment.”
Daniel understood.
“You think he wants something inside the house.”
“The trust documents,” Olivia said.
Vanessa looked toward the coffee table.
The authorization form was still there.
The countdown reached ten seconds.
Samuel stopped speaking.
The sudden silence was more frightening than his shouting.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Daniel raised the poker.
Two.
One.
The front door unlocked.
It opened slowly.
Samuel Price stood outside in a dark suit.
Rain covered his shoulders.
There was blood on his left hand.
Daniel stared at it.
Samuel followed his gaze.
Then he looked behind himself.
A black car waited near the gate.
Its driver’s door was open.
“No one else comes inside,” Daniel said.
Samuel stepped across the threshold.
“I came alone.”
Olivia looked at the blood.
“What happened to your hand?”
Samuel closed the door behind him.
“This isn’t my blood.”
A figure suddenly appeared in the narrow window beside the door.
A man collapsed against the glass.
His face left a red smear as he slid to the ground.
Daniel recognized him.
Victor Hale.
Samuel turned toward the window.
“He followed me.”
Vanessa whispered,
“Is he dead?”
Samuel looked at her.
May you like
“No.”
“Claire made sure of that.”
