Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Adrian called me at 6:12 the next morning.
I didn't answer.
He called again.
And again.
On the fourth call, Dad reached for my phone.
“Block him.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because people talk when they're desperate.”
Dad studied me.
Then nodded.
I answered.
“Eleanor.”
Adrian sounded exhausted.
“Where are you?”
“Safe.”
“I need to explain.”
“Start with Marcus.”
Silence.
“I didn't hurt him.”
“You were in his car.”
“How do you know that?”
“Wrong question.”
He exhaled.
“Vanessa told me Marcus was stealing.”
“And you believed her.”
“I confronted him.”
“You seem to do a lot of things because Vanessa tells you to.”
“Eleanor.”
“Did you know she was stealing from my accounts?”
Another silence.
“What accounts?”
I closed my eyes.
Maybe he truly didn't know.
Or maybe he was becoming a better liar.
“She stole thirty-two million dollars.”
“What?”
“Through shell companies.”
“No.”
“Her company received the money.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does if she knew who my father was.”
He stopped breathing.
I could hear it.
“Did she know?”
“I think so.”
“Eleanor, listen to me. Vanessa told me your family had debts. She said you were hiding financial problems.”
I laughed bitterly.
“And you believed that too?”
“She had documents.”
“Forged documents?”
“I don't know anymore.”
There it was.
Not remorse.
Confusion.
His entire world had been built on certainty.
Now every wall was moving.
“Where is Vanessa?” I asked.
“I don't know.”
“You left the police station without her?”
“She disappeared.”
My eyes opened.
“What?”
“They wanted to question her again. She asked to use the restroom. She never came back.”
I looked at Dad.
He could hear Adrian through speakerphone.
Dad immediately texted Daniel.
Adrian continued.
“Her car is still at the house.”
“Where are you?”
“At the office.”
“Why?”
“Because the board called an emergency meeting.”
I almost smiled.
“And how's that going?”
“Don't.”
“What happened to results, Adrian?”
He went silent.
I regretted nothing.
Then his voice lowered.
“There is something you need to know.”
“What?”
“Marcus told me Vanessa had been planning to leave.”
“With him?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“He said she was scared.”
“Of what?”
“You.”
I frowned.
“Me?”
“He said Vanessa found out something about your family.”
My heart started beating faster.
“What exactly?”
“He wouldn't tell me. That's why we fought.”
“Where did Marcus go after the parking garage?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how did you end up in his car?”
Adrian hesitated.
Too long.
“Tell me.”
“Vanessa called me forty minutes later.”
“And?”
“She said Marcus had collapsed.”
“Where?”
“An old Vale Meridian warehouse near the river.”
Dad's head snapped up.
I gripped the phone.
“Was he alive?”
“Yes.”
“You left him?”
“No! I called an ambulance.”
Ramirez had never mentioned an ambulance.
Dad was already typing.
“Adrian, was Marcus taken to the hospital?”
“I thought he was.”
“You thought?”
“Vanessa said she'd wait with him. I had to go home because you were there and—”
He stopped.
Because he had gone home to assault me.
Neither of us said it.
Then Dad's phone vibrated.
He read the message.
His face turned grim.
“What?” I whispered.
He showed me.
No ambulance had ever been dispatched to that warehouse.
I returned to the call.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“Vanessa lied.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
Before he could respond, I heard glass shatter on his end.
Then a voice in the background.
A woman's voice.
Vanessa.
May you like
“You should've stayed with your wife, Adrian.”
The call went dead.
