Chapter 9 - EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS
Vanessa walked into the laundry room and shut the door.
I did not follow.
I already had enough for the night.
I packed a small bag, locked the office, and left the house while she was still on the phone.
By 9:00 p.m., I was sitting in Rachel's conference room with Mom, Marcus, and a forensic accountant named Luis Ortega.
Mom had tea in both hands.
I had thirty-seven camera clips on a laptop.
Luis had bank statements.
Rachel had the forged affidavit.
"This is beyond a bad marriage," Rachel said. "We have potential elder abuse, coercion, theft, forgery, and attempted fraud."
Mom looked at me. "What happens now?"
"You stay away from the house until we have protection in place," Rachel said gently.
Mom nodded.
Then Rachel turned to me.
"And you need to stop pretending you're broke."
I leaned back.
"Not yet."
"Daniel--"
"She thinks I'm cornered. That's when she'll make mistakes."
Luis closed a folder. "She already has."
He slid a sheet toward me.
Vanessa had opened a private checking account ten months earlier. Deposits included Mom's pension money, cash advances, and transfers from a joint household account.
Total: $96,400.
Withdrawn or spent: almost all of it.
"On what?" I asked.
Luis pointed to several lines.
Luxury hotel. Jewelry. Cash withdrawals. A real estate attorney. A private investigator.
"Private investigator?"
"Looks like she hired one to research your company and your travel schedule."
I laughed without humor.
She had been tracking me while I was fighting to close the biggest deal of my life.
Rachel watched me.
"Tell your mother the other part."
Mom frowned. "What other part?"
I looked at her.
For eighteen months, she had believed I was failing because Vanessa told her so.
"Mom, I didn't lose the company."
"You didn't?"
"I sold my shares. The deal closed last week."
Her eyes widened.
"For how much?"
I hesitated.
"A little over eight million after taxes and fees."
Mom stared at me.
Then, of all things, she started laughing.
It was the first real laugh I had heard from her since I came home.
"That woman," she said, wiping her eyes, "is going to lose her mind."
Even Rachel smiled.
Then Luis's phone buzzed.
His smile vanished as he read the message.
"We have a problem."
"What?"
"Vanessa just tried to move $300,000 from an account in your name."
I stood.
"That's impossible."
May you like
Luis turned the screen toward me.
"Apparently, she has more than your signature."
