Chapter 8 - VANESSA'S DEAL
Police traced Vanessa's phone to a private club downtown.
By the time officers arrived, she was gone.
Charles was gone too.
But the club cameras showed them leaving separately.
Vanessa looked terrified.
Charles looked calm.
That scared me more.
Brooks obtained a warrant for Charles's office.
His files were meticulous.
Fake psychological reports.
Draft custody petitions.
Copies of my travel calendar.
Even staged photographs of empty wine bottles placed beside Emma's toys.
One folder was labeled RACHEL - PHASE 2.
Inside was a plan.
Step one: establish emotional instability.
Step two: create child-safety incident.
Step three: trigger emergency guardianship.
Step four: activate trust control.
Step five: negotiate marital separation.
I felt nauseated.
Michael read the last line twice.
"Negotiate marital separation?"
Brooks turned the page.
There was a draft settlement.
It offered me two million dollars to surrender any claim to Patterson Foods and accept supervised visitation with Emma.
"I would never sign this."
"That's why they needed you legally discredited," Brooks said.
Then Denise found a calendar note.
FRIDAY - E.P. TRANSFER FINAL.
Emma Patterson.
Not just guardian transfer.
Asset transfer.
Margaret planned to move Emma's trust assets the same day she took legal control.
Michael called the bank.
Too late.
A transfer request had already been submitted.
Eighteen million dollars.
Destination: Vane Strategic Holdings.
Brooks cursed under her breath.
"Can you freeze it?"
The bank said they needed proof of fraud.
We had hours.
Then an officer entered carrying a small evidence bag.
It contained a key card found in Charles's desk.
St. Matthew's Retirement Center.
Michael looked puzzled.
Brooks searched the name.
Maria Santos.
Richard's missing nurse.
She was living there under her married name.
We drove straight over.
Maria was eighty-one, sharp-eyed, and afraid.
When she saw Michael, she started crying.
"Your father told me you would come."
Michael sat beside her.
"Blue room."
Maria nodded.
"He hid the ledger there."
"Where is the blue room?"
May you like
She looked at me.
"In Margaret's house."
