Chapter 16 - The Woman at the Elevator
Vanessa found me outside Ruth's office the following morning. The glittering dress was gone. She wore jeans, flat shoes, and a coat she kept pulling around herself as though the building was cold.
“Can we talk?” she asked.
“You can speak to the investigators.”
“Diane told me she'd make sure my baby never had to worry about money.”
“You believed taking money from hospital contracts was the way to do that?”
Vanessa looked down. “I knew about the plan to embarrass you. I knew Everett would call security. I didn't know Daniel was moving that much money until after.”
“Then tell the truth. All of it.”
She held out her phone. “I saved the messages. Diane threatened to cut me off if I didn't keep quiet.”
I didn't take it. Ruth arranged for the investigators to receive a forensic copy with counsel present. I refused to trade promises of immunity for evidence I had no power to excuse.
Before she left, Vanessa said, “Everett told me you were cruel. He said you never cared about anything but control.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I wanted to.”
The admission was the first honest thing I'd heard from her.
That afternoon, evidence from Zurich arrived through the formal review. Payments from Wardbridge's equipment account had been redirected through an intermediary connected to Rook's adviser. The chain wasn't complete, but the money wasn't where the purchase agreement said it should be.
At six, the bank called. The bridge financing had cleared its final approval. The business could survive Friday.
May you like
Then the board chair told me Everett's lawyer had requested an emergency meeting to challenge my ownership before the vote.
“He has one last move,” she said. “And he's making it tomorrow morning.”
