Chapter 15 - Vanessa's Leverage
Vanessa had never been anyone's loyal partner.
That was the mistake Marcus made.
The mistake Thomas made.
The mistake I made.
She collected leverage.
The death certificate.
Copies of Northstar transfers.
Screenshots of Marcus's instructions.
A recording of Thomas agreeing to keep Claire's death from the board until after a financing round.
She kept everything in encrypted storage.
To make sure nobody could expose her without falling too.
Ortiz obtained the files through a warrant after tracing her accounts and devices.
One folder was labeled INSURANCE.
Directors-and-officers coverage.
Vanessa had researched whether fraud findings would trigger exclusions and personal liability.
She knew exactly what exposure everyone faced.
Another folder was labeled DANIEL.
Inside were drafts of the emails supposedly sent by Claire.
Stop contacting my friends.
Vanessa had edited the words to sound like my sister.
She used old emails as style references.
She even copied Claire's habit of never using exclamation points.
That detail made me hate her more than the money.
Ortiz asked me to identify phrases Claire commonly used.
I had to read the fake messages aloud.
Halfway through, I stopped.
"I can't."
"That's fine."
Noah later asked if Vanessa was coming home.
"Is it because of the cane?"
"That's part of it."
"Was she going to hit Lily?"
I chose my words carefully.
"She scared you both, and that was enough for me to act."
Children do not need courtroom language.
They need certainty about safety.
Then Lily said something that opened another door.
"Vanessa used Aunt Claire's phone voice."
"What do you mean?"
"Sometimes she played Aunt Claire talking. In the office."
"For the computer."
Peter checked Claire's old workstation.
Some internal banking approvals required a short voice-verification phrase.
Vanessa had not generated fake speech.
She had something easier.
Archived corporate voice samples Claire recorded for the authentication system itself.
Someone had exported them.
May you like
The export log showed one name.
Graham Pike.
