Chapter 15 - TESSA'S FRONT DOOR
Tessa answered on the third ring.
"Mia?"
"Are you home?"
"Just got back. Why?"
I told her about the photograph. There was a pause, then a quiet breath.
"A man waited outside the building today," she said. "He said he was from the hotel. He wanted me to correct my statement."
"Did he threaten you?"
"He told me my brother's therapy center could lose its sponsorship. I thought he was bluffing."
It wasn't a direct threat of violence. It was worse in one way: it showed how carefully Serena's side had studied the people who could hurt them.
Detective Ellis took the messages and arranged for officers to speak to Tessa. Leah helped her document the encounter. Owen contacted the therapy center to make sure no one could quietly cancel an existing donation while the investigation continued.
"I'm sorry I brought this to your door," I told Tessa.
"You didn't. The people who did this brought it here."
She sounded tired. She also sounded sure.
Two days later, Paul Danner gave investigators a full account of the camera deletion and the envelope. His attorney was present. Paul admitted his part without claiming he'd been the victim. He also named the man who brought the cash: Graham Vale's assistant.
The financial investigators froze several suspect accounts while lawyers sorted out what belonged to the trust. Bennett House was still in danger, but the panic was no longer useful to Graham.
I thought we might finally sleep.
Instead, Owen came downstairs just before midnight holding an empty folder. He'd gone into the nursery to find Ruth's original trust letter, which I'd stored beside June's unopened crib.
"The file is gone," he said.
I looked past him at the nursery door. We'd been at the police station most of the afternoon. Only three people had ever had keys to our house.
May you like
Owen and I had two of them.
Serena had the third.
