Chapter 17 - The Woman in Silver
Vanessa hadn't changed her dress. The silver satin was creased, and the heel I'd caught was scuffed. In the lobby of the Hartwell Grand, she looked less like a queen than a woman who'd run out of places to hide.
Adrian stood ten feet from her. Two plainclothes officers waited near the concierge desk.
"Give me the case," he said.
Vanessa hugged it to her chest. "I am your fiancée."
"You had Iris taken."
"I never told Pike to hurt her."
"You paid him to hold her."
She looked toward me. "This housekeeper has turned you against your own family."
"No," Adrian replied. "You did that."
Her voice cracked. "Grant said the building was practically empty. He said the people left were squatters."
"The engineering report told you there were families inside," I said. "You initialed it."
"I was trying to save the foundation."
"You were trying to save yourself."
I thought she'd slap me. Instead she sat on the lobby sofa and covered her face.
One of the officers approached. "Ms. Sterling, we have a warrant for records relating to the foundation's payments. Please set the case down."
She handed it over only after her lawyer arrived. Inside were invoices, a handwritten list of transfers to Glassline Services, and a spreadsheet tallying money billed for relocations the families said had never occurred.
As officers escorted her away, Vanessa twisted toward me.
"I only wanted the cameras on you for one minute," she hissed. "Just one minute."
I met her eyes. "That minute almost cost Iris her life."
Owen appeared beside the front desk with a laptop.
"Lena," he said, "I found something else in the original footage. Somebody was directing the photographers before Vanessa came near you."
May you like
He turned the screen.
The person giving the signal was Grant Vale.
