Chapter 4 - ADRIANA'S WILL
Adriana Vale had died on a rain-slick highway outside Greenwich.
Single-car crash.
No witnesses.
Police blamed hydroplaning.
Now Ethan pulled the old file.
Adriana had changed her will three weeks before she died.
Not the version Marcus had seen.
A sealed draft stored with another attorney.
In it, she removed Victoria entirely from any future family role.
"Victoria wasn't in our lives then."
Elena asked, "Then why name her?"
"Because Adriana knew her."
"From where?"
Adriana's private charity work.
She funded a shelter network for women escaping financial abuse.
Victoria had once been a client.
Not a friend.
Adriana helped her leave a wealthy boyfriend named Julian Crest.
"Why didn't I know?"
But Victoria had stayed in contact after leaving the shelter.
Then money began moving.
Small loans.
Rent.
Legal bills.
Later, Adriana cut her off.
No reason recorded.
"Maybe Victoria wasn't grateful."
A black SUV followed her for eleven miles.
Registered to Crest Strategic Security.
Julian Crest's company.
"Get him."
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because if we move before we know the chain, everyone else starts burning evidence."
Marcus hated waiting.
She said quietly, "Open them."
"What?"
"Your hands."
Marcus realized his nails were cutting into his palms.
No praise.
Good.
This was not about earning points.
Brooks showed them the next discovery.
TO: P.R.
He still blames himself for Adriana. That is useful.
Renner replied:
Keep him emotionally unstable. We need the clinical history clean enough to survive review.
Then another.
Victoria:
And the baby?
Renner:
Only if necessary.
"What does 'only if necessary' mean?"
No one answered.
Then Brooks's phone rang.
She listened.
"What?"
"Julian Crest just left the country."
"Where?"
"His plane filed for Zurich."
"But it diverted."
"To where?"
"A private airstrip in upstate New York."
"What's there?"
May you like
The Vale family lodge.
The same place Adriana spent her last weekend alive.
