Chương 10
“She wrote that decades ago.”
“Yes.”
“And kept it hidden in Victoria’s basement?”
Ortiz glanced toward Victoria.
“Was the basement part of this house when you bought it?”
“Yes.”
“Did the Vance family ever own this property before you?”
“No.”
Victoria’s answer came slowly because the question opened another one.
“Julian moved boxes into that basement when he became CEO.”
Ortiz turned toward her.
“What kind of boxes?”
“Corporate records, supposedly.”
“When?”
“About three years ago.”
Chloe looked toward the detective.
“So my brother hid the letter.”
Ortiz did not answer.
Victoria’s phone vibrated on the bed.
Mara’s voice came through the speaker.
“Victoria, ask her when the letter was written.”
Ortiz looked at the phone.
“The page appears dated October 1999.”
Mara went silent.
Chloe stepped closer.
“What?”
Mara’s voice returned, strained.
“My aunt disappeared in November.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
“Leah?”
“Yes.”
Chloe stared.
“Her mother disappeared too?”
“Nine months after Camille.”
Ortiz’s gaze sharpened.
“That wasn’t in the summary we pulled.”
“It wouldn’t be.”
Mara exhaled.
“She was found.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“New Mexico.”
Chloe’s shoulders dropped slightly.
Then Mara added, “She had no memory of how she got there.”
The room went quiet again.
Victoria watched the fetal monitor and listened to the steady rhythm of her daughter’s heart.
Ortiz asked, “Was she injured?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“Head trauma.”
“Was anyone charged?”
“No.”
Chloe rubbed both hands over her face.
“This family is unbelievable.”
Mara said, “Leah accused Richard.”
“Of attacking her?”
“Of arranging it.”
“Based on what?”
“She remembered arguing with Eleanor.”
Chloe froze.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“About Camille?”
“Yes.”
Mara’s voice became careful.
“Leah believed Eleanor knew more than she admitted.”
Ortiz took out her notebook.
“What exactly did Leah remember?”
“She went to confront Eleanor at a restaurant.”
“When?”
“The day she disappeared.”
“And then?”
“Nothing until she woke in a motel outside Santa Fe.”
Chloe’s face twisted.
“So my mother may have helped get rid of Camille, then tried to kill Camille’s mother too.”
Mara said, “That is not established.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I have to.”
“No, you choose to.”
Mara went silent.
Chloe turned away.
Victoria could see the anger shaking through her shoulders.
The nurse returned and checked the monitor.
The contraction pattern had become more regular.
“Every six minutes now.”
Victoria nodded.
The nurse looked at Ortiz.
“She needs rest.”
Ortiz closed her notebook.
“I’ll keep this brief.”
She turned to Chloe.
“We need a formal statement from you later.”
“Fine.”
“And from Julian.”
“Good luck.”
Ortiz looked at Victoria.
“Your husband is asking to come here.”
“No.”
The answer came before Victoria had time to think.
Ortiz nodded once.
“We’ll make sure he doesn’t enter.”
Chloe glanced at Victoria.
It was the first time she had seen Victoria refuse Julian without explanation.
Something in her expression changed.
Not admiration.
Something closer to recognition.
Ortiz continued.
“We also found a locked metal file box in the basement.”
Mara spoke immediately.
“Do not open it without a warrant.”
Ortiz gave a dry smile.
“I’m aware.”
Chloe muttered, “Everybody in this room has trust issues.”
The nurse almost smiled.
Ortiz looked at Victoria.
“We have enough for a warrant application based on tonight’s incident and the evidence already in plain view.”
“Will you get it?”
“That decision belongs to a judge.”
Victoria nodded.
The answer was slower than she wanted, but believable.
Ortiz moved toward the door.
Then Chloe stopped her.
“Detective.”
Ortiz turned.
“My mother is at this hospital.”
“Yes.”
“Can she leave?”
“If doctors clear her and we have no lawful basis to hold her, potentially.”
Chloe’s jaw tightened.
“She tried to kill Victoria.”
“We’re investigating attempted aggravated assault.”
“Attempted?”
Ortiz looked at her.
“The evidence has to be processed.”
Chloe’s mouth opened.
Victoria said, “Let her do her job.”
Chloe looked at her.
Victoria continued.
“If Eleanor walks out because somebody rushed this, she wins.”
Chloe closed her mouth.
Ortiz gave Victoria a brief nod and left.
Mara was still on the phone.
Victoria picked it up from the bed.
“Mara.”
“I’m here.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
A long silence followed.
Chloe sat down again.
Mara said, “Because I wasn’t representing you in the Vance family matter.”
“You were representing me.”
“In corporate matters.”
“You knew I married Julian.”
“Yes.”
“You knew who his father was.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew Camille disappeared.”
“Yes.”
Victoria felt anger rise more cleanly than fear had.
“You watched me put him in charge of my company.”
Mara’s voice tightened.
“I advised against it.”
“You said governance concentration was a risk.”
“It was.”
“You didn’t say my husband came from a family connected to a missing child.”
“I didn’t have proof he was involved in anything.”
“He was fifteen.”
“I know.”
“That is not the point.”
“I know.”
Victoria breathed through another contraction.
This one lasted longer.
When it passed, she said, “You let me make decisions without material information.”
Mara did not defend herself.
That hurt more.
Chloe watched Victoria closely.
Mara finally said, “I was afraid.”
Victoria frowned.
“Of what?”
“Of becoming Leah.”
Chloe leaned forward.
Mara continued.
“My family spent years being told we were obsessive, vindictive, unstable.”
Her voice had lost the lawyer’s control.
“Every time we pushed, Richard’s attorneys accused us of harassing the Vances.”
“Why didn’t you go public?”
“We tried once.”
“What happened?”
“A reporter backed out.”
“Why?”
“Threats of litigation.”
Chloe said, “From my father?”
“From his company.”
Victoria stared at the wall.
Bellweather had absorbed two smaller development firms after her father died.
One of them had once partnered with Richard Vance.
She had never examined those old files.
“What company?”
Mara hesitated.
“Hawthorne Land Partners.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
Chloe noticed.
“You know it.”
“My company acquired part of Hawthorne’s portfolio.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
Mara said, “That’s how Julian entered your orbit.”
Victoria’s eyes opened.
“What?”
Chloe went still.
Mara immediately sounded like she wanted the words back.
Victoria sat straighter.
“Say that again.”
“Victoria.”
May you like
“How did Julian enter my orbit?”
Mara sighed.
