Chương 14
“For Thanksgiving?”
“No.”
Vanessa took a breath.
“She said Marcus had been arrested.”
“That happened after police arrived.”
“I know.”
“Why would that bring you back?”
“Because she said I needed to remove something before they searched the house.”
I stopped breathing for a second.
“What?”
“Eleanor, I need protection.”
“You need a lawyer.”
“I need someone to believe me long enough to keep Marcus from finding out I talked.”
“Marcus is in custody.”
“You don’t understand.”
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“The money isn’t his.”
I gripped the phone.
“Whose is it?”
Silence.
Then Vanessa said, “David Mercer’s.”
I did not answer immediately.
Vanessa made a small choking sound.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Then say something.”
“Start with why you believe that.”
“He created Redwood.”
“Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Almost two years ago.”
“Before you and Marcus.”
“Yes.”
That matched the old approval date.
“How do you know?”
“Because I helped him.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“In what capacity?”
“I was doing contract compliance work for one of his former subsidiaries.”
“And Redwood?”
“He asked me to register it.”
“Under your name.”
“As agent.”
“Why?”
“He said he needed a neutral entity for consulting payments while a restructuring deal was confidential.”
“You believed him?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“The invoices.”
“What about them?”
“They weren’t for work I did.”
“Did you receive the money?”
“Some of it passed through accounts I could access.”
“How much?”
She hesitated.
“That is not a number you should hesitate over.”
“About a hundred and eighty thousand.”
My stomach turned.
“For services you did not perform.”
“I moved it.”
“To where?”
“Accounts Mercer gave me.”
“Then you participated.”
“I know.”
The words came out broken.
“God, I know.”
People moved past my cafeteria table carrying coffee, balloons, flowers, plastic trays.
No one looked twice at the old woman in the corner listening to a confession on Thanksgiving morning.
“Why was Marcus involved?”
“He wasn’t at first.”
“Then how did his approval appear eighteen months ago?”
“I don’t know.”
“Vanessa.”
“I mean it.”
Her breathing quickened.
“Mercer said Marcus was useful because he was ambitious and sloppy about electronic approvals.”
“Did Mercer forge his signature?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Marcus eventually learn?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Last spring.”
“And what did he do?”
“He confronted Mercer.”
I frowned.
“He confronted him.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t he report it?”
“Because Mercer showed him records that made it look like Marcus had been approving the payments for months.”
There it was.
Leverage.
Not innocence.
Not exactly guilt either.
“What happened next?”
“Mercer told him if the scheme came out, nobody would believe Marcus had been used.”
“And Marcus chose silence.”
“Yes.”
“More than silence, I assume.”
Vanessa started crying again.
“He started helping.”
“How?”
“Keeping approvals under thresholds.”
“Steering renewals.”
“Yes.”
“Did he receive money?”
“I think so.”
“You think.”
“I saw one transfer.”
“To him?”
“To an LLC connected to him.”
“Name.”
She gave it to me.
I wrote it on a napkin.
“What did Sylvia ask you to remove this morning?”
Vanessa went quiet.
“Tell me.”
“A drive.”
“What drive?”
“External.”
“From Marcus’s office?”
“Yes.”
“Did you take it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“When I got there, police were already inside.”
“Then the fire started.”
“Yes.”
“Did Sylvia start it?”
“I didn’t see.”
“Who went upstairs?”
“Her.”
“Anyone else?”
“One of the caterers.”
“The same caterer who saw the assault?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about you?”
“I stayed downstairs.”
“Where is Sylvia now?”
“Talking to police.”
“Then stop calling me and tell them everything.”
“I’m scared.”
“So was Chloe.”
Silence.
That landed.
I hated myself slightly for using it, but I did not take it back.
Vanessa whispered, “Marcus said she was unstable.”
“You watched her being forced out of her own house.”
“I left before that.”
“You heard enough.”
“Yes.”
“And you still came back this morning when Sylvia called.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought if I helped them, maybe they would help me.”
“Help you with what?”
“The money.”
“No.”
My voice sharpened.
“They were helping themselves.”
Vanessa began to say something.
I cut her off.
“Listen carefully.”
She went silent.
“You are not calling me again.”
“But—”
“You will tell Detective Park exactly what you told me.”
“I don’t know which one she is.”
“Ask.”
“What if she arrests me?”
“She might.”
Vanessa breathed in sharply.
“That is not a reason to keep digging.”
“I could go to prison.”
“Yes.”
The word was cruel and necessary.
“You participated in something serious.”
“I didn’t understand at first.”
“Then tell them when you understood.”
“And after that?”
“You live with what you chose after that.”
She cried harder.
I lowered my voice.
“Tell the truth before someone else chooses it for you.”
Then I ended the call.
For several seconds, I sat staring at the mustard-streaked napkin where I had written the LLC name.
The old instinct screamed at me to call Webb.
My promise to Chloe stopped me.
Not because Webb did not need the information.
Because I was no longer allowed to pretend my need to deliver it personally was anything but habit.
I called Park instead.
“I received a call from Vanessa Cole.”
Her voice became instantly alert.
“Where are you?”
“Hospital cafeteria.”
“Is she with you?”
“No.”
“What did she say?”
“She made admissions involving Redwood and Mercer and gave me the name of an LLC allegedly connected to Marcus.”
Park was silent.
“Did you record it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I almost laughed.
“I wrote down the LLC name.”
“Do not investigate it.”
“I know.”
“Give it to me.”
I did.
Park repeated it back.
“Anything else?”
“She says Sylvia called her back to the house to remove an external drive from Marcus’s office.”
Park swore softly.
“Did she?”
“Vanessa says no.”
“Where is she now?”
“At the house, apparently.”
“Stay at the hospital.”
“I was planning to.”
“That may be the first lie you’ve told me.”
“It isn’t.”
She hung up.
May you like
Rachel found me fifteen minutes later.
She took the chair across from mine and stole the untouched half of my sandwich.
