Chapter 6 - Victoria Comes Back
Victoria arrived at 4:26 in the morning.
Alone.
At least that was what she claimed.
Lieutenant Ruiz had stayed.
Daniel had stayed.
Two uniformed officers waited outside.
Arthur watched Victoria walk toward the porch wearing the same clothes she had left in, except now her expensive coat was soaked from rain.
She looked smaller.
Not innocent.
Never that.
But frightened.
Arthur opened the door.
She saw Ruiz.
Her face changed.
“You brought police into this?”
“You brought armed men to my house.”
“I told you I didn’t send them.”
“You knew they were coming.”
Victoria stepped inside.
Her eyes moved toward Maya.
Maya stared back.
Noah remained upstairs.
Arthur had insisted on that.
Victoria whispered, “You look like her.”
Maya’s voice was ice.
“Don’t talk about my mother.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
Daniel stood.
“You have one chance.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“Still pretending to be the noble lawyer, Daniel?”
“At least I’m not helping my father imprison children.”
Arthur looked at her.
“Start talking.”
Victoria sat.
For several seconds she said nothing.
Then she removed a small flash drive from inside her coat.
“I stole this from my father tonight.”
Daniel reached for it.
Victoria pulled back.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I need protection.”
Ruiz spoke.
“From criminal charges?”
“From being killed.”
Arthur stared at his wife.
For the first time since he had met her, Victoria Vale Cole looked genuinely afraid of her own name.
“My father knows I’m here,” she said.
“How?”
“He tracks my car.”
“Then why bring it?”
“I didn’t.”
Arthur blinked.
Victoria explained she had left her vehicle at a hotel, taken a cab to a grocery store, then switched to another ride.
Ruiz’s eyes narrowed.
“You’ve done this before.”
Victoria didn’t answer.
Daniel pointed to the flash drive.
“What’s on it?”
“Transactions. Emails. Security reports.”
“Related to Elena?”
“Yes.”
Maya went pale.
Arthur moved closer to her.
Victoria noticed.
Pain flickered across her face.
Then disappeared.
She said, “My father has been stealing from the Whitmores for more than twenty years.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“We know.”
“You know part of it.”
Victoria looked at him.
“You think this was about money.”
“What else?”
“Control.”
She turned to Maya.
“Your grandfather wasn’t just wealthy. He controlled voting shares in three companies my father needed. When Edmund discovered what was happening, he planned to remove Charles.”
“And then Edmund died,” Daniel said.
Victoria nodded.
“Did your father kill him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you believe he did?”
Long pause.
“Yes.”
Maya closed her eyes.
Arthur asked, “And Elena?”
Victoria’s hands began shaking.
“She found out.”
“What happened the night she died?”
Victoria stared at the floor.
“My father called me around midnight. He told me there had been an accident.”
“Where?”
“Old Mill Road.”
Daniel’s expression sharpened.
“The crash was on Highway 8.”
“That’s where they found the car.”
Victoria looked up.
“It wasn’t where she was hit.”
Nobody spoke.
Victoria continued.
“Elena came to my father’s estate that night.”
“Why?”
“She wanted to confront him.”
“About the ledger?”
Victoria looked at Daniel.
“How do you know about that?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Victoria swallowed.
“Yes. She had it.”
Maya stepped forward.
“My mom went to Charles’s house?”
Victoria nodded.
“I was there.”
“What happened?”
“My father told me to go upstairs.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Of course not.
Victoria had listened from behind the library door.
Elena accused Charles of forging Edmund’s signature.
Charles denied it.
Then Elena placed copies of financial records on the desk.
She told him she had already sent proof to an attorney.
That was a bluff.
Daniel knew because Elena hadn’t given him the evidence yet.
“She threatened to go to federal investigators in the morning,” Victoria said.
“What did Charles do?”
“He smiled.”
Maya shivered.
Victoria remembered the exact words.
You won’t make it to morning.
Arthur’s stomach turned.
“What happened next?”
“A man entered through the side door.”
“Who?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I never knew his real name. My father called him Grant.”
Daniel and Ruiz exchanged a look.
“You know that name?” Arthur asked.
Ruiz nodded.
“Grant Rourke. Former private security contractor.”
“Where is he?”
“Unknown.”
Victoria continued.
“Elena tried to leave. Grant grabbed her.”
Maya’s breathing broke.
Arthur moved toward her, but she raised a hand.
“Keep going.”
Victoria began crying.
“They dragged her toward the garage.”
“Was she alive?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
Victoria looked at Maya.
And finally stopped hiding.
“Nothing.”
Maya slapped her.
The sound cracked through the room.
Victoria didn’t move.
Arthur didn’t stop her.
Maya’s voice broke.
“You did nothing?”
“I was scared.”
“She was begging?”
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I was twenty-nine.”
“You were an adult!”
“I know.”
“You let them take her!”
“I know!”
Victoria’s voice shattered.
Maya backed away.
Victoria covered her face.
“I followed them.”
Ruiz leaned forward.
“Where?”
“Old Mill Road.”
“What happened?”
“Grant forced Elena’s car off the road.”
Maya sobbed.
Victoria continued through tears.
“She survived the first impact.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
No.
Victoria whispered, “My father walked to the car.”
Maya looked at her.
“What did he do?”
“He took something from her.”
“The ledger?”
“I think so.”
“And then?”
Victoria couldn’t say it.
Daniel did.
“He staged the crash.”
Victoria nodded.
Ruiz stood.
“We need the flash drive now.”
Victoria handed it over.
Ruiz gave it to an officer to duplicate.
Daniel asked, “Why come forward now?”
Victoria looked at Arthur.
“Because tonight my father told me to make the children disappear.”
Arthur’s face hardened.
“What does disappear mean?”
Victoria’s lips trembled.
“I asked the same question.”
“And?”
“He said, ‘The same thing it meant last time.’”
Maya stopped crying.
Arthur felt cold rage spread through him.
Victoria reached into her handbag and removed one more item.
A small brass key.
She placed it on the table.
Maya stared.
“What is that?”
Victoria looked at her.
“Your mother had it clenched in her hand when I found her.”
Daniel shot to his feet.
“You took it?”
“I was afraid my father would.”
Arthur stared at the key.
Daniel whispered, “Where the first promise was made.”
Maya looked at him.
“You know what it opens?”
May you like
Daniel nodded.
“I think I finally do.”
