Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN IN THE THIRD CAR
“Vanessa followed my wife on the night she died?”
Vincent stared at the photograph.
Evelyn Shaw nodded.
“She was driving one of her father's company cars.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian told her Isabella had taken documents that belonged to Whitmore Capital.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“And Vanessa agreed to chase her?”
“She thought she was protecting her father's company.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
Evelyn glanced at her attorney.
“I can't tell you exactly what Vanessa knew. But I can tell you the company treated that night as a crisis long before anyone reported the crash.”
Vincent leaned back.
He had spent months believing Vanessa was helping his daughter recover from grief.
He had watched her choose flowers for Isabella's memorial.
He had even considered asking Lily to call her Mom someday.
Now he knew Vanessa had been on the road behind Isabella's car.
“Why didn't you come forward?” he asked Evelyn.
She looked down.
“Because I was afraid. Charles controlled my employment, my health insurance, and the pension I'd spent twenty-five years earning.”
Vincent said nothing.
“I told myself the accident wasn't my responsibility,” she continued. “Then I watched Lily struggle to breathe at dinner, and I realized how many excuses I'd made.”
Emma, who had accompanied Vincent as a potential witness, looked at her.
“Mrs. Shaw, someone could have died.”
Evelyn nodded.
“I know.”
“Then please stop protecting the people responsible.”
The accountant's eyes filled.
“That's why I'm here.”
She gave the investigators permission to examine her records and agreed to provide sworn testimony.
By noon, police had formally opened a new investigation into the circumstances surrounding Isabella's death.
The earlier timeline had been discredited.
Mercer's misconduct was documented.
The Northbridge transactions were under independent financial review.
But Vincent still lacked the most important answer.
What had happened on the road after Isabella left the garage?
He drove directly to the estate, where Vanessa had agreed, through her attorney, to meet with detectives about the dessert incident and the newly discovered records.
She sat in the library, visibly shaken.
A police investigator and both attorneys were present.
Her engagement ring was gone.
Vincent noticed immediately.
Vanessa noticed him noticing.
“I took it off,” she said.
Vincent remained silent.
“I know we aren't getting married.”
“That decision was made when you endangered Lily.”
Vanessa flinched.
“I made a terrible mistake.”
“You keep calling it a mistake. You knowingly replaced her safe food, then blamed an innocent woman.”
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“I was desperate.”
“For what?”
Her voice cracked.
“My father said if I didn't marry you before the end of the year, the banks would take everything.”
Vincent stared.
“So the engagement was part of your father's plan.”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Vanessa looked up.
“I did care about you.”
He said nothing.
“I wanted a family. I wanted to be someone other than Charles Whitmore's daughter.”
Vincent's expression remained cold.
“Then you should have treated my child like a child, not an obstacle.”
Tears ran down Vanessa's cheeks.
She wiped them away angrily.
“You think I don't know that?”
Vincent placed the garage photograph on the table.
Vanessa went still.
“Tell the investigators why you were following Isabella.”
Her attorney looked at the image.
Vanessa stared at it.
For a long moment, she seemed unable to breathe.
Finally, she whispered, “Adrian said she was stealing from my father.”
“What happened after you left the garage?”
Vanessa looked toward the investigator.
“Adrian followed Isabella onto Lake Shore Drive. I stayed behind them.”
“Did you see a collision?” the investigator asked.
Vanessa nodded.
“I saw headlights. Then her car swerved.”
“Was another vehicle involved?”
“Yes.”
Vincent leaned forward.
“Whose?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“A dark SUV.”
“Who was driving?”
“I couldn't see.”
“What happened to the SUV?”
“It kept going.”
The investigator made a note.
“And Adrian?”
Vanessa covered her face.
“He stopped for a moment. Then he drove away.”
Vincent felt physically sick.
His wife had been in a wrecked vehicle.
His cousin had driven away.
The woman he later intended to marry had watched.
“Why didn't you call for help?” Vincent asked.
Vanessa lowered her hands.
“I did.”
The investigator looked up.
“Emergency dispatch records don't show a call from your number.”
“I used the company phone.”
“Do you still have it?”
“No. My father took it.”
Vincent studied her.
“What happened after the crash?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Adrian came to my apartment. He was furious. He said Isabella had ruined everything.”
“Did he say she was dead?”
Vanessa looked away.
“He said she'd never be able to expose the contracts now.”
Vincent gripped the edge of the table.
The investigator asked, “Did he explain what he meant?”
“No.”
“Did your father know?”
Vanessa nodded slowly.
“He knew about the pursuit. I told him.”
“Did he instruct you to stay quiet?”
“Yes.”
Vincent looked at her with disbelief.
“And you carried that secret into my daughter's home?”
Vanessa's voice broke.
“I thought the accident was an accident. I thought Adrian was just trying to protect the company afterward.”
Vincent shook his head.
“You chose not to ask questions.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Yes.”
It was the first answer she had given without an excuse.
The investigator continued questioning her.
Vincent stepped outside.
Emma was waiting near the staircase.
She had heard nothing of the interview, but she understood his expression.
“Was it bad?”
Vincent nodded.
“She was there.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“Oh, Vincent.”
He leaned against the wall.
“I let her sit at our table. I let her wear Isabella's necklace to a charity dinner.”
Emma looked at him.
“You didn't know.”
“I should have.”
“You trusted someone. That doesn't make you responsible for her choices.”
Vincent shook his head.
“But I am responsible for what happens now.”
He looked toward Lily's bedroom.
“I want her safe. I want you and Noah safe. And I want the truth handled by people who can actually prove it.”
Emma nodded.
“Then keep doing what you're doing.”
Vincent studied her.
“Why have you stayed?”
Emma smiled sadly.
“Because Lily matters to me.”
“And that's the only reason?”
She hesitated.
“No.”
The silence between them changed.
Vincent stepped closer.
“Emma—”
A sound from the staircase interrupted them.
Lily stood halfway down, holding her stuffed rabbit.
“Daddy?”
Vincent immediately straightened.
“Sweetheart, what are you doing out of bed?”
She looked worried.
“I heard people talking.”
“Come here.”
She walked into his arms.
Vincent lifted her carefully.
“Everything is okay.”
Lily rested her head against his shoulder.
Then she looked at Emma.
“Can I show you something?”
“Of course,” Emma said.
Lily opened her hand.
Inside was the tiny silver heart from her medical bracelet.
Its clasp had loosened during the hospital visit.
“I wanted to fix Mommy's picture,” Lily explained.
Vincent looked at the charm.
The photograph inside had shifted.
Emma gently opened the small locket.
Behind Isabella's picture was a folded square of paper.
Vincent frowned.
He had never known the charm contained anything else.
Emma unfolded it carefully.
The paper was thin, almost translucent.
On one side was a handwritten sentence.
IF ADRIAN CLAIMS I RAN FROM HIM, ASK WHO TURNED OFF THE ROAD LIGHTS.
Below it were three numbers.
17 — 42 — 6.
Vincent stared.
Lily pointed at the paper.
“Mommy put that in there.”
Vincent looked at his daughter.
“When, sweetheart?”
“Before her trip.”
“What trip?”
Lily frowned, searching her memory.
“She said she was going to bring Daddy a present.”
Vincent swallowed.
“What present?”
Lily touched the little silver heart.
“She said it was something you lost.”
Vincent looked again at the three numbers.
Daniel joined them after hearing about the discovery.
He studied the note for a long moment.
Then his face changed.
“Vincent, those aren't account numbers.”
“What are they?”
Daniel looked toward the security monitors.
“They're the identifiers for three streetlight control circuits along the stretch of Lake Shore Drive where Isabella crashed.”
Vincent felt a chill.
Daniel continued.
“I checked the city's maintenance records earlier. There was a reported lighting failure that night.”
Vincent looked at the note.
“Who reported it?”
Daniel's voice lowered.
“No one. The lights were remotely disabled through a contractor's maintenance account.”
“Which contractor?”
Daniel turned his tablet.
MERCURY SERVICES.
May you like
And beneath the entry was the name of the employee who approved the shutdown.
ADRIAN MORETTI.
