Chapter 15 - THE PLAN FOR HIS WIFE|
The recording continued.
Martin Kessler spoke in a calm voice, as if discussing a routine business matter.
"Once she recovers, tell her the phone was destroyed. Tell her she was confused from the smoke. Keep her away from the company."
Preston answered.
"And if she remembers?"
"Then make her believe nobody will take her seriously."
Richard Cole interrupted.
"She has no reason to become involved. She doesn't understand the financial structure."
Preston laughed.
"She used to. Before the accident, she was better with numbers than half the executives in the building."
I felt my stomach tighten.
They had known about my work.
They had known I could understand the fraud.
Then Preston said, "I'll take care of her."
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke for a long time.
Gideon looked furious.
"That is enough to justify a criminal investigation."
"Not yet," Rebecca said over the secure call. "We need to authenticate the recording and establish chain of custody. Do not distribute it."
Gideon agreed.
We made forensic copies and documented the storage unit's contents.
But I couldn't stop thinking about Preston's words.
I'll take care of her.
He hadn't meant he would help me recover.
He had meant he would control what I knew.
I returned home that evening to find my belongings scattered across the bedroom.
The safe was open.
The original documents were gone.
I called Rebecca.
"Don't touch anything," she said. "I'm sending someone."
Preston appeared in the doorway.
"Where have you been?"
I looked at the open safe.
"Where are the documents?"
He shrugged.
"I moved them."
"You had no right."
"They're company property."
"They include my personal records."
He stepped into the room.
"Give me the memory card."
I went still.
"What memory card?"
"Don't play games."
He reached for my handbag. I pulled it away.
"You don't have it," I said.
His expression turned dangerous.
"Vivian, you have no idea what you're holding."
"I know exactly what I'm holding."
"Then you know it could destroy innocent people."
I laughed bitterly.
"Innocent people? You let me believe I was losing my mind for five years."
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what? The truth?"
He lowered his voice.
"You were never supposed to hear that conversation."
I stared at him.
There it was.
The admission.
He knew the recording existed. He knew what it contained. And he had just confirmed that he had been hiding it.
Rebecca arrived with a colleague before he could say anything else.
She asked Preston to leave.
He refused.
Then she informed him that an emergency protective order had been requested because he had entered my private room and removed documents relevant to an active legal dispute.
His face changed.
"This is my house."
Rebecca held up the filing.
"Not exclusively. And you have no right to remove evidence."
Preston looked at me.
"You'll regret this."
I answered quietly.
"I already regret five years."
He left.
The next morning, Rebecca called with news.
The forensic examiner had authenticated the recording.
But the final audio file contained a voice neither Gideon nor I had expected.
May you like
A woman.
And she was speaking directly to Preston.
