Chapter 10 - The Missing Heiress|
The police treated Vanessa's disappearance as a possible kidnapping.
Cameron offered access to his security records, his travel logs, and every relevant document in his possession. He also insisted that Daniel give investigators the recording Vanessa had provided.
I expected him to be relieved that she was gone.
Instead, he looked genuinely worried.
“Despite everything she's done,” he told me, “I don't want her hurt.”
“Do you still love her?”
He considered the question.
“I loved the woman I believed she was. I don't know whether that woman ever existed.”
That answer was honest enough to hurt.
For the next two days, the investigation moved slowly. Police searched properties connected to Charles Whitmore and interviewed former employees of his security companies. Nothing immediately established where Vanessa had gone.
Then I received a call from an unfamiliar number.
“Emma?”
It was Vanessa.
I nearly dropped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere my father can't find me.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Not badly.”
I heard a door close behind her.
“Listen carefully. Charles knows about the ledger. He's convinced your mother hid the original records before she died.”
“Did she?”
“I don't know. But Martin believes she gave them to Eleanor Reed.”
My heart raced.
“Why didn't you tell the police?”
“Because I don't know which officers my father has paid. I need someone I can trust.”
“You threatened me.”
“I know.”
“You helped destroy Cameron's life.”
“I know that, too.”
For the first time, Vanessa sounded less like a socialite accustomed to getting her way and more like a frightened woman who had finally run out of excuses.
She gave me an address for a closed hotel in New Jersey and asked me to meet her there.
I told Cameron immediately.
He refused to let me go alone.
Daniel contacted the police, who agreed to coordinate a safe meeting. An investigator would remain nearby while Cameron and I entered the hotel lobby.
Vanessa was waiting in a dark corner, wearing a baseball cap and a coat that looked borrowed.
When she saw us, she began crying.
“I thought he was going to kill me.”
Cameron kept his distance.
“Who?”
“My father. He found the copies of the records I kept. He wanted the original ledger, and when I couldn't give it to him, he said I was no longer his daughter.”
She handed Daniel a small memory card.
“It's a backup of the security system from his old office. I copied it before I left.”
The files showed Charles meeting Martin several times in the weeks before my mother's accident. They also revealed payments to the security contractor Samuel Brooks had identified.
Investigators took possession of the card.
For the first time, we had a documented trail connecting Charles, Martin, and the surveillance surrounding Margaret Carter.
But Vanessa had one more revelation.
“My father didn't just want the ledger hidden,” she said. “He believed Margaret had made a second copy. He spent years trying to find it.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because the ledger contains more than financial records.”
She looked at Cameron.
“It identifies the person who was supposed to inherit control of Reed Global if your father and Andrew both died.”
Cameron's jaw tightened.
“Who?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Emma.”
I laughed once, unable to believe her.
“My mother was an accountant. I grew up in a rented apartment.”
“Your mother was named as the beneficiary of a trust established by Eleanor Reed. If the original agreement is valid, you may have a legal interest in the company.”
Before anyone could respond, police officers entered the lobby.
Vanessa had agreed to give a formal statement.
As they escorted her toward the exit, she turned back to me.
“There's one thing you need to know.”
“What?”
“Your mother didn't hide the ledger in a bank or a safe.”
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Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“She hid it where nobody in the Reed family would ever think to look.”
