Chapter 8 - Eleanor's Confession
Eleanor hadn't disappeared.
She had run.
There was a difference.
Federal agents searched three Vance properties.
Empty.
Her phone had been abandoned inside a car near the airport.
Dominic claimed he didn't know where she was.
Nobody believed him.
At 6:40 that evening, I received a video call.
Eleanor.
I answered.
Her face appeared on the screen.
No perfect makeup.
No ivory suit.
No controlled smile.
She looked exhausted.
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere David can't reach me.”
Julian heard his father's name.
He moved into view.
Eleanor's face broke.
“Julian.”
“Is Dad alive?”
She closed her eyes.
“Mom.”
“Yes.”
One word.
Six years of lies.
Julian turned away.
“Why?”
“Because he was going to prison.”
“For what?”
“Everything.”
She looked at me.
“Clara knows.”
“I know pieces.”
Eleanor nodded.
“David built Vance Holdings with legitimate businesses.”
Her voice shook.
“Then he discovered legitimate money wasn't enough.”
Shell companies.
Kickbacks.
Medical billing fraud.
Bribery.
Money laundering.
The eleven million dollars I had traced was only a fraction.
“How much?” I asked.
Eleanor laughed without humor.
“More than two hundred million.”
Julian stared at her.
“You helped him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
Julian's expression hardened.
“You weren't afraid when you tried to take my daughter.”
Eleanor flinched.
“David ordered it.”
I felt cold.
“Why?”
“Because Clara reopened a door that was supposed to stay closed.”
“I didn't reopen anything.”
“You married Julian.”
She looked at me.
“That was enough.”
David had spent years watching me.
When I became pregnant, he became convinced I would eventually connect the family to my old investigation.
“So you created fake medical records.”
Eleanor nodded.
“You planned to have me declared unstable.”
“Yes.”
“And take Grace.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
Julian stepped closer to the phone.
“You hurt my wife.”
“I never told them to hurt her.”
“But you watched.”
She couldn't answer.
That silence destroyed whatever remained between them.
Then Eleanor looked behind her.
Fear crossed her face.
“I have to go.”
“Wait.”
She leaned toward the camera.
“Clara, listen carefully.”
I froze.
“David keeps everything.”
“Where?”
“The original ledgers.”
“Where, Eleanor?”
A sound came from somewhere behind her.
A door opening.
Her face went white.
“The lake house.”
“What lake house?”
Julian answered.
“Lake Geneva.”
Eleanor whispered:
May you like
“Behind the wine cellar.”
Then the screen went black.
