Chapter 4 - EMILY’S INVESTIGATOR
The woman waiting upstairs wore jeans, a black jacket, and the exhausted expression of someone who hadn’t trusted anyone in years.
“My name is Rachel Kane.”
Adrian didn’t shake her hand.
“You worked for Emily?”
“Yes.”
“Prove it.”
Rachel handed him her phone.
There were dozens of messages from Emily.
Dates.
Photos.
Voice notes.
Adrian recognized his wife’s number immediately.
His throat tightened.
“Why didn’t you contact me after she died?”
“I tried.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Rachel looked him straight in the eye.
“I called your office. Vanessa answered.”
Adrian froze.
“At the time, she was your executive assistant.”
“She told me no one had called.”
“She told me you were grieving and wanted nothing to do with Emily’s ‘crazy conspiracy.’”
Adrian felt sick.
Rachel continued.
“Then my apartment was broken into.”
“What was taken?”
“Only Emily’s case files.”
Sophie sat close beside Adrian.
“What was Mommy investigating?”
Rachel softened when she looked at her.
“Your mom thought someone was stealing from your dad’s company.”
Adrian frowned.
“My company?”
“About eight million dollars over three years.”
He stared at her.
“That’s impossible.”
“Your accounting department buried it through shell vendors.”
“Who?”
Rachel pointed toward the folder from box 317.
“VR Consulting was one.”
Adrian’s anger sharpened.
“Vanessa.”
“She wasn’t working alone.”
Adrian opened the old phone.
The bank technician had found a charger.
After several minutes, the screen came alive.
Forty-three missed calls.
Old messages.
Photos.
Then a locked folder labeled A.C.
“What does A.C. mean?” Rachel asked.
Adrian already knew.
“My brother.”
Rachel’s expression changed.
“Lucas Cole?”
“Yes.”
Adrian’s older brother had been CFO of Cole Development when Emily died.
He resigned six months later and moved to Miami.
Rachel sat back.
“That explains the second man.”
“What second man?”
“I followed Vanessa twice. Both times she met someone in a private garage downtown. I never got his face.”
Adrian opened the locked folder.
It asked for a six-digit password.
Sophie suddenly whispered, “Mommy’s birthday.”
Adrian entered it.
Wrong.
He tried their wedding anniversary.
Wrong.
Then Sophie touched the screen.
“My birthday.”
Adrian entered Sophie’s birthday.
The folder opened.
Inside were twelve audio files.
The first was dated four days before Emily’s crash.
Adrian pressed play.
Emily’s voice filled the room.
“If anything happens to me, Lucas and Vanessa are involved.”
Sophie gasped.
Adrian went completely still.
Emily continued.
“I found the transfers. I confronted Lucas. He said Adrian would never believe me because Vanessa already made sure he wouldn’t.”
Adrian’s stomach dropped.
Then a male voice entered the recording.
Lucas.
“You should’ve stayed out of this, Emily.”
The recording ended.
Adrian stood so fast his chair fell backward.
“I’m calling the police.”
Rachel grabbed his wrist.
“Not yet.”
He ripped his arm away.
“Why not?”
“Because I already did three years ago.”
“And?”
Rachel’s voice turned cold.
“The detective assigned to Emily’s crash bought a beach house two months after the case was closed.”
Adrian stared at her.
Rachel leaned closer.
“If Lucas and Vanessa paid a cop, you don’t know who you can trust.”
Then Adrian’s phone rang.
Lucas Cole.
Adrian answered.
For several seconds, neither brother spoke.
Then Lucas said, “You opened the box.”
Adrian’s blood ran cold.
“How do you know?”
Lucas laughed softly.
“Because, little brother…”
May you like
A pause.
“I’m looking at Sophie right now.”
