Chapter 8 - The Blue Phone
Police obtained a warrant for several electronic devices after the attempted preschool pickup was linked to Victoria’s assistant account.
Victoria’s attorney fought every request.
Some she won.
Some she did not.
The blue phone was not among the devices seized.
It had disappeared.
Grace sat with Lily in a temporary apartment arranged through a victim-support organization rather than Nathan.
He had offered one of his properties.
Grace refused.
“I need to know the roof over my head cannot be taken away because you become angry with me.”
Nathan had flinched.
But he accepted it.
Their first legally supervised paternity meeting happened three days later.
Lily sat at a small table building a tower with wooden blocks.
Nathan sat on the floor.
“Can I help?”
She considered him.
“You make the red side.”
He obeyed.
Five minutes passed.
Then Lily asked, “Were you gone?”
Nathan swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He glanced at the social worker.
She gave a small nod.
“I didn’t know where you were.”
Lily frowned.
“Mommy knew.”
“Yes.”
“Victoria knew.”
Nathan looked at the child.
The social worker leaned forward.
“We’re not going to ask Lily questions about Victoria.”
Nathan stopped immediately.
“You’re right.”
Lily placed another block.
Then she said, “Victoria has a secret phone.”
Nathan’s hand froze.
The social worker intervened gently.
“Let’s keep playing.”
Afterward, Grace met him in the hallway.
“She talks about it.”
“What does she say?”
“That Victoria told her never to touch the blue phone.”
Nathan stared through the glass.
“Did Lily see anything on it?”
“I haven’t asked.”
“Good.”
Grace looked surprised.
Nathan gave a tired smile.
“I can learn.”
That evening, Claire Baines contacted Grace again.
This time she agreed to meet.
They chose a crowded café near Grand Central.
Claire arrived twenty minutes late in sunglasses despite the rain.
She sat without removing her coat.
“I have ten minutes.”
Grace said, “Why did you help Victoria?”
Claire laughed nervously.
“You worked for her. You know what she does.”
“I cleaned her home. You managed her life.”
“That meant she owned mine.”
Nathan sat beside Grace.
Claire avoided looking at him.
“What is the blue phone?” he asked.
“A burner.”
“For what?”
“Elliott. Graybridge. Her father.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“Where is it?”
Claire shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Why did you tell Grace about Harbor Ledger?”
“Because Victoria was terrified of it five years ago.”
Grace’s voice hardened.
“She had me fired because of Vesper.”
“Yes.”
Nathan stared at Claire.
“Did Victoria order someone to pick Lily up?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you create the authorization?”
Claire began crying.
“I reset your old email.”
Grace went still.
“Why?”
“She told me it was for legal testing.”
Nathan’s face darkened.
“You forged access to my account.”
“I followed instructions.”
“That isn’t a defense.”
“I know!”
People turned.
Claire lowered her voice.
“She has records on everyone. Affairs. Drugs. Tax problems. Secret payments. She doesn’t need to destroy you herself. She only needs to know where to press.”
Grace asked, “What did she have on you?”
Claire looked down.
“My brother stole from one of the Hale charities. I covered it up.”
Nathan understood.
“And Victoria found out.”
“Yes.”
Grace’s anger softened, but only slightly.
“Why are you helping us now?”
Claire stared at the rain.
“Because I heard what happened to Lily.”
Silence.
Then she pulled an old hotel receipt from her purse.
Nathan read the names.
Victoria Cole.
Elliott Shaw.
One room.
Chicago.
Three years earlier.
Grace looked at Claire.
“They’re having an affair?”
“Since before Nathan married her.”
Nathan went completely still.
Claire immediately said, “I’m sorry.”
He gave a strange laugh.
“Stop saying that.”
Grace watched him.
For all the legal and financial betrayal, this landed somewhere different.
Personal.
Humiliating.
Claire continued.
“The affair isn’t the important part.”
Nathan looked at her.
“What is?”
“The hotel charges were billed through Vesper.”
Grace’s breath caught.
Claire stood.
“Victoria and Elliott used Vesper as a private bank.”
Nathan rose.
“How much did Conrad know?”
Claire’s face became terrified.
“All of it.”
She reached for her bag.
Nathan said, “We need you to testify.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
“Claire.”
“I gave you what I could.”
“You’re a witness.”
“I’m a coward.”
Then she left.
Grace watched her disappear into the crowd.
Nathan remained standing.
His phone buzzed.
Jordan had sent a file.
Digital forensic results.
One of the old Vesper approvals had been authenticated from Nathan’s stolen tablet.
The timestamp was 11:42 p.m.
Nathan was in Mount Sinai that night.
But Victoria had visited him there.
For twenty-three minutes.
Then she had left.
Security footage from Cole Meridian showed her entering Nathan’s office forty minutes later.
Grace looked at the image.
May you like
Victoria was carrying a silver tablet.
The same one Nathan had believed lost.
