Chapter 5 - Vanessa’s Apartment
Vanessa refused police access.
“I have constitutional rights,” she told Keene through the apartment door.
“Yes,” Keene answered.
“And I’m getting a warrant.”
Adrian stood down the hall.
Vanessa opened the door just enough to see him.
“You’re really doing this?”
He stared at her.
“You held an iron beside Sophie’s face.”
“I lost control.”
“You hit her.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“To whom?”
Vanessa hesitated.
Adrian laughed.
“You haven’t apologized to Sophie.”
“She won’t speak to me.”
“She shouldn’t.”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
“You hit me too.”
“I know.”
“Twice.”
“I know.”
“I could have you arrested.”
“You should report it.”
That answer unsettled her.
“You think admitting everything makes you moral now?”
“No.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“I think hiding what I did is how people become you.”
The door closed.
Two hours later Keene returned with a warrant.
Vanessa’s apartment was immaculate.
Closets arranged by color.
Designer luggage.
Legal files.
Two laptops.
A locked wall safe.
Police photographed everything.
The key from room 1912 did not open the safe.
It opened a narrow cabinet beneath Vanessa’s bedroom window.
Inside were letters.
Not Caroline’s.
Adrian’s.
Printed copies of emails he had sent Vanessa during the emotional affair.
I feel like Caroline judges everything I do.
I can breathe around you.
Sometimes I wonder whether I married the wrong person.
Adrian’s stomach turned.
Keene looked at him.
“These yours?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa smiled from across the room.
“Tell her the truth.”
Adrian did.
Every message.
Every meeting.
Every kiss.
Sophie’s mother had discovered betrayal while investigating people stealing from the company.
Vanessa watched Adrian humiliate himself.
She enjoyed it until Keene found another folder.
Inside were printed messages supposedly from Caroline.
I can’t live like this.
I’m taking the money.
Adrian will never see Sophie again.
Keene compared them to phone records.
“Did you receive these?”
Adrian frowned.
“No.”
Vanessa said, “They were drafts Caroline wrote.”
“Where did you get them?”
“She showed me.”
Keene looked skeptical.
A digital forensic officer examined the laptop.
“These were created after Caroline disappeared.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
Adrian turned.
“What?”
The officer continued.
“Creation timestamp is six days after she was reported missing.”
Vanessa spoke quickly.
“Files can preserve old content.”
“But metadata says this laptop created them.”
“I transferred old documents.”
“From where?”
Vanessa had no answer.
Keene looked at Adrian.
“Someone may have fabricated Caroline’s goodbye messages.”
Adrian felt sick.
For years he had believed Caroline chose to leave.
Because Vanessa had repeatedly described things Caroline supposedly said.
She’s done with this family.
She told me she wants out.
She hates what you’ve become.
Some may have been true.
Others had been weapons.
Police opened the wall safe.
Inside were corporate records and jewelry.
Nothing directly connected to Caroline.
Then the forensic officer noticed scratches beneath a drawer.
He removed it.
A second compartment.
Inside was a disposable phone sealed in plastic.
Battery dead.
Keene bagged it.
Vanessa’s composure cracked.
“That isn’t mine.”
“No one asked,” Keene said.
Vanessa looked toward Adrian.
He saw fear.
Real fear.
By evening the phone was powered through forensic equipment.
There were seven stored messages.
All from October three years earlier.
One outgoing text from Vanessa to Charles:
She has copies.
Charles:
Then get them.
Vanessa:
She moved them.
Charles:
Use the child if you have to.
Adrian reread the sentence.
Use the child if you have to.
Sophie had been two.
His rage returned so violently Keene stepped in front of him.
“Do not.”
Adrian pointed at Vanessa.
“You were willing to use my daughter then too.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I never touched Sophie.”
“You touched her yesterday.”
“That was different.”
The room went silent.
Vanessa heard herself.
Keene’s eyes narrowed.
“Different how?”
Vanessa realized the trap.
She stopped speaking.
Another message appeared.
Vanessa:
Caroline won’t sign.
Charles:
Then she doesn’t leave 1912 until she does.
Adrian’s knees nearly gave out.
He looked at Keene.
“What did they want her to sign?”
The final text answered.
Charles:
Once the Harbor Street transfer is signed, we control the debt.
Keene looked toward Adrian.
May you like
“What is Harbor Street?”
Adrian whispered, “The land under this hotel.”
