Chapter 12 - Claire's Voice
The memory card contained one audio file.
Claire's voice filled Grant's office.
"Adrian, if you're hearing this, I was right to be afraid."
Adrian stopped breathing.
Claire explained that she had discovered Marcus siphoning money through fake vendors. When she confronted him, he laughed and told her money was only the surface.
Then she learned about the family trust.
Vanessa was already involved.
"She isn't your girlfriend yet," Claire said on the recording. "But she wants to be. Marcus says she'll be useful after I'm gone."
Maria's eyes filled with tears.
Claire continued.
"They need access to you, and eventually to any child we have. If something happens to me, do not let Marcus manage your estate. Do not let Vanessa near our baby."
Adrian covered his face.
The warning had existed before Oliver was even born.
He just had never received it.
The final thirty seconds were different. Claire was whispering.
"Someone's outside the garage. I can see Vanessa. Marcus is with her. If they come inside, I'm leaving through the back."
Then a loud metallic sound.
Claire gasped.
A male voice in the distance said, "Make sure she drives it."
The audio ended.
Grant immediately sent the file for authentication.
Adrian went to the detention center where Vanessa was being held.
Through the interview-room glass, she looked composed again.
He played the audio.
For the first time, Vanessa's hands began to tremble.
"Marcus did the brakes," she whispered.
Adrian leaned forward. "You were there."
"I didn't know he was going to kill her."
"You watched him touch her car."
"He told me he was planting a tracker."
"And after she died?"
Vanessa looked away.
"I was already trapped."
Adrian laughed bitterly. "Trapped? You moved into her house. You tried to marry her husband. You held her baby over a balcony."
Vanessa's eyes hardened.
"Because Marcus said if I didn't, he'd tell the police I killed Claire."
Adrian said nothing.
Vanessa leaned closer.
"You think I'm the monster at the center of this. I'm not."
"Then who is?"
May you like
She swallowed.
"Your father."
