Chapter 6 - The Account That Shouldn't Exist
Rachel left the vault carrying the folder against her chest.
Daniel stood the second he saw her.
"What happened?"
"My father knew Vanessa."
Daniel's face tightened.
In a private office, Rachel played the recording for him and Melissa.
Daniel listened without interrupting.
When it ended, he looked sick.
"Peter told your father I was being set up?"
"That's what Dad said."
Melissa leaned forward. "This changes the picture. Vanessa may have used Westbridge as a laundering pass-through. The payment into a trust under Rachel's name could have been a hiding place."
"But I never had that account," Rachel said.
Melissa tapped the old wire confirmation. "Someone may have created it using your identity."
Daniel stood. "Vanessa had access to Westbridge. Peter had access to our accounting. But how did she get Rachel's information before Rachel and I met?"
Rachel knew the answer before she said it.
"My father's company."
They returned home shortly after noon.
The front door was closed.
The alarm was armed.
Nothing looked wrong.
Then Rachel saw the framed wedding photo.
It was crooked.
She walked toward it.
Daniel grabbed her arm. "Don't touch anything."
The frame had been moved just enough to expose a small hole in the wall behind it.
A tiny black device sat inside.
Melissa whispered, "Camera."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
Police returned. They found two more devices: one near the kitchen and another in Daniel's study.
Officer Bell asked if Vanessa had ever had a key.
"Not to this house," Daniel said. "She has never lived here."
Rachel thought about the attack.
Vanessa had walked in because Rachel had opened the door after hearing pounding. She had not used a key.
So someone else had entered earlier.
The police removed the devices for analysis.
That afternoon, Rachel changed every password she had.
At 4:06 p.m., an alert appeared from her bank.
PASSWORD RESET REQUEST.
At 4:07, another.
NEW DEVICE ATTEMPT.
At 4:08, her phone rang.
A man's voice said, "Mrs. Hale, if you want to know who opened the account in your name, come alone to the East River parking garage tonight."
Rachel's hand tightened around the phone.
"Who is this?"
The man breathed into the receiver.
May you like
"Peter Shaw didn't die in an accident."
Then the line went dead.
