Chapter 13 - Renee Caldwell Walks In
Daniel signaled security before opening the door.
Renee Caldwell stood in the hallway holding Emily’s cedar box against her chest.
Vanessa had rehearsed this moment in anger a hundred times over the last year. In every version, she told her mother exactly what she thought of her.
Instead she said, “You stole a dead woman’s box.”
Renee looked exhausted. “I borrowed it because Margaret wouldn’t listen.”
Margaret stepped forward. “You entered my house illegally.”
“You let me through the front door.”
“I told you to leave.”
“And then I found the man who has been following me for six months parked across your street.”
Daniel frowned. “What man?”
Renee’s eyes moved around the ballroom.
“He may be here.”
Security shut the doors again.
Vanessa’s anger returned. “Start with the money. Seventy-five thousand dollars.”
Renee set the box on a table.
“Emily paid me to help Aaron disappear.”
Margaret stared. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I moved him to Milwaukee, then Denver. He changed his name. We agreed I would never contact him.”
Daniel pointed at the cedar box. “Why take this?”
“Because it has the one thing Richard couldn’t destroy.”
Renee inserted a key.
Margaret’s head snapped toward Celeste. “Your father’s copy.”
Celeste nodded slowly.
The lid opened.
Inside were letters, fabric swatches, an old recorder, and a sealed envelope marked DANIEL.
Daniel reached for it.
Renee caught his wrist.
“Before you open that, you need to know your father spent years making people think Emily was reckless, Aaron was a thief, and I was a blackmailer.”
Daniel pulled his hand free. “And what were you?”
Renee looked at Vanessa.
“A coward.”
Vanessa’s eyes burned.
Renee continued. “I took money to stay quiet after Emily died.”
Margaret inhaled sharply.
“How much?”
“Three hundred thousand.”
Vanessa whispered, “From Richard?”
May you like
Renee shook her head.
“No. From someone in this room.”
