Chapter 4 - THE GARAGE CAMERA
Emily read the note twice.
Raymond entered moments later.
She handed it to him without speaking.
His expression hardened.
“Where did this come from?”
“The flowers Preston brought.”
Raymond immediately called security.
Emily thought about her car.
Three weeks earlier, she had nearly rear-ended a delivery truck when her brakes failed leaving the Whitmore estate.
Preston had blamed the mechanic.
His father had insisted they use a private repair shop.
Emily had accepted the explanation.
Now she felt cold.
“My accident.”
Raymond looked at her.
“What accident?”
She told him.
Every detail.
The downhill road.
The brake pedal sinking uselessly.
The emergency brake.
The tree she narrowly avoided.
Raymond walked to the window.
“You never told me.”
“Preston said it was mechanical.”
“And you believed him.”
“I wanted to.”
That answer hurt to admit.
By noon, hospital security had obtained footage from the parking garage.
Emily had driven her car there for a prenatal appointment two days before the brake failure.
The footage showed a man approaching the vehicle after midnight.
He wore maintenance clothing.
He stayed near the front wheel for eleven minutes.
The image was grainy.
But the side of his face was visible.
Raymond’s security chief enlarged the frame.
Emily recognized him.
“Marcus Hale.”
Raymond looked at her.
“Who?”
“Preston’s father’s driver.”
The room went still.
Raymond immediately contacted the police.
Emily’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
Then answered.
A woman whispered.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
“Yes?”
“My name is Alicia Moreno.”
“I used to work in accounting for Whitmore Medical Holdings.”
Emily sat straighter.
“How did you get my number?”
“I found it years ago.”
The woman sounded terrified.
“I’ve been waiting for someone to finally stand up to them.”
Emily looked at Raymond.
“What do you mean?”
Alicia’s breathing shook.
“Preston wasn’t moving money alone.”
Emily tightened her grip on the phone.
“Who was helping him?”
There was a long silence.
Then Alicia said something Emily had never expected.
“Your husband was stealing from you before you married him.”
The call disconnected.
Raymond immediately tried to trace it.
Nothing.
Emily stared at the dark screen.
Then a text arrived from the same number.
A photograph loaded.
Preston stood beside Vanessa outside a courthouse.
May you like
The timestamp was four years old.
Six months before Emily had met him.
