Chapter 9 - THE ENGAGEMENT WAS A JOB
Garrett did not sleep that night.
Neither did I.
Celeste remained in county custody while investigators sorted through charges.
Victor had disappeared.
State police found his sedan abandoned near Albany.
No sign of him.
Garrett sat in the library surrounded by wet papers and smoke damage.
I brought coffee.
He looked at me.
“You don’t have to work.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you bringing coffee?”
“Because you look terrible.”
That surprised a laugh out of him.
Only once.
Then it disappeared.
He pushed the ledger toward me.
Payments to Celeste began four years earlier.
Two months before Garrett met her.
A shell company owned by Victor transferred money into her account.
Then more after their first date.
More after she moved into the estate.
A large payment one week after their engagement.
Garrett stared at the page.
“She was placed here.”
I sat opposite him.
“Looks that way.”
He rubbed his face.
“My father trusted Victor.”
“Your father also hid three deaths.”
He looked at me.
I didn’t apologize.
After a moment, he nodded.
“Fair.”
Investigators uncovered why Victor wanted Celeste inside the estate.
Garrett had been changing Harwick Holdings.
Closing questionable subsidiaries.
Ordering audits.
Removing older executives.
Victor needed someone close enough to steer him away from certain records.
Celeste did more than influence.
She stole passwords.
Photographed contracts.
Redirected internal investigations.
And terrified staff into silence.
Fear was useful.
People who feared Celeste did not notice what files disappeared while they were looking down.
Garrett looked toward the burned archive.
“I brought her into this house.”
“Yes.”
He flinched.
I continued.
“But she chose what she did after she entered.”
His eyes met mine.
“You always answer like a hammer?”
“My mother said subtlety was wasted on men with money.”
Another almost-smile.
Then Sheriff Nolan arrived.
He placed a photograph on the table.
Victor at a private bus terminal.
Timestamped six hours earlier.
“He’s still in the state.”
Garrett asked.
“Where is he headed?”
“We don’t know.”
Then Nolan placed down another photograph.
Victor speaking to someone.
A woman.
Bess.
I stood.
“That’s impossible.”
Bess had been upstairs all evening.
The sheriff shook his head.
“This was taken three days ago.”
Before the bracelet.
Before the fire.
Before everything broke open.
Garrett looked toward the staircase.
“Bring Bess.”
She came down ten minutes later.
When she saw the photograph, she sat.
Nobody accused her.
She started talking anyway.
“Victor found me last month.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“He knew Laura had applied for the job.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
Bess looked at me with tears in her eyes.
“He knew who you were before you arrived.”
The room became silent.
May you like
Then she said.
“And so did I.”
