Chapter 6 - MY HUSBAND WAS ALSO A TARGET
Daniel asked to speak to me.
I refused.
Then he told his lawyer he would only explain the full plan if I listened.
Detective Ortiz advised me not to meet him privately.
We used a secure interview room with glass between us.
Daniel looked exhausted.
No expensive watch.
No carefully pressed suit.
Just county clothes and fear.
“Is Noah alive?”
I stared at him.
“You lost the right to ask me that.”
His eyes filled.
For one second, I remembered the father who taught Noah to ride a bicycle.
Then I remembered the voice under the table.
Soon they’ll both be gone.
“What did Victoria promise you?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Control of the trust.”
“For how long?”
“Permanently.”
“She lied.”
His face changed.
“What?”
“You were supposed to die after us.”
“No.”
I slid a copy of the sequence toward the glass.
N.
E.
D.
Daniel stared at it.
“That could mean anything.”
“Your insurance policy names a trust controlled by Rebecca.”
He leaned closer.
“I never approved forty million.”
“You signed the application.”
“I signed documents Victoria gave me.”
I almost laughed.
The lawyer had been tricked by paperwork.
“How does that feel?”
He looked at me.
“Emma.”
“No.”
“For once, you listen.”
I pointed to the page.
“You planned to kill your wife and son because a woman told you a trust would make you rich.”
“And she planned to kill you because you were stupid enough to believe her.”
He looked sick.
Then he whispered.
“I never wanted Noah dead.”
My hand slammed against the table before I could stop myself.
“Do not say that.”
“I thought the amount was controlled.”
“I thought he would get sick.”
“Then why did you say soon they’ll both be gone?”
Silence.
Daniel began crying.
Real tears.
They meant nothing.
Not because he felt nothing.
Because remorse after being caught does not erase intention before it.
“Who prepared the forged medical reports?”
“Victoria.”
“Who suggested contaminated food?”
“Victoria.”
“Who told you about the death sequence?”
“Victoria.”
“And Rebecca?”
Daniel looked away.
“Rebecca knew about the trust strategy.”
“Did she know about murder?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer mattered.
Then Daniel said something unexpected.
“Victoria was afraid of Rebecca.”
“Why?”
“She kept saying Rebecca would ruin everything if she discovered the timeline.”
My mind stopped.
“What timeline?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“The trust doesn’t transfer the way Victoria told me.”
“What do you mean?”
“She needed three deaths.”
“But not for the reason I believed.”
He looked at me.
“She needed them to happen before the annual trustee review.”
“When?”
“Friday.”
May you like
Three days away.
Whatever Victoria planned was not over.
