Chapter 8 - VANESSA’S PRICE
Vanessa’s lawyer called the next morning.
She wanted immunity.
She would not get it.
Prosecutors offered something narrower.
Cooperation would be considered.
Vanessa agreed.
She entered the interview wearing no borrowed pearls.
No silk robe.
No victorious smile.
Claire watched from another room.
Detective Laura Mitchell asked.
“Where are Grant Whitmore’s secondary financial records?”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“What do I get?”
“An opportunity to tell the truth before someone else does.”
Vanessa looked irritated.
Eventually, she spoke.
Grant rented a private wine storage vault under a shell company.
Not for wine.
Documents.
Backup drives.
Cash.
The vault required biometric access.
Grant’s.
And Vanessa’s.
That was why he kept her close.
She was not only his mistress.
She was part of his emergency plan.
Police executed a warrant.
Inside were ledgers showing project losses.
Offshore accounts.
Payments to Lewis Crane.
Private investigation expenses targeting Claire and Arthur.
And one contract with Vanessa.
If Grant successfully obtained Claire’s Vance voting proxy, Vanessa would receive $5 million.
Claire stared at the figure.
Vanessa had worn her mother’s pearl earrings while helping Grant pressure her into giving up control of her family company.
That detail removed the last possibility that Vanessa had merely been another woman deceived by Grant.
She was participating.
Vanessa admitted it.
“He told me you were going to leave anyway.”
“Did that make stealing from me acceptable?”
Claire asked from the observation room, though Vanessa could not hear.
Detective Mitchell asked.
“Why provoke Claire that night?”
Vanessa looked toward the table.
“Grant said humiliation would make her impulsive.”
“He wanted her angry.”
“Why?”
“So she would leave before calling lawyers.”
There it was.
Grant had expected Claire to run.
Cry.
Disappear into a hotel.
Then he planned to approach her with divorce papers while she was emotionally shattered.
Instead, she called Arthur.
Vanessa continued.
“Grant didn’t plan to hit her six times.”
Mitchell looked at her.
“How many slaps were acceptable?”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“It’s exactly what you said.”
Then Vanessa revealed something that shifted the case again.
Grant had not chosen that night randomly.
The next morning, Vance Logistics’ board was scheduled to discuss a strategic partnership.
Grant believed Claire’s proxy could be submitted immediately if she signed before midnight.
“He kept saying the window closes tomorrow.”
Vanessa said.
Arthur looked at Claire.
The strategic partnership had involved a massive West Coast freight network.
If Grant had controlled Claire’s vote, he could have influenced a transaction worth billions.
But Grant never got the proxy.
Instead, at 11:59 that night, Arthur’s attorneys filed notice suspending any attempted spousal proxy because of the domestic violence investigation.
Grant’s window had closed.
Then Detective Mitchell asked Vanessa.
“Who suggested using the affair to pressure Claire?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Lewis Crane.”
May you like
The family attorney.
The man Grant trusted to clean every mess.
