Chapter 6 - VANESSA’S INSURANCE POLICY
Vanessa Cross did not sleep in the holding cell.
She sat beneath fluorescent lights and replayed every promise Preston had ever made her.
The apartment.
The money.
The board seat.
The divorce.
The new life.
Most of all, the hospital.
One day this entire place will answer to me.
That was what Preston had told her.
Now Vanessa knew the truth.
The hospital had never been his.
And neither had the money.
At nine in the morning, her attorney arrived.
Martin Shaw was thin, gray, expensive, and irritated.
“You are facing an assault charge.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“She was fine.”
“Thirty-two weeks pregnant.”
“I didn’t know she would lose her balance.”
“You kicked her.”
Vanessa looked away.
Martin opened a folder.
“The video is clear.”
“Can it disappear?”
“No.”
“Everything can disappear.”
“Not when Raymond Saint Claire has three encrypted copies.”
Vanessa’s mouth tightened.
Martin lowered his voice.
“You need leverage.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“I have leverage.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
She reached beneath her hair and removed a tiny gold key from her necklace.
Martin frowned.
“What is that?”
“A storage box.”
“What’s inside?”
Vanessa smiled for the first time that morning.
“Preston’s real accounting.”
Martin stared at her.
“You kept records?”
“Preston thought I trusted him.”
“You were sleeping with him.”
“That doesn’t mean I trusted him.”
Martin leaned closer.
“What exactly did he do?”
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
“He moved foundation money through twelve shell vendors.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-six million.”
Martin went silent.
Vanessa continued.
“He only thinks Raymond knows about nine.”
“Where did the rest go?”
“Some paid Whitmore debt.”
“Some?”
“Some went into three offshore entities.”
Martin studied her.
“And you know where?”
“I created two of them.”
Martin exhaled slowly.
“You understand what you just admitted?”
“Yes.”
“And you still want me to negotiate?”
“Yes.”
“With whom?”
Vanessa looked toward the locked door.
“Emily.”
Martin almost laughed.
“The woman you assaulted yesterday?”
“She wants Preston more than she wants me.”
“You’re certain?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
Then she leaned closer.
“But I know something Emily doesn’t.”
“What?”
Vanessa’s voice dropped.
“Preston didn’t start stealing because of me.”
Martin waited.
May you like
Vanessa’s eyes hardened.
“He started two years before he met me.”
