Chapter 6 - THE GIRL IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Patrick Sloan was brought in for questioning the next morning.
He denied ordering anyone to threaten me.
He claimed several old security jackets were stored in an unlocked supply room.
Detective Ellis did not believe him.
Neither did I.
My mother stabilized, but the doctors kept her under observation.
I stayed beside her until Rosa called.
“I found something.”
We met inside a crowded diner near the train station.
Rosa placed an old photograph on the table.
Claire Callahan stood beside a mountain cabin.
Grant had one arm around her.
Lily, barely five years old, sat on his shoulders.
Renata stood at the edge of the photograph.
She was watching Grant.
Not the camera.
On the back, Claire had written a date.
It was three days before the accident.
“Claire gave this to me,” Rosa said.
“She told me to hide it.”
“Why?”
“Because she had discovered Renata was stealing from the company.”
Renata had served as director of charitable partnerships for Callahan Industrial.
According to Rosa, Claire found transfers from the family foundation to shell organizations controlled by Renata.
Claire planned to tell Grant during their mountain trip.
“Did Grant know?” I asked.
“No.”
“He was in London for a business meeting.”
“Claire drove to the cabin with Lily.”
“Renata followed them.”
My mouth went dry.
“You think Renata caused the crash.”
“I think Claire thought she might.”
Rosa removed a second item from her bag.
It was a small silver voice recorder.
“Claire left this in the kitchen two days before she died.”
“I forgot about it until last night.”
The batteries were dead.
We bought replacements from a drugstore.
The recording began with static.
Then Claire’s voice filled the diner booth.
“If anything happens to me, Grant needs to know Renata has been moving money through the Vale Foundation.”
“She knows I discovered it.”
“She threatened me this morning.”
“I am taking Lily to the cabin until Grant returns.”
“I do not think I am safe.”
The recording ended.
Rosa covered her mouth.
I felt sick.
We delivered the recorder to Detective Ellis.
By evening, a forensic accountant had begun examining the old foundation records.
The shell organizations still existed.
Millions of dollars had moved through them.
Renata had not merely attached herself to a wealthy man.
She had built a financial trap around him.
Detective Ellis warned us not to contact Grant.
“He may be a victim,” she said.
“He may also destroy evidence to protect his reputation.”
That night, an envelope appeared beneath my apartment door.
Inside was another drawing from Lily.
This one showed a black car on a wet road.
A red car followed behind it.
A woman with long dark hair stood beside the broken guardrail.
May you like
At the bottom of the page, Lily had written one word.
PUSHED.
