Chapter 7 - THE DEAL UNDER THE WEDDING
Derek had not planned the scheme alone.
That became clear within twenty-four hours.
Victor Hale was questioned.
He denied knowing Derek personally.
Unfortunately for him, phone records disagreed.
Thirty-seven calls in four months.
Sixteen text conversations.
Three meetings at a private club.
Victor eventually admitted Derek approached him with a proposal.
Derek claimed he could control enough Bellamy family votes to push through the sale.
In exchange, Victor promised him a “consulting fee.”
“How much?”
I asked Marissa.
“Two million dollars.”
I stared at her.
Vanessa had married a man who used our wedding reception as part of a corporate fraud.
But something still did not fit.
“Why hurt me?”
I asked.
“If Derek already forged the authorization, why risk the cannon?”
Marissa agreed.
“We’re asking the same question.”
Aaron’s footage held the answer.
Not the first clip.
A different one.
He had filmed Derek and Victor near the ballroom bar about forty minutes after the injury.
They were arguing.
The audio was terrible.
Police enhanced it.
Victor said, “You were supposed to keep it clean.”
Derek answered, “She moved.”
Then Victor said something even stranger.
“I said scare her, not mark her.”
Mark her.
The phrase haunted me.
Derek responded, “It still works.”
“What still works?”
I asked.
Marissa paused the recording.
“We don’t know.”
Then Aaron remembered a third detail.
Before the reception, Derek insisted the venue photographer take a close-up photograph of my face.
Aaron thought it was strange because I was not in the wedding party.
Police obtained the image.
There I was.
Smiling.
Perfectly clear left eye.
The photograph had been taken forty-five minutes before the cannon fired.
A before picture.
Marissa stared at it for a long time.
“If the plan was only to scare you, why document your face immediately beforehand?”
My stomach turned.
Later that night, Marissa called again.
Police found an email from Derek to Victor.
Attached was the photograph.
The subject line contained two words.
BEFORE PROOF.
The message underneath said:
After photo will be enough.
Insurance leverage stays on schedule.
I sat frozen.
“What insurance?”
Marissa answered quietly.
May you like
“A policy connected to Bellamy Manufacturing.”
“And your name is on it.”
