Chapter 5
I had met Grant Cross only twice.
Both times, he had smiled warmly, asked how Lily was doing, and treated me as though I were invisible the moment I answered.
He was handsome in the polished, expensive way that ran in the Cross family.
Adrian had inherited their father's discipline.
Grant had inherited his charm.
And apparently, something much darker.
When Adrian told me his brother's name was on the recording, I felt sick.
"Are you certain?"
He nodded.
"Detective Price recognized his voice. They're having it examined."
"What did he say?"
Adrian looked toward Lily's bedroom.
Then he lowered his voice.
"He told Vivian that Elena's car could be handled before she reached the police."
I leaned against the wall.
"Handled?"
"He said nobody would question a mechanical failure."
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Elena had died when her car left a rain-soaked road in Westchester County.
Investigators had blamed a steering component failure.
The insurance company had paid the estate.
And three months later, Vivian began appearing beside Adrian at charity events.
I remembered the photographs.
The grieving widower.
The devoted family friend.
The woman who helped him endure unbearable loss.
She had been building her place in Lily's life while Elena was barely in her grave.
"Why would Grant help her?" I whispered.
Adrian gave a bitter laugh.
"Money."
He sat down.
"Grant owed nearly eight million dollars after a failed development project. I paid part of it. I thought that was the end."
"It wasn't?"
"He kept borrowing. I stopped giving him money two months before Elena died."
I thought about Elena's letter.
The fake companies.
The foundation.
The insurance changes.
"Maybe Vivian offered him another way."
Adrian covered his face.
"My brother attended Elena's funeral."
I sat beside him.
"He carried her photograph."
Then he whispered, "He held Lily while I signed the death certificate paperwork."
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Finally, I said, "We need evidence. Not just suspicion."
Adrian looked at me.
"You sound like Detective Price."
"I've spent three years wondering whether my friend died because she trusted the wrong people. I want the truth to survive a courtroom."
He nodded.
The next morning, Detective Price came to the apartment with another investigator, Sergeant Alicia Bennett.
They explained that the recording contained several voices but needed forensic authentication.
There were clear references to Elena's vehicle.
There were also statements suggesting financial fraud.
But they still needed to connect those conversations to specific criminal acts.
"We're examining the original crash evidence," Bennett said.
"Was the car preserved?" I asked.
"Most of it was dismantled. But some components were retained for litigation."
Adrian stared at her.
"Litigation?"
She consulted her notes.
"An insurance dispute. Apparently, there was a disagreement over whether the steering failure resulted from a manufacturing defect."
Adrian frowned.
"I never authorized a lawsuit."
Detective Price looked up.
"Someone did."
I felt a cold rush of understanding.
"Vivian?"
Bennett nodded.
"Through a legal representative."
Adrian gripped the edge of the table.
"My wife filed a claim using Elena's death?"
"That's one possibility. We're obtaining the records."
The investigators left shortly after noon.
Lily was attending her first appointment with a child trauma specialist, Dr. Nadia Foster.
Adrian had insisted on accompanying her.
I stayed behind with Grace.
While we prepared lunch, my phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
I answered.
"Maya?"
The voice was trembling.
"Who's this?"
"It's Rosa."
I froze.
Rosa Alvarez.
The former housekeeper.
The woman who had resigned suddenly after nearly six years with the Cross family.
"Rosa? Where are you?"
"Somewhere safe, for now."
"What happened?"
She began to cry.
"I saw the video."
My heart hammered.
"What video?"
"The one Vivian deleted."
I sat down hard.
Rosa spoke quickly.
"Before I left, she made me help replace the camera storage unit. I kept a backup because something felt wrong."
"Do you have it?"
"Yes."
"Rosa, you need to contact the police."
"I know."
"Then why haven't you?"
A long silence.
Then she whispered, "Because Vivian knows where my grandson goes to school."
I closed my eyes.
"Has she threatened him?"
"Her brother did."
"Grant?"
"Yes."
My hands began shaking.
"Rosa, listen carefully. Detective Price is investigating. He can protect you."
"I want to believe that."
"You can."
Another silence.
Then she said something I would remember forever.
"Maya, the video isn't the worst thing I found."
"What do you mean?"
"Vivian took Lily to a house in the country. I was told to pack her clothes. When she came back, she couldn't stop crying."
I thought of the blue door.
"The house with the blue door?"
Rosa gasped.
"You know about it?"
"Lily mentioned it."
Rosa began breathing faster.
"Then you have to find that house."
"Why?"
"Because I heard Vivian arguing with Grant about what happened there."
"What happened?"
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"They kept saying Elena's name."
My stomach twisted.
"Elena died three years ago."
"I know."
"Then what were they talking about?"
Rosa hesitated.
And then came the words that changed everything.
"I heard Grant say they should never have brought Lily back to that place."
Before I could ask another question, Rosa cried out.
A man's voice shouted in the background.
The line went dead.
I called back.
Straight to voicemail.
I ran to the door and shouted for Daniel.
He arrived immediately.
I gave him Rosa's number.
Within minutes, Detective Price was notified.
But it wasn't until Adrian returned with Lily that we received another call.
Rosa had been found.
Alive.
Shaken.
Her apartment door had been forced open, but she had escaped through the rear stairwell.
She was already speaking with police.
And she had given them an address.
A large country estate in Westchester County.
White walls.
Iron gates.
And a bright blue front door.
May you like
The property had been purchased six months before Elena's death.
Its registered owner was a company controlled by Grant Cross.
