Chapter 2
I felt as though someone had punched a hole through my chest.
My mother was standing beside me with bruises on her face, telling me that my wife had tried to make her disappear permanently.
I looked at Vanessa.
She shook her head frantically.
"Marcus, she's lying."
Mom flinched.
I felt her fingers tighten around my arm.
Detective Brooks stepped between us.
"Mrs. Bennett, you're being detained under the warrant issued this afternoon."
Vanessa stared at her.
"For what?"
The detective remained calm.
"Suspected unlawful restraint, financial fraud, and offenses associated with Mrs. Carter's disappearance. The investigation is ongoing."
Vanessa turned toward me.
"Baby, I swear I didn't hurt her."
I looked at the bruises on Mom's cheek.
"Then who did?"
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
The officers escorted Vanessa away from my mother while Detective Brooks explained the next steps.
I barely heard them.
My mind kept returning to the same horrible question.
How could I have married this woman yesterday?
How could I have kissed her at the altar while my mother was recovering from something so terrible?
I turned toward Mom.
"Sit down."
She nodded.
I guided her into the living room.
Her movements were slow.
She winced when she lowered herself onto the sofa.
That small movement made my throat tighten.
"Mom, are you hurt?"
She touched my hand.
"I'm healing."
"Healing from what?"
She looked toward Detective Brooks.
The detective approached us.
"Mr. Carter, your mother has been receiving medical care. We can discuss what she's comfortable sharing, but some evidence must be handled through the investigation."
I stared at her.
"You've known where my mother was?"
"Since eight days ago."
My head snapped up.
"Eight days?"
She nodded.
I stood.
"You're telling me you knew she was alive while I was searching for her?"
The detective didn't retreat.
"We had significant concerns about her safety. Mrs. Carter requested restricted contact while we secured evidence and identified the people involved."
I looked at Mom.
She was crying.
"Why didn't you call me?"
Her voice trembled.
"Because they had access to your phone."
I froze.
"What?"
She wiped her cheeks.
"Vanessa and her cousin Derek."
I knew Derek Lawson.
He was Vanessa's cousin and the head of security for my development company.
I had hired him two years earlier after Vanessa recommended him.
He managed our home surveillance system.
He had access to my office building.
He knew my travel schedule.
And he was the person who had helped me search for Mom.
I felt sick.
"Derek?"
Mom nodded.
"He helped her."
I stared at the floor.
For twelve days, Derek had been beside me, promising that his team was doing everything possible to locate my mother.
He had reviewed security footage.
Checked entrances.
Made phone calls.
He had even hugged me when I broke down at the police station.
All that time, he knew something.
I couldn't believe it.
Detective Brooks sat across from us.
"Mr. Carter, we need to ask about your mother's last visit to your home."
I swallowed.
"She came here thirteen days ago."
"What happened?"
I closed my eyes.
That afternoon, Mom had arrived unexpectedly.
Vanessa was upstairs preparing for the wedding.
I was reviewing construction contracts in my office.
Mom asked to speak with me privately.
She looked upset.
She said she had concerns about Vanessa.
I remembered feeling irritated.
Not because I didn't love my mother.
Because Vanessa had spent months telling me Mom disapproved of our marriage.
I thought it was another argument about the wedding.
"What did she say?" Detective Brooks asked.
I looked down.
"She said Vanessa was hiding something."
Mom began crying quietly.
I continued.
"She wanted me to postpone the ceremony."
I looked at her.
"I'm sorry, Mom."
She shook her head.
"Keep going."
I swallowed.
"I told her I loved Vanessa and wasn't going to cancel the wedding because of another disagreement."
The words tasted bitter.
Mom had begged me to listen.
I hadn't.
Detective Brooks asked, "Did she mention money?"
I looked up.
"No."
Mom closed her eyes.
"She tried."
I stared at her.
"What?"
She reached for my hand.
"Marcus, I found documents showing that Vanessa had been moving money from your company into accounts you didn't know existed."
My stomach dropped.
"That's impossible."
Mom shook her head.
"It isn't."
I stared at Detective Brooks.
She nodded.
"Financial investigators are reviewing suspicious transactions and apparent unauthorized access to company records."
I rubbed my forehead.
My company was worth more than forty million dollars.
I had spent ten years building it.
I trusted several people with financial responsibilities.
Vanessa had no formal position in the business.
But she knew my passwords.
She knew my employees.
She knew my schedule.
And Derek controlled building access.
A terrible possibility began forming in my mind.
"How much money?"
The detective hesitated.
"We're still tracing the transfers."
Mom looked at me.
"Marcus, that isn't the worst part."
I turned.
She swallowed.
"Your signature was used to approve documents you never saw."
I felt cold.
"What documents?"
She began trembling.
"Documents giving Vanessa control over part of your company if something happened to you."
I stared at her.
"What do you mean, if something happened to me?"
Mom couldn't answer.
Detective Brooks stepped forward.
"We need to establish the purpose of those documents before drawing conclusions."
I sat down slowly.
For years, I had believed I was a careful businessman.
I reviewed contracts.
Questioned investments.
Checked financial reports.
Yet I had allowed a woman into my home who apparently knew how to reach every part of my life.
Mom squeezed my hand.
"I discovered the paperwork because Vanessa left a folder at my house."
I looked at her.
"Why was she at your house?"
"She came to ask for your father's old wedding ring."
My throat tightened.
My father had died six years earlier.
Mom kept his ring in a small wooden box.
Vanessa told me she wanted to surprise me by incorporating it into our ceremony.
I thought the gesture was beautiful.
Now I wondered whether the visit had been an excuse.
Mom continued.
"While she was upstairs, her handbag fell from the chair. A folder slipped out."
I stared at her.
"I saw your name on a document."
She swallowed.
"I picked it up because it looked like company paperwork."
"What did it say?"
Her voice broke.
"That you had voluntarily transferred voting rights in one of your holding companies."
I shook my head.
"I never did that."
"I know."
Mom began crying.
"I tried to photograph it. Vanessa caught me."
My heart pounded.
"What happened?"
Mom stared at the floor.
"She smiled."
I felt sick.
"Then she told me I had made a terrible mistake."
Detective Brooks leaned forward.
"Mrs. Carter, you don't have to continue right now."
Mom shook her head.
"No. Marcus needs to understand."
She looked at me.
"That night, Derek came to my house."
I gripped her hand.
"Why?"
"He said you had sent him to pick me up."
I stared at her.
"I never sent him."
"I know that now."
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
"He told me you wanted to apologize before the wedding."
My stomach twisted.
Mom whispered, "I believed him."
May you like
Then she looked directly into my eyes.
"And that was how they got me into the car."
