Chapter 5
I almost closed the door in Andrew’s face.
Camille stopped me.
“Let him in.”
Andrew stepped inside.
He had always been the golden child.
Vernon’s favorite.
The one who joined the family company straight after college.
The one who defended his father no matter what.
He looked different now.
His expensive suit was wrinkled.
His eyes were red.
“You need to withdraw the accusations,” he said.
My hands curled into fists.
“My eight-year-old daughter has bruises.”
“I’m not talking about Maya.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“The financial investigation.”
Camille stared at him.
“You know about it?”
“Of course I know.”
Andrew rubbed his face.
“Dad’s companies are being frozen.”
“Good,” I said.
He glared at me.
“You don’t understand what that means.”
“It means investigators are doing their jobs.”
“It means hundreds of employees could lose everything.”
Camille stepped closer.
“Andrew, did you help him?”
His face changed.
That was all the answer I needed.
I moved between him and the door.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing involving Maya.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Andrew looked at Camille.
“Tell him to calm down.”
“No.”
She crossed her arms.
“Answer him.”
Andrew laughed bitterly.
“You’ve suddenly become brave?”
Camille flinched.
I stepped forward.
“Don’t.”
He raised both hands.
“Fine.”
He sat down.
“Dad moved money.”
“We know.”
“I signed things.”
My stomach tightened.
“For my company?”
Andrew looked at me.
“Yes.”
I wanted to hit him.
Instead I asked, “Did you forge my signature?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Patricia.”
“Under whose orders?”
Andrew hesitated.
“Dad’s.”
Camille stared at her brother.
“And you knew?”
“Not at first.”
“When did you find out?”
“Two years ago.”
I laughed in disbelief.
“And you said nothing.”
Andrew looked ashamed.
“He had me trapped too.”
Camille’s voice turned cold.
“Don’t you dare use that excuse.”
He stared at her.
“You’re using it.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I’m explaining why I failed my daughter. I am not pretending it made what I did acceptable.”
Andrew looked away.
For the first time, I saw how much fear had shaped both of Vernon’s children.
But there was a difference.
Camille was trying to expose him.
Andrew was still trying to protect him.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“To warn you.”
“About what?”
“Dad has backups.”
“Backups of what?”
“Everything.”
Andrew lowered his voice.
“Contracts. recordings. tax documents. private information about clients, employees, families.”
Camille went pale.
“He keeps leverage on everyone.”
Andrew nodded.
“If prosecutors push him, he’ll release it.”
“That sounds like blackmail.”
“It is.”
“And you’re telling us to surrender?”
“I’m telling you people will get hurt.”
I looked toward the hallway where Maya was upstairs with my mother.
“People are already hurt.”
Andrew’s shoulders dropped.
Before he left, Camille asked him one final question.
“Did Dad ever hurt your children?”
Andrew stopped.
He and his wife had two sons.
Ten and twelve.
He did not turn around.
“No.”
Camille watched him carefully.
“Are you sure?”
Andrew opened the door.
Then he whispered, “I don’t know.”
He left before she could respond.
That night, Camille called Andrew’s wife.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
On the third attempt, she received a text.
Please stop calling.
Camille showed me.
“That doesn’t sound like Rachel.”
I agreed.
We gave Detective Hale Andrew’s information.
By morning, everything accelerated.
Patricia signed a cooperation agreement.
She admitted forging my signature on fourteen separate documents.
She also admitted destroying files after Vernon was questioned.
The break-in had not been random.
She had hired someone.
I was officially treated as a victim of financial fraud rather than a suspect.
For the first time in days, I felt I could breathe.
Then Detective Hale called me to the station.
Camille came too.
He placed several photographs on the table.
They were screenshots from security footage.
Vernon meeting families.
Vernon giving envelopes to men.
Andrew entering offices late at night.
Patricia carrying boxes.
Then Hale showed us another image.
A woman getting into Vernon’s car.
Rebecca Lane.
Sophie’s mother.
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“We don’t know.”
“Is Rebecca involved?”
“Possibly.”
Camille shook her head.
“No. She hates him.”
“People can hate someone and still cooperate with them.”
My stomach twisted.
I remembered Rebecca bringing Sophie to our house.
Had it been sincere?
Had she been watching us?
Then Hale showed us the date.
The photograph had been taken three years earlier.
“That was before her husband left,” Camille said.
“Exactly.”
Hale leaned forward.
“We think Rebecca may have been trying to gather evidence long before you did.”
Relief washed through me.
“Have you talked to her?”
“We can’t find her.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“She and Sophie are gone.”
My heart pounded.
“Since when?”
“This morning.”
Camille grabbed my hand.
“You think Vernon’s people took them?”
“We don’t know.”
That answer was unbearable.
Later, Maya asked when she could return to school.
I told her soon.
She asked when Grandpa would stop being on television.
I told her I did not know.
Then she asked something I was not prepared for.
“Is Mom going to jail?”
I looked at Camille.
She had gone completely still.
“No, sweetheart.”
“Because she didn’t tell?”
Camille crouched beside her.
“I made a terrible mistake.”
Maya looked at her.
“Did you love Grandpa more than me?”
Camille began crying immediately.
“No.”
“Then why didn’t you help me?”
There was no easy answer.
Camille did not make excuses.
“Because I was scared.”
Maya waited.
“And because I made the wrong choice.”
Silence filled the room.
“I should have listened to you.”
Maya’s eyes watered.
Camille continued.
“You deserved a mom who believed you right away.”
Maya slowly reached out.
Not for a hug.
She touched one finger to Camille’s hand.
It lasted barely a second.
But Camille looked at me like she had been given oxygen.
Then my phone rang.
Detective Hale.
They had found Rebecca’s car.
Abandoned.
The driver’s door was open.
May you like
Her purse was still inside.
And there was no sign of Rebecca or Sophie.
