Chapter 7 - The Wedding That Never Happened
Six weeks later, the ballroom we'd reserved for our wedding was empty.
No flowers.
No orchestra.
No champagne.
Vanessa was not walking down an aisle.
She was sitting beside her attorney answering questions.
The criminal investigation had expanded.
Fraud.
Forgery.
Financial conspiracy.
The assault on Maria.
The substance found in my supplements.
Investigators would determine exact charges; I wasn't interested in exaggerating them.
I wanted facts.
For the first time in eighteen months, facts were enough.
Maria returned to the mansion after taking several weeks away.
I offered her retirement with full salary.
She refused.
“You trying to get rid of me?”
I laughed for the first time in weeks.
“No.”
“Then stop.”
She returned on one condition.
“No more calling me your housekeeper when reporters ask.”
“What should I call you?”
She thought.
“Maria.”
Fair enough.
The story might have ended there.
It didn't.
Because Vanessa disappeared.
She missed a required meeting with investigators.
Her attorney claimed he didn't know where she was.
Grant disappeared the same morning.
Daniel found security footage from a private airport.
They were preparing to leave the country.
Federal authorities intercepted Grant before departure.
Vanessa wasn't with him.
When investigators searched his luggage, they found two passports.
Cash.
A laptop.
And photographs of my house.
One photograph showed Maria's grandson, Mateo.
Another showed me entering Mercer Aerospace headquarters.
The final photograph showed my father's grave.
Written across the back:
ONE LAST THING.
Nathan called me at 2:11 a.m.
“Elijah, don't go anywhere alone.”
“Why?”
“Because Vanessa isn't running.”
“What is she doing?”
“We think she's trying to finish something.”
I looked out my bedroom window.
Below, the estate grounds were dark.
Then a motion light came on near the old greenhouse.
A figure moved behind the glass.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT YOUR FATHER'S ORIGINAL FILE.
I stared toward the greenhouse.
May you like
Vanessa hadn't left.
She had come back.
