Chapter 10 - THE RECORDING VANESSA COULDN'T DESTROY|
The following afternoon, I sat in a small conference room at police headquarters.
Olivia was beside me.
Luca stood near the window, holding a paper cup of coffee he hadn't touched.
Detective Torres entered with a sealed evidence folder.
Her expression told me that whatever she had learned was serious.
"Elliot Graves has provided investigators with records relating to the North Star Foundation."
Luca turned.
"Did he admit everything?"
"Not everything."
"He's cooperating under advice from his attorney."
She placed several photographs on the table.
They showed handwritten notes, bank documents, and internal emails.
Some contained Vanessa's name.
Others were signed by Graham Ward.
Elliot had allegedly helped conceal the transfers in exchange for a percentage of the stolen funds.
He had also helped create false records suggesting Olivia had approved the transactions.
"What about the recording?" Olivia asked.
Torres hesitated.
"Elliot kept copies of communications that he believed could protect him if his partners turned against him."
She opened a laptop.
The first recording contained a conversation between Elliot and Vanessa.
We heard Elliot's nervous voice.
"Olivia is refusing to sign."
Then Vanessa answered.
"Then find a way to remove her from the decision."
Elliot sounded frightened.
"She's a trustee."
"She has legal rights."
Vanessa laughed.
"Everyone has a weakness, Elliot."
"And everyone can be replaced."
The recording ended.
Olivia stared at the laptop.
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Then she whispered, "I used to think she hated me because I was close to Luca."
Luca knelt beside her.
"Liv."
She looked at him.
"She hated me because I wouldn't let her steal from people who needed that money."
I watched Luca take his sister's hand.
There was something heartbreaking about the simplicity of that realization.
Olivia had nearly died because she refused to betray strangers she would probably never meet.
The detective continued.
"The recording supports the financial-conspiracy investigation, but it doesn't establish who ordered the attack."
"Did Elliot know about the damaged brakes?" Luca asked.
"He claims he learned about the crash afterward."
"His claims will need independent verification."
Then she placed another photograph on the table.
It showed a black SUV parked outside a warehouse.
I recognized the vehicle from Olivia's descriptions.
Daniel had driven it the night of the accident.
"Elliot kept paperwork showing the SUV was leased through a Ward-controlled company," Torres explained.
"We're working to reconstruct the vehicle's movements."
I felt my chest tighten.
Somewhere inside that SUV, Daniel had watched Olivia's car disappear through a highway barrier.
He had seen what happened.
And he had driven away.
"Is there video?" I asked.
Torres shook her head.
"Not from these records."
But later that evening, Daniel's attorney contacted the detective.
Daniel wanted to provide additional evidence.
He admitted that he had removed a memory card from the SUV's dashboard camera after the crash.
He had hidden it because the footage could incriminate him.
For eighteen months, he had kept it concealed among his belongings.
When he heard investigators had uncovered the foundation transfers, he finally surrendered it.
I learned this while helping Olivia finish dinner.
The phone rang.
I answered.
Detective Torres asked whether I could return to the station the next morning.
I already knew what she was going to say.
"You found the video."
"Yes."
My stomach twisted.
"Does it show what happened?"
"We're examining the original recording and checking its authenticity."
I looked at Olivia.
She was watching me closely.
"Is that Maya?"
I nodded.
Olivia held out her hand.
"Tell her I want to see it."
I hesitated.
"Liv, are you sure?"
Her expression was steady.
"For eighteen months, I've tried to remember what happened."
"I think I'm ready to know."
The following morning, we sat together in a private room while an investigator explained what the video contained.
He warned us that it might be upsetting.
Olivia squeezed my hand.
"I'm ready."
The footage began.
It was raining.
Highway lights stretched across the wet pavement.
Olivia's silver car appeared ahead.
I recognized the road immediately from news photographs taken after the accident.
Then Daniel's voice came through the recording.
"She's alone."
Another voice answered through the vehicle's hands-free system.
It was Adrian.
"Good."
Daniel sounded nervous.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Just do what you were paid to do."
The SUV accelerated.
I watched Olivia's car move toward the right lane.
Then the SUV drew alongside it.
There was a terrible metallic sound.
Olivia gasped beside me.
On the screen, her car swerved.
It struck the guardrail.
For a split second, I saw her hands desperately turning the steering wheel.
Then her vehicle disappeared beyond the barrier.
The camera shook as Daniel slammed on his brakes.
He stopped on the shoulder.
I heard him breathing.
Then he whispered, "Oh, God."
He opened the SUV's door.
For one moment, I thought he was going to help her.
Instead, Adrian shouted through the phone.
"Get out of there!"
Daniel climbed back into the vehicle.
He drove away.
I couldn't stop crying.
Olivia sat perfectly still.
Her face was pale.
But she didn't look away.
The investigator paused the recording.
"There's more."
The image moved forward several minutes.
Daniel had pulled into a parking lot.
His hands were shaking as he called someone.
A woman answered.
"Is it done?"
I recognized Vanessa's voice immediately.
Daniel sounded horrified.
"She went over the barrier."
"She might be dead."
There was a long pause.
Then Vanessa spoke.
"Did anyone see you?"
Daniel didn't answer.
"Daniel, listen to me."
"Did anyone see you?"
"No."
"Then leave Chicago."
"Now."
I looked toward Luca.
His expression was motionless.
But his fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
Olivia slowly reached toward the laptop.
"Play that part again."
The investigator did.
Vanessa's voice filled the room.
Did anyone see you?
Not a question about whether Olivia was alive.
Not a question about whether she needed help.
Only whether the people responsible had been seen.
Olivia closed her eyes.
May you like
Then she whispered something that made me cry even harder.
"She never asked if I survived."
