Chapter 10 - THE WEDDING PLAN
At 7:00 the next morning, Daniel met Aaron at the station.
Vanessa sat behind glass in an interview room.
No makeup.
No expensive clothes.
No soft smile.
She looked like a stranger.
Daniel watched through the observation window.
Aaron folded his arms.
“She wants a deal.”
“For kidnapping my daughter?”
“She says she can give us your father.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“She can give me the last three years too?”
“No.”
“Then she doesn’t have enough.”
Aaron looked at him.
“This isn’t revenge.”
“It feels like it.”
“I know.”
Daniel entered the room.
Vanessa looked up.
“Where’s Sophie?”
“Don’t say her name.”
She nodded.
“Fair.”
Daniel sat across from her.
“You were working for my father.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Six years.”
Daniel stared.
“Before you met me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Your father knew the money trail would eventually lead back to him.”
“So you married me?”
“We never got married.”
“You were six weeks away.”
“I was supposed to.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Then what?”
Vanessa looked through the glass.
“I want immunity on the financial charges.”
Aaron entered.
“You’re not getting immunity for kidnapping.”
“I didn’t hurt her.”
Daniel shot to his feet.
“You tied her wrists.”
Vanessa looked genuinely ashamed.
“I lost control.”
“That’s what people say after they hurt children.”
“I know.”
Her voice cracked.
Daniel stared.
For the first time, he saw regret.
He didn’t care.
“What happened after the wedding?”
Vanessa exhaled.
“The trust had a clause.”
“If Sophie’s surviving parent died or became legally incapacitated before she turned five, temporary voting control passed to her guardian.”
Daniel went still.
“You.”
“That was the plan.”
“You were going to have me declared incompetent?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel understood.
His chair scraped backward.
“You were going to kill me.”
Vanessa said nothing.
Aaron stepped closer.
“Answer him.”
Vanessa looked at Daniel.
“Your father was.”
Daniel felt his heartbeat in his throat.
“How?”
“A boating accident.”
Daniel remembered the honeymoon Vanessa had planned.
A private island.
A yacht.
Two weeks.
He felt sick.
“And Sophie?”
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“She was supposed to stay with Margaret.”
Daniel slammed both hands onto the table.
“Supposed to?”
“Your father said Sophie wouldn’t be harmed.”
“You believed him?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“Because he had my brother.”
Silence.
Aaron frowned.
“What?”
Vanessa wiped her face.
“My younger brother owed money to people your father worked with.”
“He used him.”
“If I quit, my brother disappeared.”
Daniel stared at her.
“That doesn’t excuse Sophie.”
“I know.”
For once, Vanessa didn’t argue.
She leaned forward.
“Your father is leaving tonight.”
“Where?”
“Private airfield outside Millbrook.”
Aaron immediately walked out.
Daniel remained.
Vanessa said:
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Ethan isn’t leaving with him.”
“How do you know?”
“Because your father doesn’t trust Ethan.”
Daniel frowned.
Vanessa’s expression turned grim.
“Your father plans to kill him before he leaves.”
Daniel stood.
“Where?”
Vanessa whispered an address.
Daniel recognized it.
The old Mercer family cabin.
As he reached the door, Vanessa called after him.
“Daniel.”
He stopped.
“Your father doesn’t care who stands between him and freedom.”
Daniel looked back.
Vanessa swallowed.
May you like
“If Emily goes with you, he’ll finish what he started three years ago.”
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