Chapter 6 - VANESSA TALKS
Vanessa Kensington spent her first night in county detention.
By morning, she wanted Harrison Cole.
Not her attorney.
Not Richard.
Harrison.
Detective Mercer called him at 7:12 a.m.
“She says she’ll only speak if you’re present.”
Harrison looked through the hospital window at Khloe sleeping.
“Why me?”
“She says Richard will kill her.”
Harrison’s expression didn’t change.
“Tell her to get in line.”
“Harrison.”
“I’ll be there.”
Vanessa looked different without designer clothes and makeup.
Smaller.
Terrified.
Her attorney sat beside her.
Harrison remained standing.
Vanessa stared at him.
“How is Khloe?”
Harrison said nothing.
“Is the baby alive?”
Still nothing.
Vanessa began crying.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t.”
One word.
She stopped.
Harrison sat down.
“You pushed an eight-month-pregnant woman down a marble staircase.”
Vanessa looked at the table.
“You don’t get to begin with remorse.”
Her attorney intervened.
“My client is attempting to cooperate.”
“Then cooperate.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Richard told me Khloe was going to take my baby.”
Harrison’s eyes narrowed.
“What baby?”
Vanessa placed both hands over her stomach.
Harrison stared.
She wasn’t visibly pregnant.
“I’m eleven weeks.”
Silence.
Richard had two pregnant women.
His wife.
His mistress.
Vanessa whispered.
“He told me Khloe had hired investigators.”
“She had.”
Vanessa looked up.
“He said she was going to expose us.”
“She was.”
“And that she would use the affair to prove I was unstable.”
Harrison’s voice remained cold.
“You pushed her.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t accidentally touch her.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t lose your balance.”
Vanessa began shaking.
“I know.”
“You placed both hands against a pregnant woman and shoved.”
Tears ran down Vanessa’s face.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard told me she had evidence that could send me to prison.”
“For what?”
Vanessa looked at her attorney.
He nodded.
She whispered.
“Bellweather.”
Harrison leaned back.
“Explain.”
“I signed documents.”
“What documents?”
“Consulting agreements.”
“For Harrington?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know they were fraudulent?”
“At first, no.”
“And later?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Yes.”
Mercer started writing.
Harrison watched Vanessa carefully.
“How much money?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try.”
“Millions.”
“Ten?”
“More.”
“Twenty?”
Vanessa started crying again.
“More.”
Harrison’s jaw tightened.
“Fifty?”
She nodded.
Mercer stopped writing.
Harrison continued.
“Richard told you Khloe controlled Bellweather.”
“Yes.”
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
That answer was honest.
Harrison respected honesty even when he despised the person giving it.
“What changed?”
“I found an email.”
“From?”
“Richard to Martin.”
“What did it say?”
Vanessa took a breath.
“Once the wife is attached to Bellweather, move everything.”
Harrison went still.
“Everything where?”
“I don’t know.”
“When was the email?”
“Three years ago.”
Before Khloe discovered the affair.
Before her pregnancy.
Before any divorce.
Richard had been preparing the frame for years.
Vanessa continued.
“I confronted him.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
“What happened?”
“He laughed.”
Harrison’s eyes hardened.
“He said Bellweather was insurance.”
“Against Khloe?”
“Against everyone.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Harrison didn’t believe her.
She saw it.
“I swear.”
“Don’t swear to me.”
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“Why did you call Khloe to the courthouse?”
“I wanted to give her something.”
“The blue folder?”
Vanessa looked up sharply.
So sharply Harrison had his answer.
“What was inside?”
“Copies of Richard’s offshore transfers.”
“To where?”
“Singapore.”
“Amount?”
Vanessa whispered.
“Two hundred and eighty million.”
Mercer stared at her.
Harrison remained motionless.
“Where did it come from?”
“Pension funds.”
That changed everything.
Not rich investors.
Not corporate money.
Retirement funds.
Teachers.
Police officers.
Firefighters.
Thousands of ordinary people.
Harrison’s voice dropped.
“Richard stole pension money?”
Vanessa nodded.
“I think so.”
“And you had proof.”
“Yes.”
“Where is the folder?”
“I gave it to Khloe.”
“When?”
“Before the argument.”
Harrison remembered Khloe saying it was in her trunk.
Martin had taken it.
“Why did you push her after giving her evidence?”
Vanessa’s face twisted.
“Richard appeared.”
“At the courthouse?”
“Yes.”
“He wasn’t visible in the camera footage.”
“He was behind the column.”
Harrison looked at Mercer.
“Check it.”
Vanessa continued.
“He texted me.”
“What did he say?”
“My phone has it.”
Mercer placed an evidence bag on the table.
Vanessa’s phone.
“Passcode?”
Vanessa gave it.
Mercer unlocked the device.
They found the message.
Richard:
SHE HAS IT.
Vanessa:
I gave it to her.
Richard:
THEN GET IT BACK.
Vanessa:
No.
Richard:
Do it now or you lose everything.
Vanessa:
I’m done.
Then the final message.
Richard:
YOUR BABY WILL NEVER KNOW YOU EXIST.
Harrison stared at the screen.
Vanessa covered her face.
“He said he had people.”
“What people?”
“Judges.”
“Police.”
“Doctors.”
“He said he could make me disappear.”
Harrison leaned forward.
“So you shoved Khloe?”
“I grabbed for the folder.”
“Your hands were empty.”
“She pulled away.”
“And?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I panicked.”
“You pushed her.”
“Yes.”
The room became silent.
Then Vanessa whispered.
“There’s something else.”
Harrison waited.
“Richard didn’t run toward Khloe because he already knew she would fall.”
Harrison’s expression changed.
“What?”
Vanessa looked terrified.
“He told me exactly where to meet her.”
“At the top of the stairs.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He told me the cameras on that landing were down for maintenance.”
Harrison stared at Mercer.
Mercer was already reaching for her phone.
But Vanessa wasn’t finished.
“They weren’t supposed to record anything.”
Harrison’s eyes returned to her.
“Then why did they?”
Vanessa whispered.
“Because someone turned them back on.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Harrison thought of Khloe.
Then Martin.
Then Richard.
Then someone else.
Someone had known what was about to happen.
Someone had deliberately restored the camera.
May you like
And whoever that person was—
They had wanted Richard exposed.
