Chapter 4 - Seven Years of Silence
By the time I reached Laurel Canyon, Vanessa was gone.
Charles Wexler was gone too.
Marcus stood outside the house beside another security officer.
“You let them leave?”
“You told me not to let her near Noah. You didn't tell me to detain your fiancée.”
“She's not my fiancée right now.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
“You may want to tell her that.”
I ignored him and went inside.
Noah was sitting cross-legged on the living room rug building something out of wooden blocks he'd found in a cabinet.
My mother bought those blocks when Andrew and I were children.
Seeing them in Noah's hands hit me harder than I expected.
“Vanessa came here?” I asked.
Noah nodded.
“Mr. Marcus didn't let her inside.”
“Did she say anything to you?”
“She waved through the window.”
I sat beside him.
“What did you do?”
“I hid.”
He said it casually.
That disturbed me.
“Why?”
“Mom said if the blonde lady ever came to Rosa's house, I shouldn't talk to her.”
I looked at Marcus.
“How long has Maria known Vanessa was dangerous?”
“Ask Maria.”
I intended to.
But first I called Evan.
He met me at the hospital.
Evan Brooks had been my attorney since I took over Whitmore Industries. He was younger than most family lawyers, blunt enough to irritate my board, and one of the few people who would tell me when I was behaving like an idiot.
When I explained the trust, he looked grim.
“You found the actual amendment?”
“Andrew had a copy.”
“And you're certain the video is recent?”
“I know my brother.”
“That wasn't what I asked.”
I stared at him.
“Yes. Recent.”
Evan folded his arms.
“Then your family has a legal disaster on its hands.”
“My brother being alive is not a disaster.”
“For you personally? Maybe not. For the company? Potentially.”
“Explain.”
“If Andrew is legally alive, every distribution made after his presumed death needs review. If Noah is legally established as his son, the voting-share provision activates.”
“How much?”
“Possibly enough to break the current controlling bloc.”
“And Hale?”
“Hale Capital has spent five years acquiring minority positions around your subsidiaries.”
“So Noah could stop them.”
“Or become the center of a fight worth hundreds of millions.”
I looked through the glass window toward Maria's room.
“And Vanessa knows this.”
“We don't know what Vanessa knows.”
“She knew enough to find Noah.”
“Then get Maria's full story.”
Maria was awake.
When I entered with Evan, she stiffened.
“He's my attorney.”
“Can he be trusted?”
Evan looked offended.
I almost smiled.
“Yes.”
Maria glanced toward the door.
“Where's Noah?”
“Safe.”
“With Rosa?”
“No.”
Fear entered her face.
“With me.”
That relaxed her slightly.
I sat.
“I found Box 317.”
She closed her eyes.
“So Andrew came back.”
“You knew?”
“I knew he planned to.”
“When did you last see him?”
Maria opened her eyes.
“Seven years ago.”
“Before Noah was born?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know he was alive this entire time?”
Her answer took too long.
“Yes.”
Anger arrived before reason.
“My mother died grieving him.”
“I know.”
“You worked in my house.”
“I know.”
“You watched her funeral photographs hanging on my walls for three years.”
Tears gathered in Maria's eyes.
“I know.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I promised him.”
“My mother deserved better than your promise.”
Maria looked down.
“You're right.”
That stopped me.
I had expected justification.
Instead she accepted it.
“You should be angry,” she said. “I was angry too.”
“Then why keep protecting him?”
“Because people were watching me.”
Evan leaned forward.
“Who?”
“Richard Hale's people.”
“You're sure?”
Maria nodded.
“Andrew told me about the money he discovered. At first I didn't understand. I was working for a hotel then. Andrew would meet me after shifts. One night he said someone had followed us.”
She swallowed.
“A week later, my apartment was broken into. Nothing was stolen.”
“What changed?” I asked.
“My bedroom.”
She stared at her hands.
“There was a photograph on my pillow.”
Evan's expression hardened.
“Of what?”
“Me. Sleeping.”
Silence filled the room.
“Andrew panicked,” Maria continued. “He said if they knew about me, they'd use me to control him. He wanted me to leave California.”
“Did you?”
“No. I was pregnant.”
“You told him?”
“Yes.”
Maria's eyes became distant.
“He was happy for maybe thirty seconds. Then terrified.”
Andrew's face in the video flashed through my mind.
“What happened next?”
“He planned to expose Hale immediately. Two days later, someone ran his car off the road.”
I stared at her.
“He never told me that.”
“He didn't tell you many things.”
The statement wasn't cruel.
It didn't need to be.
“He survived. After that he decided disappearing was the only way to keep us alive long enough to gather evidence.”
“And you agreed?”
“I begged him not to.”
A tear slid down her cheek.
“But Andrew was convinced.”
She laughed weakly.
“He always thought he could fix things alone.”
That sounded exactly like my brother.
“Why did you start working for my family?”
Maria met my eyes.
“That was Andrew's idea.”
My stomach turned.
“You came into my house because he sent you?”
“At first.”
I stood.
Evan watched me carefully.
“For three years?”
“He wanted someone close to you.”
“To spy on me.”
“To protect you.”
“Same thing from where I'm standing.”
Maria's face crumpled.
“Daniel, please.”
I walked toward the window.
Every relationship suddenly seemed manufactured.
Vanessa had apparently entered my life through Hale.
Maria had entered through Andrew.
Had anyone simply met me?
“Did you report on me?”
“Only when something seemed dangerous.”
“Did Andrew know Vanessa and I were dating?”
“Yes.”
I turned.
“How early?”
“Before you got engaged.”
“And he did nothing?”
“He warned me.”
“You warned him that I was about to marry the daughter of the man he believed tried to kill him, and he still stayed hidden?”
“He didn't know how involved Vanessa was.”
“But you did?”
Maria looked frightened.
“No.”
“Then what happened last night?”
She took a shaky breath.
“I found Vanessa in your study.”
“Doing what?”
“Photographing documents.”
“What documents?”
“Your father's trust.”
Evan and I exchanged a look.
“She saw me,” Maria continued. “She asked why I was there. I lied.”
“Then?”
“She noticed my phone.”
Maria's voice weakened.
“I had a photograph open.”
“Of Noah.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He had sent me a picture from Rosa's phone.”
Vanessa saw the boy.
Saw Andrew in his face.
Maria nodded.
“She asked who he was.”
“What did you say?”
“My nephew.”
“Did she believe you?”
“No.”
Maria stared toward the wall.
“She grabbed my phone.”
The rest came in fragments.
Maria tried to take it back.
Vanessa demanded the passcode.
Maria refused.
They struggled.
The antique mirror fell.
Maria remembered pain.
Then nothing until she saw me.
“So Vanessa attacked you?”
“I don't know if she meant for me to hit the mirror.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Maria met my eyes.
“Yes.”
My hands tightened.
Then she added:
“But Daniel, there's something worse.”
“What?”
“Vanessa wasn't surprised by Andrew's name.”
I already suspected that.
Maria continued.
“She said something before the mirror fell.”
“What?”
Maria's eyes fixed on mine.
“She said, ‘Your mistake was letting Andrew come back to Los Angeles.’”
My heart slammed.
“She knows he's here?”
Maria nodded.
“That means he's close.”
Evan stood.
“If Vanessa knows Andrew is in Los Angeles, Hale knows too.”
I pulled out my phone.
“Then we find him first.”
Maria shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
“Andrew has stayed alive for six years because nobody could find him.”
Her next words changed the entire shape of the problem.
“If he came back now, it means he stopped hiding.”
“Why would he do that?”
Maria's expression filled with dread.
May you like
“Because he's finally ready to expose them.”
And somewhere in Los Angeles, the brother I had mourned was preparing to step back into a family that no longer knew whether to welcome him or blame him for everything that had happened.
