Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN IN RED
Vanessa did not return to the mansion that night.
She called Gabriel twice. He ignored both calls. On the third, she left
a message.
“You’re making a terrible mistake. Daniel was not the man you remember.
Ask Rachel what she knows about the money.”
Gabriel played the message for Rachel.
She listened without changing expression.
“She’s trying to frighten me.”
“Do you know anything about the money?”
Rachel hesitated.
“Daniel gave me a small notebook a week before he died. He told me to
keep it somewhere safe. I never understood what it meant.”
“Where is it?”
“In a box with Lily’s baby things.”
They returned to Rachel’s apartment with a security escort. It was a
modest second-floor unit above a closed laundromat. Rachel had moved
twice since Daniel’s death, but she had kept the box.
Inside were hospital bracelets, tiny shoes, photographs, and a blue
notebook.
The first pages contained ordinary household expenses. Then the writing
changed. Daniel had listed dates, account numbers, and initials.
One name appeared repeatedly.
V.B.
Vanessa Bellini.
Beside several entries was a phrase: “approval before transfer.”
Rachel sat on the floor.
“He never told me she was involved.”
Gabriel read the notes.
“Maybe he didn’t know how far it went.”
At the back of the notebook was a handwritten address and a time:
Friday, 9:30 p.m.
The address belonged to a private restaurant near the river.
Gabriel recognized the location. Vanessa had hosted a charity dinner
there two years earlier.
“She wants to meet,” Rachel said.
“Or she wants us to think she does.”
Gabriel called Marcus and arranged surveillance.
On Friday evening, Gabriel entered the restaurant through the front
door. Rachel remained in a secure car nearby, connected by an earpiece.
Vanessa sat alone in a private room. Her red dress had been replaced by
a cream suit. She looked tired.
“You came,” she said.
“Talk.”
She placed a folder on the table.
“Arthur handled the transfers. I introduced him to investors. I didn’t
know he planned to kill Daniel.”
“You knew he was stealing.”
“I knew money was moving. I thought it was a private fund.”
“You threatened Daniel’s wife and child.”
Vanessa looked away.
“I was trying to keep the situation contained.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“You told me they were dead.”
“Arthur said they were a liability. He said Daniel had left evidence
with them.”
“So you made sure they couldn’t reach me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Of losing everything.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“You let a widow and a little girl believe they had no one.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled. “I loved you.”
“No. You loved the life you thought you could control.”
He stood.
“Where is Arthur?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“He’s leaving the country tomorrow. He has a private flight booked from
a small airfield.”
Gabriel’s expression did not change.
“Why tell me now?”
“Because he has decided I know too much.”
A phone vibrated inside her handbag.
She looked at it and went pale.
Gabriel noticed.
“Who is it?”
She turned the screen toward him.
A message from Arthur:
You have ten minutes. Then I know where you are.
Gabriel pressed his earpiece.
“Marcus, move now.”
Vanessa began to cry.
“Please. Don’t leave me here.”
Gabriel looked at her for a long moment.
“You will tell the investigators everything. After that, the law decides
what happens.”
He walked out.
May you like
For the first time, Vanessa had to face the consequences without Gabriel
standing between her and the truth.
