Chapter 7 - The Agreement Nobody Was Supposed to Find
Emily did not deny signing it.
The next morning, Walter placed the agreement on the kitchen table.
Richard read the first page.
“What is this?”
Emily looked at Sophie, who was eating pancakes with Caleb.
“Not here.”
They moved to the study.
Emily explained.
Four years earlier, she discovered Diane had been secretly paying
Vanessa to gather information about the Bennett family.
Richard stared at Vanessa’s signature.
“Why?”
“Diane wanted leverage over Walter’s company.”
Walter asked, “Why would you sign an agreement with her?”
“Because she offered to stop.”
“In exchange for?”
Emily looked ashamed.
“My silence.”
Richard stepped back.
“You knew Vanessa was spying on us?”
“I knew she was feeding information to Diane. I didn’t know why.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“Losing you.”
Richard laughed once, painfully.
“Everybody keeps saying they lied to protect somebody.”
Walter said nothing.
He had used the same excuse in his own life.
Emily continued.
“The night of the crash, Diane called me. She said Vanessa had taken
something from your father’s office.”
Walter stiffened.
“What?”
“A copy of Helen’s estate plan.”
Helen had been alive then.
Walter remembered discovering a missing draft.
Emily met Diane in a parking lot.
They argued.
Emily left.
Her brakes failed fifteen minutes later.
“So Diane had opportunity,” Mendoza said later.
“But maybe not motive,” Walter replied.
Vanessa had motive.
Diane had motive.
Someone else might have had both.
The investigation uncovered a mechanic who serviced Emily’s car the day
before the crash.
He remembered a woman paying cash for access after hours.
He identified Vanessa from a photo lineup.
Vanessa was arrested.
She denied touching the brakes.
Diane immediately blamed her.
Mother and daughter turned on each other before sunset.
Caleb watched the news coverage from the living room.
“My family is insane.”
Walter sat beside him.
“Your family is also Sophie.”
Caleb looked toward the kitchen where Sophie and Emily were decorating
cookies.
“And Dad?”
“Yes.”
“You?”
“Unfortunately.”
Caleb smiled faintly.
“Then maybe not all of it.”
Christmas decorations remained up because Sophie asked for a second
Christmas.
“I missed the first one with Mommy.”
Nobody argued.
They scheduled it for New Year’s Eve.
Walter bought no extravagant gifts.
Instead, he gave Sophie a red toolbox filled with craft supplies.
She looked confused.
“You own hardware stores.”
“I do.”
“And you gave me crayons.”
“Premium crayons.”
She hugged him.
“Best chairman ever.”
Richard overheard.
“You told her?”
Walter shrugged.
“She asked what chairman means.”
Sophie explained, “It means Grandpa has meetings.”
Walter nodded. “Accurate.”
The laughter helped.
But the danger had not ended.
A forensic accountant found something disturbing.
White Pine Consulting had received payments from a Bennett executive
named Charles Wynn.
Walter had known Charles for thirty years.
He was chief financial officer.
And one of the trustees who would control Sophie’s shares if Walter died
before she became an adult.
Walter called Charles.
No answer.
He drove to Charles’s house with security.
The house was empty.
Christmas lights still blinked around the porch.
Inside, dinner sat untouched.
On the dining table was an envelope addressed to Walter.
He opened it.
Walter,
You were right to test your family.
You were wrong to think the test was yours.
Walter read it twice.
Below was a photograph taken through the Bennett mansion window on
Christmas Eve.
It showed Walter in his poor man’s coat hugging Sophie.
Someone had been watching.
On the back:
SHE CHOSE YOU. NOW WE KNOW.
Walter’s security chief asked, “Know what?”
Walter stared at Sophie’s image.
He had no idea.
Then his phone rang.
It was Caleb.
“Grandpa?”
“What happened?”
May you like
Caleb’s breathing was fast.
“Sophie’s gone.”
