Chapter 7 - Selena’s Real Target
For the first time, I almost felt sorry for Julian.
Almost.
It lasted approximately three seconds.
Then I remembered the knife.
Selena’s plan became clearer as Maya and Grant reconstructed the documents.
If I died, Julian would face scrutiny but not necessarily conviction if he successfully sold self-defense.
He would collect the insurance proceeds.
The Vance Family Trust would consolidate voting shares.
The foundation would gain influence.
Selena was positioned inside that foundation.
And because Richard Vance’s health had recently declined, a complicated succession clause could eventually give Selena control over nearly twelve percent of Vance Holdings.
Twelve percent of a multibillion-dollar company.
That was not romance.
That was conquest.
“But why me?” I asked.
Maya closed the file.
“You were convenient.”
“No. She could have waited for us to divorce.”
“Maybe divorce created a problem.”
“What problem?”
Marcus answered from the window.
“You would have gone back to work.”
I looked at him.
“Meaning?”
“Julian told Selena you were considering returning to forensic finance.”
I had told him that six months earlier.
He had reacted badly.
At the time he said he worried about stress.
Now I knew better.
“You might have rediscovered Crown Meridian,” Marcus said.
“So Selena needed me gone.”
“And my father needed you quiet.”
“And Julian?”
Marcus looked sick.
“My brother needed to keep believing everyone else was responsible for his choices.”
That was the most accurate description of Julian I had ever heard.
Detective Grant’s phone buzzed.
She read the screen.
“Selena’s lawyer contacted us.”
My chest tightened.
“She’s turning herself in?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“She wants immunity.”
Maya laughed.
“For attempted murder conspiracy?”
“She claims she can give us Richard.”
I looked toward the door.
“Absolutely not.”
Grant studied me.
“It isn’t your decision.”
“I know.”
I hated that I knew.
The justice system was not built around satisfying rage.
Deals happened.
Lesser criminals helped convict larger ones.
Selena could potentially trade pieces of the truth for reduced consequences.
The thought made me furious.
That evening, Julian called from jail.
I declined.
He called again.
Declined.
The third time, Maya said, “Answer.”
“Why?”
“Because he probably just learned about Selena’s immunity request.”
I answered.
“This is Nora.”
Julian’s breathing filled the line.
“She used me.”
I closed my eyes.
Not hello.
Not I’m sorry.
Not how are the babies.
She used me.
“You stabbed me.”
“Nora, please listen.”
“I listened while I bled on the floor.”
“I know.”
“No, Julian. You don’t know anything.”
“Selena planned this.”
“So did you.”
“She lied to me about you attacking her.”
“And that magically moved your hand?”
Silence.
“She told me you were going to expose my family.”
“Were you committing fraud?”
“That isn’t the point.”
I laughed despite myself.
“It’s amazing that you still believe you decide what the point is.”
“She said you wanted to destroy everything.”
“I wanted to go back to work.”
“I was scared.”
“So you killed me?”
“You survived.”
The words came automatically.
Like that somehow reduced his guilt.
I felt colder than anger.
“That sentence is why I will never forgive you.”
“Nora—”
“You don’t regret what you did. You regret that it didn’t work.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then why did you tell Selena you were free?”
He stopped breathing.
There.
He knew.
“You heard that?”
“Every word.”
Silence.
Long.
Terrified.
“How?”
I smiled at my smartwatch sitting on the tray.
“Does it matter?”
“You recorded us.”
“You confessed.”
“Nora.”
His voice changed.
The pleading disappeared.
“You need to understand what happens if those recordings become public.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No. It’s a warning. My father—”
“Your father already visited me.”
“What?”
“And Marcus is cooperating.”
Julian swore.
“Nora, listen to me. You don’t know what Richard is capable of.”
“You called him Dad for thirty-four years. You worked with him. You moved money for him.”
“I was trying to survive him.”
“So was I.”
“I can help you.”
“You had your chance.”
“I can give Grant everything.”
“Then do it.”
“I need a deal.”
Of course.
Everyone wanted a deal.
Selena.
Julian.
Richard.
They had built lives by converting wrongdoing into negotiations.
I hung up.
The next morning, something unexpected happened.
Vance Holdings stock crashed seventeen percent before lunch.
News had leaked about Crown Meridian.
Board members resigned.
Federal investigators announced they were reviewing company transactions.
Richard Vance’s empire had begun eating itself.
By three o’clock, Selena disappeared.
Police surveillance had been assigned to her apartment, but she never returned home after meeting her attorney.
Her car was found at a parking garage near Penn Station.
Inside were her purse and phone.
Grant came to my room personally.
“She ran.”
“Or someone took her.”
“That’s what we’re determining.”
I looked at Maya.
“If Richard thinks she’s cooperating…”
“He has motive to silence her,” Maya said.
Marcus shook his head.
“So does Julian.”
“He’s in jail.”
“My brother has people.”
Grant turned.
“Names.”
“I don’t know names.”
“Start remembering.”
An hour later, hospital security contacted Grant.
A woman had attempted to enter the maternity wing using a fake employee badge.
She fled after being challenged.
Security footage showed her wearing scrubs and a surgical mask.
But before leaving, she turned toward a hallway camera.
Just long enough for us to see her eyes.
Selena.
She had not run from New York.
She had come to the hospital.
To me.
And when police searched the restroom she had used, they found a sealed envelope taped beneath a sink.
My name was written across the front.
May you like
Inside was one sentence.
Nora, if you want your babies to live, stop digging into Crown Meridian.
