Chapter 6 - Wesley’s Little BoxThe box was pink.
Lauren nearly laughed when Grace pulled it down from the closet shelf.
It was a child’s jewelry box with faded stars printed across the lid.
“Daddy gave you this?”
Grace nodded.
“Before he went to the hospital the last time.”
Lauren remembered that day.
Wesley had been weak.
Grace spent twenty minutes beside him on the bed.
Lauren had left to speak with a nurse.
She had never known what Wesley gave her.
“Did Nadine see this?”
“No.”
“Did she ask?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Grace thought.
“She said Daddy might have left grown-up things by mistake.”
Lauren sat beside her.
“And what did you tell her?”
“I said no.”
A proud little smile.
“I lied.”
Lauren stared at her.
“Why?”
“Daddy said it was only for me and you.”
Lauren’s eyes filled.
“What’s inside?”
Grace opened the lid.
Bracelets.
A plastic ring.
Three old photographs.
A folded birthday card.
Nothing obviously important.
Then Grace lifted the velvet tray.
Underneath was a USB drive.
Lauren froze.
“You knew that was there?”
Grace shook her head.
“The bottom comes out?”
Apparently Wesley had hidden it without telling her exactly what it was.
Lauren did not plug it into a household computer.
Detective Walsh arranged for investigators to copy and examine it without altering the original.
The drive contained one folder.
G.
Inside were videos.
Not evidence.
At first.
Wesley talking to Grace.
He had recorded messages for birthdays he knew he might miss.
Nine.
Ten.
Eleven.
Twelve.
Lauren could barely watch.
In the first video Wesley smiled into the camera.
“Hey, bug. If Mom is showing you this, it means she finally figured out the bottom of that box comes out.”
Lauren laughed through tears.
Grace grinned.
“Mom took forever.”
Then Wesley grew serious.
“There is one file on here for Mom. Grace, don’t watch that one until you’re much older because it is extremely boring grown-up stuff.”
Grace looked offended.
“I like grown-up stuff.”
Lauren kissed her hair.
The final file was encrypted.
Hannah knew the password.
Wesley had given it to her as part of an estate instruction but had never revealed where the drive was stored.
“He separated the key from the file,” Hannah explained.
“So no one person had everything.”
“He was afraid.”
Lauren looked at her.
“Of his own family.”
“Yes.”
The file opened.
It contained spreadsheets.
Audio recordings.
Photographs of invoices.
And a memorandum Wesley had drafted for an independent board committee.
But there was something else.
A copy of an email from Vivian to Nadine dated nine months earlier.
Lauren stared.
Nadine had been hired ten months ago.
The email came less than three weeks after she started.
Subject:
HOUSEHOLD OBSERVATIONS.
Vivian wrote:
Keep your notes factual. I need to know whether Lauren is discussing Wesley’s business records with anyone and whether Grace has access to his study.
Lauren felt physically sick.
Nadine responded:
So far nothing. Lauren avoids the room.
Vivian:
Good. Keep it that way.
Grace leaned over.
“What does it say?”
Lauren closed the laptop.
“Something adults need to deal with.”
Grace’s expression immediately changed.
Lauren realized how that sounded.
The exact kind of phrase Nadine had used.
She corrected herself.
“It says Nadine was reporting private things about our house to Aunt Vivian.”
Grace frowned.
“Why?”
“That’s what I’m trying to understand.”
“Is Aunt Vivian bad?”
Lauren paused.
She refused to teach Grace that people were only good or bad.
“I think Aunt Vivian made serious choices that hurt people.”
Grace looked down.
“Like Nadine?”
“Yes.”
“But Aunt Vivian didn’t spray me.”
“No.”
Lauren knelt.
“And that matters. We tell the truth about exactly what people did. We don’t add things because we’re angry.”
Grace nodded.
That evening Vivian’s lawyer contacted Hannah.
Vivian wanted to explain the emails privately.
Lauren agreed only with counsel present.
Vivian arrived looking exhausted.
She did not hug Lauren.
For once, she did not pretend they were still the family they had been.
“You were spying on me,” Lauren said.
Vivian shook her head.
“I was monitoring for company material.”
“In my house.”
“Wesley removed confidential records.”
“He was an owner.”
“They belonged to Mercer Hospitality.”
“Then why didn’t you use lawyers?”
Vivian’s jaw tightened.
“Because Wesley was preparing to accuse Dad and me of crimes.”
Lauren stared.
“Were you innocent?”
Vivian looked away.
That was the answer.
Lauren leaned forward.
“Why were you so afraid of what Grace might find?”
Vivian whispered:
“Because Wesley had one document that could stop the sale completely.”
“The North Harbor records already could.”
“No.”
Vivian looked at her.
“This was bigger.”
Lauren felt cold.
“What document?”
Vivian took a breath.
“The actual ownership records for North Harbor.”
Lauren frowned.
“They show you formed it.”
Vivian shook her head.
“No.”
May you like
Then she said:
“They show Dad owns it.”
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