Chapter 10 - Ivy Remembered the Black LexusDominic did not interrogate Ivy.
He called a child psychologist first.
Dr. Lillian Hart specialized in trauma and forensic interviewing.
Her instruction was immediate:
“Do not ask leading questions.”
“I need to know what she remembers.”
“I understand.”
“What if it matters to a death investigation?”
“Then it matters even more that you don’t contaminate it.”
Dominic felt helpless.
“How do I help?”
“Make her safe.”
So he waited.
Investigators arranged a formal interview.
Ivy entered a child-friendly room with Lillian while Dominic watched through one-way glass.
His daughter held a stuffed fox.
Lillian asked about Samantha generally.
Ivy smiled.
“Mom sang wrong.”
“What does that mean?”
“She changed songs because she forgot words.”
Dominic laughed softly through tears.
True.
Then Lillian asked:
“Do you remember the last day you saw your mom?”
Ivy became quiet.
“Yes.”
“Tell me everything you remember.”
No mention of cars.
No Eleanor.
Just an open invitation.
Ivy described breakfast.
Samantha making cinnamon toast.
Caleb at school.
Dominic away.
Then:
“Grandma came.”
Dominic’s body tensed.
“What happened?”
“They fought.”
“What did you hear?”
Ivy frowned.
“Mom said, ‘Get out.’”
“Anything else?”
“Grandma said Mom was ruining everybody.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“Then what?”
“Mom put me in the car.”
Dominic froze.
He had never known Ivy was in Samantha’s car that afternoon.
“Where did you go?”
“Ms. Tessa’s.”
Tessa Monroe.
Samantha’s close friend.
Dominic remembered Tessa babysitting Ivy that night.
He thought Marta had dropped her.
Apparently Samantha did.
“What happened on the way?”
Ivy squeezed the fox.
“Grandma followed.”
Dominic’s heart stopped.
“What makes you say that?”
“Her car.”
“What did it look like?”
“Black.”
“Anything else?”
“The window had the sticker.”
Eleanor’s Lexus had a small Duke alumni sticker on the rear window.
“Where was Grandma’s car?”
“Behind us.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did your mom do?”
“She called someone.”
“What did she say?”
Ivy looked frightened.
“‘Stop following me.’”
Dominic covered his mouth.
Samantha had confronted Eleanor while Ivy was in the car.
“Then?”
“Grandma went away.”
Dominic frowned.
Went away?
Perhaps Samantha dropped Ivy at Tessa’s, then Eleanor resumed following later.
“What happened when you reached Tessa’s?”
“Mom hugged me.”
Ivy’s eyes filled.
“She said don’t be scared.”
Lillian remained calm.
“Did she say why?”
“She said Grandma was mad but Daddy would fix it.”
Dominic looked down.
Samantha still believed he could fix it.
That sentence hurt worse than any accusation.
Ivy continued:
“Mom gave me something.”
Dominic looked up.
“What?”
“A necklace.”
“Do you still have it?”
Ivy nodded.
“In Bunny.”
Dominic stared.
Her stuffed rabbit?
After the interview, they returned home.
Ivy retrieved an old plush rabbit with a repaired seam.
She opened a tiny hidden zipper Dominic had never noticed.
Inside was a silver chain.
Attached:
A small key.
Another key.
Dominic’s pulse raced.
Samantha had distributed evidence.
One key to Caleb’s box.
One hidden with Ivy.
“What does this open?” he whispered.
Ivy shrugged.
“Mom said when Dad knows, give it.”
“When Dad knows what?”
“That Grandma lies.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Samantha had planned around her own death.
Or at least around risk.
The key opened a safe-deposit box at a Raleigh bank.
The bank records showed Samantha rented it two weeks before her crash.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
A voice recorder.
And a sealed envelope labeled:
DOMINIC — THIS IS THE PART I COULDN’T SAY.
Dominic sat in a private bank room with Naomi and Detective Brooks.
He opened it.
The first page:
Dom,
I know about the money.
I know about Robert.
I know Eleanor followed me twice.
But the reason I still haven’t told you is Franklin.
Dominic frowned.
His father again.
Next:
Before he died, Franklin admitted he helped Eleanor hide the first Crosswell payments.
Dominic’s chest tightened.
Samantha continued.
He said he thought the money was harmless political and consulting money. When Robert found the structural issue, Franklin wanted the project delayed. Eleanor refused because Crosswell would lose the contract and expose her.
Dominic stared.
Franklin had participated financially but may have tried to stop the safety risk.
Then:
Franklin told me Eleanor had been moving money from your future inheritance for years.
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
But then came the line Samantha said she could not tell him.
Franklin believed Eleanor was preparing to remove you from Vale Meridian if you ever discovered it.
Dominic laughed bitterly.
Years before she targeted his parental rights, she had considered taking his company.
Next:
He gave me evidence.
The voice recorder.
Dominic pressed play.
Franklin’s weak voice filled the room.
Cancer had already damaged him.
“Samantha, if you’re recording, then record all of it.”
Dominic began crying instantly.
His father.
Franklin continued:
“Eleanor believes the family survives because she controls what everyone knows.”
Dominic looked at Naomi.
“She has accounts Dominic doesn’t know about.”
Then:
“She used Robert’s company complaints as leverage. I covered transfers because I was ashamed.”
A cough.
“I told myself protecting the company protected Dominic.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Same pattern.
Franklin’s voice continued:
“That was cowardice.”
Then the sentence that changed everything:
“If anything happens to Robert, Samantha, or Dominic, do not assume Eleanor meant for it to happen.”
Dominic frowned.
Then Franklin added:
“That is not the same as saying she is innocent.”
Silence.
The recording ended.
Dominic stared.
His father had understood Eleanor better than anyone.
She might not intend death.
She created dangerous situations.
Pressured.
Drugged.
Followed.
Threatened.
Manipulated.
Then when consequences became catastrophic, she called them accidents.
Dominic felt a strange clarity.
Maybe he would never prove Eleanor wanted Robert dead.
Or Samantha.
Or Graham.
But he did not need proof of murder to know she was dangerous.
Then Naomi opened the final document from the box.
A life insurance policy.
Dominic Vale.
$25 million.
Beneficiary:
Vale Family Continuity Trust.
Trustee:
Eleanor Vale.
Dominic stared.
He had never purchased it.
The signature was dated three months earlier.
Forged.
And suddenly the question shifted again.
If Dominic became permanently “incapacitated,” Eleanor gained control.
May you like
But if Dominic died—
she gained something even larger.
Related Stories
