Chapter 14 - Richard Had Been at the CrashPolice moved quickly.
Richard disappeared faster.
By Sunday morning, his home was empty.
His office cleared.
His passport remained, but investigators believed he had alternate identification.
Harrison Medical suspended him from the board.
Grant barely cared.
He had one question.
Why had Emma been left alive?
Medical investigators reviewed the original autopsy.
The crash itself caused severe injuries.
But Emma had survived for some period afterward.
How long was impossible to know.
Could timely help have saved her?
Possibly.
That word tortured Grant.
Possibly.
He sat beside Rose while she ate cereal.
She pushed strawberries to one side.
“You don’t like them?”
“I like strawberries.”
“I know.”
“Not mushy.”
He smiled faintly.
Charles knew that too.
Someone had been watching.
Grant’s phone rang.
Vanessa.
She had been released pending further investigation because the evidence against her was currently more financial than physical.
Grant almost ignored it.
Then answered.
“What?”
“They found Lucas.”
Grant frowned.
“Where?”
“He went to police.”
“Why?”
“Richard tried to kill him.”
Grant stood.
“What?”
Vanessa’s breathing was uneven.
“Lucas had documents.”
“What documents?”
“Proof Richard controlled Aurelius.”
Grant looked at Michael.
Michael motioned to keep her talking.
“Where’s Lucas now?”
“Hospital.”
“Is he injured?”
“A car hit him.”
Grant went cold.
“Accident?”
“No.”
Vanessa started crying.
“He said Richard was driving.”
The pattern repeated.
Cars.
Roads.
Accidents.
Grant whispered, “Did Richard hit Emma?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ever hear anything?”
Silence.
“Vanessa.”
“Once.”
“What?”
“Richard said Emma should have stayed in her lane.”
Grant’s jaw tightened.
“When?”
“A year ago.”
“What was the context?”
“He was angry about Charles.”
“Why?”
“Charles was asking questions about Emma’s accident again.”
Grant closed his eyes.
Charles had suspected.
He simply hadn’t told Grant.
Vanessa continued.
“Richard told him the crash was karma for interfering in business.”
Grant felt rage rise.
“Did Charles believe him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Charles now?”
“Probably trying to find Richard.”
That was dangerous.
Two powerful men.
One hiding.
One obsessed with revenge.
Grant ended the call and contacted police.
Hours later, Lucas provided a statement.
He admitted laundering funds for Richard-controlled shell companies.
He described a long plan to merge Harrison Medical and Voss Global, load the combined company with manipulated liabilities, force restructuring, and gain control through Aurelius.
Then investigators asked about Emma.
Lucas hesitated.
He had worked for Richard during that period too.
He had seen payments.
One payment the day after Emma’s death.
To a trucking company.
Grant stared at the report.
“What trucking company?”
Michael answered.
“Fisher Logistics.”
Grant’s heart hammered.
Police had found fragments from the accident file.
Witnesses remembered a truck.
No one identified it.
Records now showed a Fisher vehicle operating near the crash route.
The driver quit three days later.
Name:
Calvin Morris.
Still alive.
Living in Nevada.
Police located him Sunday night.
He initially refused to talk.
Then learned Richard Vale was being investigated.
His story changed.
“I didn’t mean to hit her.”
Grant’s world stopped.
Morris claimed Richard hired him to frighten Emma.
Follow closely.
Force her to pull over.
Take a folder.
Nothing more.
But the rain was heavy.
Emma accelerated.
Morris tried to pass.
His truck clipped the rear of her car.
She spun off the road.
“Why didn’t you call 911?”
Morris began crying.
“Richard was behind me.”
Grant’s jaw clenched.
“He arrived?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That she was breathing.”
“And?”
“That calling an ambulance would connect us.”
Grant looked away.
Again.
Someone alive.
Someone who could have been helped.
And someone chose themselves.
Morris whispered:
“I wanted to call.”
Grant turned.
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
Richard had built an empire from that weakness.
Find people afraid of consequences.
Give them a choice.
Then make cowardice useful.
Michael’s phone rang.
He listened silently.
Then looked at Grant.
“They found Richard.”
Grant stood.
“Where?”
Michael’s expression was strange.
“He didn’t run.”
“What?”
“He went to Charles Voss’s house.”
Grant felt a chill.
“Why?”
Michael shook his head.
“We don’t know.”
Then another call came.
May you like
Police.
Shots had been reported at the Voss estate.
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