Chapter 4 - Grace’s VoiceThe memory card contained an audio file.
Arthur listened in a police conference room.
Ava sat beside him.
Detective Morales stood near the wall.
Grace’s voice filled the room.
“Arthur, if you ever hear this, something went wrong.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Three years disappeared.
Grace had been thirty-six when she died.
Dark hair.
Quick smile.
Faster mind.
She could find a missing dollar in a hundred-page budget and still forget where she parked.
“I hope I’m being dramatic,” Grace said.
Arthur almost laughed painfully.
Vanessa had spent years calling Grace dramatic.
“I found transfers out of Caldwell Capital into private entities Dean says are part of acquisitions.”
A spreadsheet appeared.
Eleven million dollars.
Arthur stared.
“I never approved this.”
Morales said nothing.
Grace continued.
“I asked Dean.”
Pause.
“He lied.”
Arthur’s stomach turned.
“I asked Vanessa because her consulting company received one of the transfers.”
Vanessa had told Arthur she barely knew Grace.
Another lie.
“She admitted Dean paid her to route money through foundation vendors.”
Arthur gripped the chair.
Grace:
“She says she wants out.”
Ava looked at Arthur.
Grace continued:
“I don’t know if I believe her.”
Then:
“Dean knows I’m looking.”
Arthur felt cold.
“He told me I’m tired. Emotional. Overwhelmed.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Dean had told Arthur the same things about Grace.
And Arthur believed him.
Grace’s voice softened.
“Arthur loves me. But he trusts Dean when money is involved.”
The sentence landed like a blade.
Because it was true.
Arthur had always told Grace:
Dean understands the structures.
Let him handle it.
Dean helped build this company.
Stop worrying.
Grace continued.
“If anything happens to me, do not let Dean tell you what I was thinking.”
Arthur wiped his eyes.
Then came the first major revelation.
“I made two copies.”
Arthur leaned forward.
“One is here.”
The card.
“The second is somewhere Dean will never think to look.”
She did not say where.
Then:
“Vanessa knows I made copies.”
Arthur looked at Morales.
That explained the lake.
Vanessa had been searching for the evidence.
But Grace wasn’t finished.
“She keeps telling me Dean is dangerous.”
Arthur’s pulse jumped.
“She’s more afraid of him than she is of prison.”
The recording ended.
Silence.
Arthur stared at the table.
Ava spoke first.
“Dean needs to be questioned.”
Arthur nodded.
Then his phone rang.
Dean.
Perfect timing.
Morales gestured.
“Answer.”
Arthur put it on speaker.
“Arthur.”
Dean sounded exhausted and concerned.
“How are the kids?”
“Alive.”
“Thank God.”
The relief sounded genuine.
Arthur hated that.
“I heard Vanessa’s in custody.”
“She is.”
“That woman needs to disappear from your life permanently.”
Arthur stared at the speaker.
“Why?”
“Why?”
Dean sounded incredulous.
“She nearly killed Emma and Noah.”
“Yes.”
A pause.
Then Arthur said:
“We found something Grace left.”
Silence.
One second.
Two.
“What?”
Arthur watched Morales.
She noticed too.
“A recording.”
Dean’s breathing changed.
“What kind of recording?”
Arthur’s stomach dropped.
A confused person would ask what Grace said.
Dean asked what kind.
“Why?”
“I’m trying to understand.”
“Were you stealing from me?”
Silence.
Then Dean laughed softly.
“You’ve had a traumatic day.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
There it was.
Not denial.
Reframing.
“You sound exhausted.”
Grace is tired.
Arthur is traumatized.
Same trick.
“Were you stealing?”
“We should talk in person.”
“No.”
“Arthur.”
“Answer.”
Dean’s voice hardened.
“You don’t know what Grace was involved in.”
Arthur felt rage.
“Don’t.”
“There are things she hid from you too.”
“Don’t use my dead wife to avoid my question.”
Dean was silent.
Then:
“Ask Vanessa why she was in my car the night Grace died.”
Arthur stopped breathing.
Morales moved closer.
“What did you say?”
Dean hung up.
Arthur stared.
Vanessa.
Dean.
The night Grace died.
Ava whispered:
“Call Morales’s team.”
But they were already moving.
Police reached Dean’s Beverly Hills office twenty-three minutes later.
He was gone.
His computer was missing.
Passport gone.
Private aircraft booked.
Destination Vancouver.
Arthur’s phone buzzed.
A text from Dean.
GRACE WASN’T THE PERSON YOU THOUGHT SHE WAS.
Arthur stared.
May you like
A second message appeared.
AND VANESSA KNOWS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ON THAT ROAD.
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