Chapter 6: Beneath the Loose Floorboard
Daniel, Ruth, and Marcus reached the house before Vanessa, but the front-door code had been changed.
“She locked you out of your own home,” Ruth said.
Marcus opened the garage with an emergency remote.
“She forgot the cars still recognize me.”
They hurried upstairs.
In the blue guest room, Ruth dropped to her knees beside the bed.
“Which board?” Daniel asked.
“This one has scratches.”
He lifted it with the edge of a shoehorn.
Beneath it lay a cream envelope and a small red notebook.
Ruth handed him the envelope.
“It still has your name on it.”
Daniel unfolded Elena’s letter.
“Read it aloud,” Ruth said.
“We may need a witness.”
He swallowed.
“‘Daniel, I don’t know whether you will welcome Lily, but she deserves the truth.
Vanessa found us and said you wanted to meet her.
I am frightened because the letters she brought years ago were not in your handwriting.
If anything happens, please protect our daughter.’”
Marcus pointed to the bottom of the page.
“There’s a date and a notary stamp.”
Daniel opened the red notebook.
Each page contained dates, payments, and initials.
“P.L.,” Ruth read.
“Could that be Peter Lang?”
Marcus took a photograph of every page.
“And these entries match the laboratory visit.”
The bedroom door slammed against the wall.
Vanessa stood there holding a metal fireplace lighter.
“Put the letter down,” she said.
Daniel folded it and slipped it inside his jacket.
“You’re finished.”
“You have no idea what that notebook means.”
“It means you paid people.”
“It means I managed problems you were too weak to see.”
Ruth raised her phone.
“I’m recording this.”
Vanessa lunged and knocked it from her hand.
The screen cracked against the dresser.
“You think a maid’s recording will save you?”
“No,” Ruth said.
“But the copy already uploading might.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
She held out her hand to Daniel.
“Give me the notebook.
I’ll withdraw the guardianship petition and resign from the company.”
“You left a child without food.”
“I frightened her.
I did not harm her.”
“You made her eat from a pet bowl,” Ruth said.
Vanessa turned on her.
“And who will believe you?
You accepted cash advances from this household for years.”
“My husband’s medical bills,” Ruth replied.
“Every advance was approved by Mr.
Oleso.”
“Not the last one.”
Ruth’s hand tightened around the broken phone.
Daniel looked at her.
“What is she talking about?”
Vanessa smiled.
“Ten thousand dollars disappeared from my office last month.
Guess whose access card opened the door?”
“I never entered your office,” Ruth said.
“You did according to the system.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“The system Vanessa asked me to reset that same morning?”
Sirens sounded outside.
Vanessa moved away from the door.
“I called the authorities.
I told them three people broke into my private rooms and took company records.”
“This is my house,” Daniel said.
“And tomorrow it may be my company.”
Two officers entered with Peter behind them.
Vanessa pointed at Ruth.
“Search her bag.”
One officer opened it.
Beneath Ruth’s wallet lay a thick bundle of banknotes.
Ruth stared at the money.
“That is not mine.”
Vanessa gave Daniel a sorrowful look.
“I warned you she was manipulating the child.”
Daniel removed Elena’s letter from his jacket and passed it to the other officer.
“This was hidden beneath the floor with records of payments made by my wife.
Preserve both as evidence.”
Peter reached for the red notebook.
Marcus blocked him.
“You don’t touch it,” Marcus said.
Daniel’s attorney, Miriam Cole, entered moments later with a court clerk.
“I have an emergency order,” Miriam announced.
“No property or electronic records may be removed from this home.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“On what grounds?”
Miriam looked at Ruth.
“The video she sent from her phone.”
Ruth blinked.
“Which video?”
“The one showing Lily on the floor while Vanessa watched her eat.”
Vanessa’s lips parted.
Miriam turned the screen toward the officers.
“The judge has also ordered Lily released from temporary placement and returned to Daniel pending independent testing.”
Daniel exhaled and gripped the bedpost.
His phone buzzed.
An email bearing his own name had just gone to every member of his company’s board.
The subject line read: CONFESSION.
He opened it and saw three sentences claiming he had paid Ruth and Lily to frame Vanessa.
“The board meeting has been moved to tonight,” Miriam said.
Vanessa smiled again.
May you like
“You found the letter, Daniel.
Now let’s see whether anyone believes it.”
