Chapter 6: The Morning Victoria Stopped Pretending
James Whitmore arrived at seven forty in the morning carrying a coffee for Daniel and nothing else.
He was fifty-one, lean, gray at the temples, with the particular kind of stillness that came from years of watching people lie under oath.
He handed Daniel the coffee, looked through the window at Elena sleeping, and said nothing for a moment.
"She looks like someone who decided not to give up," James said.
"She held onto the cable," Daniel said.
"The safety net was moving.
She held on until the crew reached her."
James nodded once.
"Richard briefed me in the car.
Priya Anand is already at the precinct.
The detective assigned to the case is named Holloway — she's thorough, Richard says, and she's not impressed by money." He sat down.
"Victoria's lawyers contacted Richard at six this morning.
They're calling it an accident.
They're also suggesting Elena may have been intoxicated and lost her balance."
Daniel looked at him.
"The footage," James said, "will end that argument.
But they don't know yet what the footage shows.
They're guessing." He paused.
"We need to talk about the letters."
"I went back to the penthouse at five this morning," Daniel said.
"The desk was unlocked.
The letters were gone."
James absorbed that without visible reaction.
"All of them?"
"All twelve."
"Then she has them, or someone she trusts has them." James wrapped both hands around his own coffee.
"She'll use them as a bargaining chip.
Not in court — they have no legal value.
But she'll threaten to release them publicly unless you agree not to pursue charges."
"She can threaten whatever she wants."
"I know.
But you need to be prepared for the moment she actually does it." James looked at him directly.
"Those letters — are there things in them that would genuinely hurt you?
Not embarrass you.
Hurt you."
Daniel was quiet for a moment.
"My mother wrote one letter about a period when she thought I was working too hard and isolating myself.
She worried I didn't know how to let people in." He paused.
"She wrote that she sometimes feared I would end up alone and mistake it for strength."
James said nothing.
"It's private," Daniel said.
"It was written to me.
It was not written to be read by anyone else." His jaw tightened.
"But it wouldn't destroy me.
It would just be a violation."
"Then let her use it," James said quietly.
"Let her stand in front of a camera and read your dead mother's private letters as a negotiating tactic.
Let the world see exactly who she is."
The door to Elena's room opened.
Elena was awake, sitting up slightly, the IV still in her hand.
She looked at James without recognition.
"This is my brother," Daniel said.
"He's a lawyer.
He's here to help."
Elena looked at James, then back at Daniel.
"Victoria called me this morning," Elena said.
Both men went still.
"On my personal cell," Elena continued.
"I don't know how she got the number.
She said—" Elena's voice was careful, controlled.
"She said she was sorry.
That it was a terrible accident and she hoped I was recovering.
She said she wanted to speak with me privately before things went any further.
She said she could make sure I was 'taken care of' financially.
Those were her exact words."
"She's trying to buy your silence," James said.
"I know what she was doing." Elena's eyes were steady.
"I told her I wasn't interested.
She said that was a shame.
That a single mother with no references and a complicated situation might find it harder than she expected to land on her feet." A pause.
"Then she said, 'Think about what's best for the baby, Elena.'"
The room was very quiet.
"She knows," Daniel said.
"She knew before last night," Elena said.
"She knew before she pushed me."
James set his coffee down on the windowsill.
"She pushed a pregnant woman off a thirty-two-story building," he said, "and this morning she called that woman's hospital room to offer money and threaten the child."
He picked up his phone.
"Priya needs to hear this," he said.
"Every word."
Elena looked at Daniel.
"I should have told you sooner," she said.
"About Marcus.
About the threats.
I thought I could manage it quietly."
"You didn't cause this," Daniel said.
"I know." She looked down at her bandaged wrist.
"But I keep thinking about what she said on the roof.
That you already knew and didn't care.
I knew it wasn't true.
But for one second—" She stopped.
"For one second it worked," Daniel said.
"Yes."
"That's what she was counting on." He leaned forward.
"It didn't work long enough."
Elena looked at him for a moment, then nodded once, slowly.
Outside in the hallway, James was already talking to Priya Anand, his voice low and precise, laying out every detail in the order it had happened.
May you like
Victoria had called a hospital room to threaten a pregnant woman.
And she had done it on a recorded line.
