Chapter 6 - The Bruise Report
Victor left Ethan with Lily and met Daniel in a private consultation room at the hospital.
Daniel Cross looked like a man who had not slept.
"Start talking," Victor said.
Daniel shut the door.
"Olivia called me at eight-thirty that night. She said she'd found irregular transfers from the children's foundation. She believed someone was using shell companies to move money."
"Serena."
"Olivia thought so."
"And you never told me?"
Daniel looked ashamed. "Serena came to my house after midnight. She said Olivia had been paranoid for weeks. She showed me messages that made it look like Olivia was confused."
Victor's expression turned cold.
"You believed her."
"I wanted to. It was easier."
The words hit Victor because they sounded familiar.
He had done the same thing.
Daniel continued. "The next morning, Olivia was dead. Serena told me not to add to your grief with theories I couldn't prove."
Victor paced once, then stopped.
"Show me the accounts."
Daniel opened his laptop.
There were eleven transfers, all small enough to avoid immediate attention, all paid to consulting companies that existed only on paper.
One company had a mailing address Victor recognized.
"That's Grant's apartment building."
Daniel nodded.
Another belonged to Serena's brother.
A third was registered to a name Lily knew.
"Dr. Aaron Pike," she said from the doorway.
Victor turned. "You know him?"
"He's the pediatric consultant Serena insisted on using when Ethan had that fever last month."
Victor's stomach tightened.
Lily held up a copied medical report Rosa had found in Serena's room.
The report listed three bruises on Ethan's legs as "accidental falls while under nanny supervision."
Lily's face went pale with anger.
"I was never even at two of these appointments."
Victor read the dates.
One was a weekend Lily had been visiting her mother.
"She was building a record against you," he said.
"Why?"
Daniel answered.
"Because of the trust."
Victor looked at him.
Daniel explained that Olivia's will placed a controlling block of Blackwood family shares into a trust for Ethan. Until Ethan turned twenty-five, the trustee had to be his surviving parent - unless that parent was found unfit, unavailable, or incapable of protecting the child.
Victor stared at him.
"Serena planned to marry me."
Daniel nodded slowly.
"And if something happened to you after the wedding, she would petition to become Ethan's guardian."
Lily's voice dropped.
"But only if she could prove everyone else around him was dangerous."
Victor looked at the bruise report.
Then his phone buzzed.
A message from the police.
SERENA VALE IS NO LONGER AT THE HOUSE.
Victor read it twice.
"What do you mean, no longer?"
Another message arrived.
May you like
A patrol officer had found the rear service gate open.
And Grant Keller was gone too.
