Chapter 7 - THE DEALCeleste was not arrested that night.
I hated that.
Detective Ramirez explained the difference between evidence of financial crimes, threats, and proof of murder.
“We’re building the case,” he said.
“She was at the scene.”
“So was Victor.”
“They threatened Dad.”
“Yes.”
“They stole evidence.”
“Likely.”
“What else do you need?”
“Evidence that survives a courtroom.”
I understood.
I didn’t like it.
Tyler, however, gave investigators something unexpected.
Messages.
Hundreds of them.
Most were ordinary.
Some weren’t.
Two weeks before my parents died, Celeste texted Victor:
D knows too much. E found something. Fix this before N gets involved.
Victor replied:
Stop putting this in writing.
Celeste:
Then answer your phone.
Three days later:
You created this mess. You clean it.
Victor:
I said I’ll handle Daniel.
Celeste:
Both of them.
Both.
Dad and Mom.
Still not a confession.
But close enough to change the investigation.
Federal agents became involved because Harrow’s financial records crossed state lines and included banking fraud.
Suddenly, the case was no longer a family scandal.
It was a criminal conspiracy.
And Victor knew it.
He called me directly the following afternoon.
“I need to see you.”
“No.”
“Nora, please.”
“Talk to my lawyer.”
“He won’t let you hear what I have to say.”
“That’s probably because he’s good at his job.”
Victor exhaled.
“Your father would want you to listen.”
“You don’t get to use him.”
“I can prove Celeste arranged the murders.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“What?”
“Meet me.”
“Where?”
“Public place. You choose.”
I called Elias.
His answer was immediate.
“No.”
“Victor says he has proof.”
“Victor also appears to be involved in a multimillion-dollar fraud conspiracy.”
“We can involve police.”
“If he’s willing.”
Victor wasn’t.
He insisted on seeing me alone.
Ramirez compromised.
I wore a wire.
Agents occupied neighboring tables.
The meeting took place at the diner where I had spent the night after Celeste threw me out.
Rosa served coffee and had no idea half the customers were federal agents.
Victor arrived fifteen minutes late.
He looked older.
Not twenty-four-hours older.
Twenty-years older.
He sat across from me.
“You look like your mother.”
“That’s what Dad always said.”
Pain crossed his face.
“I didn’t kill them.”
“You helped create whatever killed them.”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised me.
Victor stared at his coffee.
“Harrow paid me.”
“How much?”
“Five million initially.”
“For what?”
“To bury an internal report.”
“People could have died.”
“I know.”
“People were injured.”
“I know.”
“Dad found out.”
“Yes.”
“Celeste found out too.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“Celeste found everything eventually.”
“How?”
“She went through Daniel’s files.”
“She blackmailed you.”
“For eighteen months.”
“Why didn’t you tell Dad?”
“Because I would have gone to prison.”
I stared at him.
“You were willing to betray your best friend to stay rich.”
“No.”
“That’s exactly what happened.”
He looked up.
“I was willing to betray Daniel because I was afraid.”
“That isn’t better.”
“I know.”
Outside the window, rain began falling.
For a second, I was back on the driveway.
Ash beneath my nails.
Victor continued.
“Daniel confronted me ten days before he died. He knew almost everything.”
“Almost?”
“He didn’t know Celeste had arranged separate payments through Tyler.”
My stomach twisted.
“Tyler?”
“He didn’t know what they were. She used accounts in his name.”
So Tyler had been useful to her, too.
“On the night your parents died, Daniel asked me to meet him.”
“At his office?”
“Yes.”
“Why did Celeste come?”
“She followed me.”
“Why?”
“She thought Daniel had the original Harrow report.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Mom did.”
Victor nodded.
“Celeste found that out when Eleanor arrived.”
“What happened?”
Victor’s hands shook.
“Daniel told us he was going to federal authorities the next morning.”
“And?”
“Celeste lost control.”
“What does that mean?”
“She called someone.”
“Who?”
Victor looked around.
Then leaned forward.
“A man named Grant Rourke.”
Ramirez had mentioned no such name.
“Who is he?”
“He handled security for Harrow.”
“Security?”
“He fixed problems.”
“You mean violence.”
Victor said nothing.
“Celeste hired him?”
“She had used him before to intimidate a former bookkeeper.”
My stomach turned.
“What happened outside Dad’s office?”
“I left.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I left because Daniel said he had already made copies. There was nothing I could do.”
“But surveillance shows you and Celeste leaving after the murders.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“I drove around the block.”
“Why?”
“I panicked.”
“And came back.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I found Daniel and Eleanor on the ground.”
My throat tightened.
“You left them there?”
“Celeste took the backup case.”
“You helped her.”
“I was terrified.”
“You keep saying that like fear is a moral defense.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
For the first time, I believed his regret.
Not enough to forgive him.
But enough to believe it existed.
“Where is Rourke?”
“I don’t know.”
“What proof do you have?”
Victor reached inside his jacket.
Every agent in the restaurant tensed.
He placed a phone on the table.
“Celeste recorded her calls because she didn’t trust anyone.”
“How do you have this?”
“She used an account I helped set up.”
He opened a file.
Audio.
Celeste’s voice.
“Make sure Daniel doesn’t make that meeting tomorrow.”
A man answered.
“What about the woman?”
A pause.
Celeste:
“If Eleanor has the report, she’s part of it.”
My blood went cold.
Victor whispered, “There are six calls.”
I stared at the phone.
“Why give this to me?”
“Because your father was my best friend.”
“You betrayed him.”
“Yes.”
“You left him dying.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Celeste steal evidence.”
“Yes.”
Tears ran down his face.
“And I will regret all three things until I die.”
He pushed the phone toward me.
“I cannot undo what I did.”
“No.”
“But I can stop helping her.”
Federal agents moved in.
Victor didn’t resist.
As they handcuffed him, he looked at me.
“Nora.”
I didn’t answer.
“Daniel talked about you constantly.”
That hurt.
He continued.
“He wasn’t afraid of prison for me. He wasn’t afraid of losing the company.”
“What was he afraid of?”
“That Celeste would hurt you.”
I looked away.
Victor was taken outside.
The evidence on the phone was copied immediately.
By nightfall, police obtained a warrant for Celeste.
We arrived at Hawthorne Lane at 9:20 p.m.
The house was empty.
Her car was gone.
Upstairs, her bedroom had been ransacked.
Clothes missing.
Passport gone.
Cash removed from a hidden safe.
On the mirror, written in lipstick:
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN THE GUTTER.
Ramirez stared at it.
“She’s running.”
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
A video.
Celeste sat inside a car.
She smiled into the camera.
“You wanted everything, Nora.”
She leaned closer.
“Now come see what it costs.”
The camera moved.
Someone sat beside her.
Hands tied.
Mouth taped.
Tyler.
May you like
Celeste smiled.
Then the video ended.
Related Stories
