Chapter 5: Vanessa Makes Her Move
Garrett Cole's office was on the fourteenth floor of a building that smelled like old paper and serious money.
He was already at his desk when Emily arrived at 7:52, a second set of documents in a sealed envelope tucked inside her coat.
He stood when she entered.
Looked at her face — the bruise along her cheekbone had deepened overnight to a dark purple — and said nothing about it.
Just gestured to the chair across from his desk.
"The text," he said, once she'd sat.
"Do you still have it?"
She handed him her phone.
He photographed the screen without touching the message itself.
"Unknown number, but it's traceable with the right order," he said.
"I've already contacted the U.S.
Attorney's office.
They've been building a parallel case against Vance Logistics for fourteen months.
Your documents don't just support their case — they fill a gap they couldn't close." He looked up.
"You are not walking into this alone."
Emily let out a breath she'd been holding since Millbrook.
"There's something else," she said.
She placed the second envelope on his desk.
"The school."
He opened it.
Read in silence.
His expression shifted — not dramatically, but the way a man's face changes when something confirms what he feared.
"Carver Elementary," he said.
"The contract was awarded eleven days after a payment cleared through the Cayman account.
I have the dates, the amounts, and the name of the committee member who signed off." She paused.
"His name is Alderman Roy Pryce.
He was at the gala last night."
Garrett set the documents down.
"He was the one who put his champagne glass down."
"Yes."
He was quiet for a moment.
Then: "Ms.
Porter, I have to ask you something directly.
When Vanessa sl@pped you last night — was that the first time she had made physical contact with you?"
"Yes.
I'd never met her in person before.
I worked in the corporate offices, not the family residence."
"So she recognized you at the gala."
"She must have seen my employee file.
There was a photo."
"Which means she planned the frame before she arrived." Garrett leaned back.
"She brought the necklace specifically to plant it on you.
She knew you'd be working the event."
The shape of it settled over Emily fully for the first time.
Not a spontaneous act of cruelty.
A prepared one.
"She was going to have me arrested," Emily said.
"Convicted.
My name attached to theft.
Anything I said after that would look like the word of a felon trying to save herself."
"Yes." Garrett's voice was flat and certain.
"And it nearly worked."
His desk phone rang.
He glanced at the display and picked up immediately.
"Cole." A pause.
"When?" Another pause.
His eyes moved to Emily.
"I'll tell her.
Thank you."
He set the phone down.
"That was the U.S.
Attorney's office.
Vanessa Vance's legal team filed an emergency motion this morning to have last night's security footage declared inadmissible — arguing it was obtained without proper consent protocols under the estate's private event classification."
Emily stared at him.
"Can they do that?"
"They can try.
It will fail — Daniel Hawthorne's legal team has already filed a counter-motion and the footage has been independently preserved by three separate parties." He paused.
"But that's not the concerning part."
"What is?"
"The motion was filed at 6:14 this morning." He looked at her steadily.
"Vanessa Vance did not sleep last night.
She has been working since the moment she left that gala.
And the attorney who filed the motion — his name is Marcus Hale."
Emily didn't recognize it.
But something in Garrett's tone told her she should.
"He is Alderman Pryce's personal attorney," Garrett said.
"The same man who structured the Cayman account."
The circle was closing.
May you like
Not around Vanessa.
Around Emily.
