Security watched him now instead of me.
I stepped closer.
"You've had eighteen years to speak."
Then Daniel handed me a sealed folder.
"We obtained the emergency court order."
Victor's expression changed.
"What order?"
Daniel looked at him coldly.
"The one freezing every executive account connected to Vale Holdings."
Vanessa whispered,
"Dad..."
I opened the folder.
There were dozens of names.
But one stopped me.
Vanessa Laurent.
She was listed beside payments totaling more than four million dollars.
I slowly raised my eyes.
Vanessa's confidence disappeared.
I looked at the woman who had just dragged me across my own hotel floor.
Then I said,
"Now you're going to explain what you did with my mother's money."
Vanessa stared at the folder like it was a weapon.
Maybe it was.
Not the kind that drew blood.
The kind that destroyed lies.
"I don't know what that is."
Her voice sounded smaller now.
I looked at the transaction sheet.
"Four million, three hundred thousand dollars."
Victor stepped forward.
"Charlotte, these documents are being taken out of context."
Daniel immediately moved between us.
"Stay where you are."
Victor stopped.
He looked furious.
Not frightened.
That bothered me.
A guilty man should have been afraid.
Victor looked like a man whose plan had been interrupted.
There was a difference.
Vanessa recovered enough to fold her arms.
"The money was legitimate."
"For what?"
"Consulting."
I almost laughed.
"You're a social-events coordinator."
Her cheeks darkened.
"I have other businesses."
"Name one service worth four million dollars."
She didn't answer.
I turned toward Victor.
"You signed the payments."
"No."
Daniel opened another page.
"Your electronic authorization appears on nineteen separate transfers."
Victor's face tightened.
"Then someone used my credentials."
Vanessa looked at him.
That was the first moment I noticed something.
Surprise.
She hadn't expected him to deny it.
Interesting.
"Dad?"
Victor ignored her.
He looked at Daniel.
"I want my attorney."
"You should call one."
The police arrived ten minutes later.
Not because Daniel had called them.
Because Maya had.
The receptionist who gave me the access card had seen Vanessa drag me into the lobby.
She had also seen the slap near the ballroom.
Two officers approached me.
The first, Detective Lena Brooks, looked at my face.
"Ms. Vale, do you want medical attention?"
"I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
"I've looked worse."
That wasn't true.
But I didn't want to leave.
Not while Victor was still standing inside my hotel.
Vanessa interrupted.
"She trespassed in restricted offices."
Detective Brooks looked at her.
"Did that justify dragging her across the floor?"
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
"There are cameras," I said.
Everyone looked at me.
Vanessa's face changed again.
Of course there were cameras.
Solmere had one of the most advanced security systems in the city.
Victor immediately looked toward the security director.
"Preserve everything."
I stared at him.
Too cooperative.
Why?
Then I understood.
He wanted to look innocent.
A guilty executive ordering evidence preserved made a good performance.
I had grown up watching Victor negotiate deals.
He knew how to control rooms.
He had taught me, without realizing it, to notice what people did when they thought everyone else was emotional.
So I stopped talking.
I watched.
Police separated us.
Daniel stayed beside me.
Victor called an attorney.
Vanessa sat near the concierge desk, suddenly fascinated by her phone.
The guests slowly disappeared.
News traveled faster than champagne.
Within thirty minutes, videos of the confrontation were online.
I didn't care.
I needed one thing.
The security footage from the second floor.
Then the head of security approached Detective Brooks.
His face looked wrong.
"There's a problem."
My stomach tightened.
"What problem?"
He looked at Victor.
Then me.
"The cameras covering the executive corridor stopped recording forty minutes before Ms. Vale entered."
I stared at him.
"Stopped?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"We don't know."
Victor immediately said,
"That's impossible."
The security director shook his head.
"Someone disabled the feed remotely."
Daniel cursed softly.
I looked toward Vanessa.
She was no longer using her phone.
She was watching us.
"So the hallway assault isn't recorded?"
Detective Brooks asked.
"No."
"What about the lobby?"
"Yes."
"Ballroom?"
"Yes."
That meant Vanessa dragging me was preserved.
Her first assault upstairs wasn't.
More importantly, my conversation recording was now the only evidence of what I heard.
I checked my phone.
Still there.
Thank God.
Detective Brooks took a digital copy.
Then Daniel pulled me aside.
"We need to leave."
"No."
"Charlotte."
"I just got here."
"Exactly."
He lowered his voice.
"Your mother believed someone inside the company was dangerous."
"I know."
"And now whoever that person is knows you've returned."
I looked at Victor.
"Good."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"This isn't a boardroom argument."
"I know."
"Do you?"
I looked down at my scraped hands.
Then back at him.
"Someone killed my mother."
He became still.
"I didn't say that."
"I did."
The words had lived inside me for two weeks.
Now that they were spoken, they felt terrifyingly real.
Daniel looked around to make sure no one heard.
"We don't know that."
"She was investigating fraud."
"Yes."
"She wrote me a warning."
"Yes."
"Then she suddenly died."
"Accidents happen."
I stared at him.
"You don't believe that."
He didn't answer.
That was enough.
Detective Brooks returned.
"Ms. Vale, we'll need a formal statement."
"I'll give it."
"At the station."
"Fine."
Victor overheard.
He moved toward me.
"Charlotte."
Daniel blocked him.
Victor raised his hands.
"I'm not trying to hurt her."
I laughed bitterly.
"You were just recorded discussing how to stop me from appearing."
"You misunderstood."
"Then explain."
He looked at the officers.
"Not here."
"Why?"
"Because your mother wasn't investigating me."
I froze.
Daniel stared at him.
"What?"
Victor's voice dropped.