Chapter 3 - THE CAR THAT BELONGED TO A DEAD MAN
The ambulance carried the baby to Mercy Children’s Hospital.
Sofia went with her.
Emma refused to leave her mother’s side.
Leo followed in his own car.
The wedding was over.
Flowers remained beneath the chandeliers.
Champagne sat untouched.
The cake had never been cut.
Victoria’s veil remained on the marble floor where it had fallen during her arrest.
By 11:30 p.m., the Bennett family was crowded inside a private hospital waiting room while detectives worked outside.
Leo stood near the window.
Rebecca sat alone in the corner.
Nobody spoke to her.
Finally, Leo turned.
“Dad’s SUV was destroyed.”
Rebecca looked up.
“So I thought.”
“He died driving that SUV.”
“Yes.”
“The insurance report said it burned.”
“Yes.”
“Then why was it outside Sofia’s hospital?”
Rebecca pressed both hands together.
“I don’t know.”
Leo stared at her.
Sofia sat across the room with Emma sleeping against her shoulder.
“You do know something.”
Rebecca looked at her daughter.
“I swear I didn’t know the car still existed.”
“But you recognized it.”
“Of course I did.”
Sofia pulled another page from the folder.
“I ran the plate.”
Rebecca frowned.
“How?”
“The social worker helping me knew a retired officer.”
“And?”
“The vehicle was re-registered seven years ago.”
Leo turned.
“To who?”
Sofia looked at him.
“Bennett Family Holdings.”
Leo’s face tightened.
“That company was dissolved after Dad died.”
“Not completely.”
Rebecca whispered:
“There was one remaining account.”
Everyone looked at her.
Leo stepped closer.
“What account?”
Rebecca rubbed her forehead.
“Your father kept an emergency holding company for property acquisitions.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
“Who controls it?”
Rebecca went silent.
Leo’s voice sharpened.
“Who?”
“I do.”
The answer hung in the room.
Sofia looked devastated.
“So the car that followed me belongs to you.”
“No.”
“The company belongs to you.”
“Yes.”
“And the car belongs to the company.”
“I haven’t touched that account in years.”
Sofia stood.
“Do you understand how that sounds?”
Rebecca began crying.
“I did not try to hurt you.”
“Maybe you didn’t have to.”
Sofia’s words stopped her.
“Maybe you just kept giving Victoria everything she needed.”
The motel address.
Access to old family assets.
Information about Sofia.
Rebecca lowered her head.
Leo looked toward Detective Hale as he entered.
“What did you find?”
Hale closed the door.
“The baby is stable.”
Everyone exhaled.
Sofia nearly collapsed with relief.
“Hypothermia was mild,” Hale continued. “Doctors expect a full recovery.”
Emma woke and immediately asked:
“Can I see her?”
“Soon.”
Sofia kissed her forehead.
Hale’s expression remained serious.
“We also searched Ms. Cole’s vehicle.”
Leo noticed.
“What was inside?”
“A second phone.”
Sofia went still.
“Burner?”
“Yes.”
“Messages?”
“Hundreds.”
“With who?”
Hale placed a printout on the table.
The contact had no name.
Only initials.
R.B.
Rebecca stared at it.
Leo saw.
“Your initials.”
Rebecca Bennett.
She stood instantly.
“That isn’t me.”
Hale remained calm.
“We haven’t said it is.”
Rebecca grabbed the printout.
One message read:
SHE SURVIVED. FIX THIS BEFORE THE WEDDING.
Another:
THE BABY CHANGES EVERYTHING.
Another:
LEO CANNOT KNOW ABOUT THE TRUST.
Rebecca’s breathing became uneven.
“I never sent these.”
Sofia looked at Hale.
“Can you trace them?”
“We’re trying.”
Leo frowned.
“What trust?”
Nobody answered.
He looked toward his mother.
“Mom?”
Rebecca sat down.
Sofia stared at her.
“You know.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“What trust?”
She looked at both children.
“Your grandfather’s.”
Leo shook his head.
“Grandpa left everything to Dad.”
“Most of it.”
“What does the trust say?”
Rebecca hesitated.
Then finally:
“When your father died, controlling ownership of Bennett Development was split between you and Sofia.”
Leo nodded.
“That isn’t a secret.”
“The voting rights were different.”
Sofia’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
Rebecca swallowed.
“If Sofia died without children, her voting shares transferred to Leo.”
Leo went pale.
“And if she had a child?”
Rebecca looked toward the nursery doors.
“They transferred to her firstborn.”
Silence.
Sofia slowly stood.
“My baby controls my shares.”
“At age twenty-one, yes. Until then, Sofia controls them as guardian.”
Leo understood.
Victoria had planned to marry him.
If Sofia died without an heir, Leo would receive controlling interest.
As Leo’s wife, Victoria would gain enormous influence.
But Sofia survived.
Then gave birth.
The baby made the transfer impossible.
Leo whispered:
“That’s why she abandoned her.”
Rebecca nodded through tears.
“Maybe.”
Sofia looked toward the printout.
“Then who is R.B.?”
Detective Hale’s phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Hale looked at Rebecca.
“We traced the burner number.”
Rebecca stood.
“And?”
“It was purchased using an employee account.”
“Whose?”
Hale looked directly at Leo.
“Robert Bennett.”
Nobody moved.
Leo’s voice barely worked.
“My father?”
Hale nodded.
The room became ice.
Robert Bennett had supposedly died nine years ago.
But his company owned the SUV.
May you like
His employee ID bought the phone.
And someone using his initials had been telling Victoria exactly how to erase Sofia and her baby.
