Chapter 7 - The Crash File Reopened
"Detective Miller is outside, Ethan," my father's former legal counsel, Marcus Vance (no relation to Claire's family), said as he walked into the waiting room holding a thick black leather binder.
"Did you bring the file from four years ago, Marcus?" I asked, my voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper.
"I did," Marcus replied, laying the binder flat on the table.
Four years ago, my father died in a horrific car crash on Highway 101. The police report at the time concluded that his Mercedes had suffered an unexpected hydraulic brake failure before veering off a cliff. My mother had survived the crash, but her hip had been shattered, and her memory of the event had been foggy due to severe head trauma.
Marcus opened the binder, revealing a series of newly uncovered police forensic reports and bank wire transfers.
"After you hired the private investigator last month," Marcus explained, "we re-examined the mechanical report from your father's car. The brake lines weren't worn down by age, Ethan. They had been precision-cut with a high-speed rotary tool."
I gripped the edge of the table so hard my knuckles turned white. "Who owned the auto body shop where my father took his car the day before the crash?"
Marcus turned a page, pointing to a state business registration document.
"Apex Auto Detailing," Marcus said. "A shell company registered under the name of Richard Vance's personal driver."
May you like
The entire horrific puzzle snapped together with terrifying clarity.
Four years ago, Richard Vance was facing his first wave of corporate insolvency. He knew my father held a twenty-million-dollar key-man life insurance policy linked to Vanguard Tech, their joint venture. By killing my father, Richard received a ten-million-dollar payout as the primary business partner—and spent the next four years attempting to marry his daughter off to me to swallow the remaining half of my father's legacy.
