Chapter 2 - Rachel’s Letter Names Vanessa Directly
I opened the envelope.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
That told me more than any denial could have.
Inside was a handwritten letter from Rachel and a stapled packet
carrying Caldwell Commercial Properties’ old blue logo.
Nathan,
If you are reading this, either I found the courage to tell you myself,
or I ran out of time.
My hands began shaking.
Rachel had written the letter during the last months of her illness.
She told me she had discovered irregular payments inside one of our
earliest redevelopment projects, Harbor Point.
At first, she assumed they were accounting errors.
Then she found consulting invoices approved under my electronic
authorization while I was traveling.
The consultant was VDL Strategic Advisory.
Vanessa DeLuca.
I looked up.
Vanessa was staring at the floor.
“You knew Rachel?”
She swallowed.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I did consulting work for your company years ago.”
“You told me we met for the first time at the Hartford Children’s
Foundation gala.”
“We met socially then.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Emma pressed against my leg.
I stopped.
Whatever this was, my five-year-old daughter did not need to hear adults
tearing each other apart.
I called our housekeeper, Maria, who had been with Emma since infancy.
“Please take Emma upstairs.”
Emma clutched the backpack.
“No.”
I crouched.
“The backpack stays with me. The key stays with you.”
She considered that.
Then placed the tiny brass key into her pajama pocket.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
When she left, I turned back to Vanessa.
“Start talking.”
Vanessa whispered:
“Rachel thought I was stealing from you.”
“Was she right?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“No.”
May you like
Then she added:
“But she was right that I knew who was.”
