Chapter 5 - The Trap Snaps Shut
Amy's hands trembled as she turned the pages. Bank accounts in the Cayman Islands. Shell corporations based in Delaware. Tax exemptions signed in her name while she had been recovering from a miscarriage two years ago in a private clinic in upstate New York.
"They planned this that long ago?" Amy whispered.
"Margaret planned it," Vanessa corrected. "Daniel just went along with it because he doesn't have the spine to tell his mother no. When you got pregnant again this year, Margaret realized the timeline was collapsing. A mother facing ten years in federal prison creates an ugly headline. But an *unstable, unfaithful* ex-wife who embezzled family funds before running away? The media will eat that alive."
"And you?" Amy looked up, her gaze sharpening. "What's your cut in this, Vanessa? You've spent every weekend by his side. You sat across from me at Thanksgiving dinner."
Vanessa looked away, a muscle ticking in her jaw. "Margaret holds my brother’s medical trust. He’s twenty-four, paralyzed from the waist down after a hit-and-run three years ago. The Harrison Foundation pays his facility fees. If I step out of line, the funding stops."
"So why are you here now?"
"Because tonight, while Daniel was out chasing you, Margaret told me to prepare a press release claiming you had suffered a psychiatric breakdown and vanished with corporate assets," Vanessa said. Her voice broke slightly. "I watched Daniel nod and agree to it. He stood right there and let her draft a statement painting you as an unfit, deranged criminal. That was the line for me. I can take complicity. I won't help destroy an unborn child."
Suddenly, headlights swept across the cabin's front windows.
Two pairs of high beams cut through the pine trees, illuminating the interior in harsh, blinding white light.
"They're here," Vanessa whispered, her face draining of color. "They drove faster than I thought."
A heavy car door slammed shut outside. Then another.
Amy moved to the window. Through the rain, she saw a sleek black SUV parked behind Vanessa's vehicle. Stepping out of the passenger side wasn't an anonymous security guard.
It was Daniel.
He was soaking wet, wearing a heavy wool coat, his hair plastered to his forehead. Behind him stood an older man with gray hair—Thomas Vance, the chief legal counsel for the Harrison family for over thirty years.
"Amy!" Daniel's voice roared against the wind and rain. "Open the door! I know Vanessa is in there with you!"
Amy turned to Vanessa. "Did he follow you?"
"I don't know—I swear I checked my mirrors—"
The front door shook under a massive blow.
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"Amy, unlock the door!" Daniel shouted, rattling the handle. "We’re not leaving without talking! If you don't open this door, Vance is calling the local sheriff right now with a warrant for grand larceny! Don't make this worse than it already is!"
***
