Chapter 4 - THE PEOPLE BEHIND VANESSA
The police initially believed Vanessa's gambling debts were unrelated.
I didn't.
Detective Brooks agreed.
“Someone threatening a child changes the case.”
We began tracing the numbers that had contacted my father.
They belonged to prepaid phones.
The messages were encrypted.
But one mistake had been made.
A payment had been sent.
$25,000.
The destination was a private account in Nevada.
The account holder was a company called Harper Holdings.
Vanessa's name wasn't on it.
Neither was my father's.
But the registered attorney was.
My mother's brother.
Uncle Raymond.
I stared at the paperwork.
“My uncle?”
Detective Miller nodded.
“Your family is more complicated than you described.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I thought it was complicated before.”
Raymond agreed to meet.
He arrived at a diner outside the city.
He looked older than I remembered.
“You shouldn't have come.”
“Why?”
“Because you're asking questions that people don't want answered.”
“What do you know about Vanessa?”
He sighed.
“She borrowed money from dangerous people.”
“How dangerous?”
“Dangerous enough that your father was willing to steal from his own granddaughter.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Who are they?”
Raymond looked around.
“The Red Oak Group.”
“Criminal organization?”
“Not officially.”
“What does that mean?”
“They own businesses. Construction companies. Gambling operations. Nightclubs. Real estate.”
“And Vanessa?”
“She started gambling in one of their casinos.”
“How much did she lose?”
“$300,000.”
I shook my head.
“And they let her keep playing?”
“They wanted her deeper.”
“Why?”
Raymond leaned closer.
“Because they knew your father would pay.”
That was the missing piece.
Vanessa hadn't merely been trapped.
She had become profitable.
Every time she lost money, my parents paid.
Every payment strengthened the people exploiting her.
And my parents had unknowingly become part of the machine.
But then Raymond said something that changed everything.
“There's one more thing.”
“What?”
“Vanessa didn't choose Ruby randomly.”
I stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“She knew exactly where Ruby would be sitting.”
I felt sick.
“How?”
“Someone told her.”
“Who?”
Raymond hesitated.
“Your mother.”
I stood.
“No.”
“She called Vanessa that morning.”
I remembered.
My mother had been unusually calm when Ruby ate the cake.
Almost as if she already knew what was coming.
I suddenly remembered another detail.
She had told Ruby:
“Sit right there, sweetheart.”
The chair.
The table.
The refrigerator.
Everything.
My mother had positioned her.
But why?
I confronted my mother that night.
She broke down immediately.
“I didn't know she would hurt her.”
“You knew Vanessa was coming.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she was angry.”
“Yes.”
“You put Ruby in that chair.”
“I thought Vanessa would yell.”
I stared at her.
“You knew.”
She covered her face.
“I thought if Vanessa saw her eating the cake, she'd get upset, but then she'd calm down.”
“You used my daughter to absorb your sister's anger.”
“I didn't mean—”
“You didn't mean for her to get hurt.”
I interrupted her.
“But you accepted that she might.”
She began sobbing.
Then she whispered:
“Vanessa threatened me.”
“With what?”
My mother looked at me.
“She said if I didn't help her, she'd tell you about your father.”
“What about him?”
She swallowed.
“He wasn't supposed to be working with them.”
My blood went cold.
“Who?”
“The Red Oak Group.”
That night, my father disappeared.
His phone was off.
His car was gone.
And when Detective Brooks checked his bank account, there had been a withdrawal.
$100,000.
The same account connected to Red Oak.
My father wasn't merely protecting Vanessa.
May you like
He was involved.
And now he was running.
