Chapter 15 - The Trap at the River
I did not go alone.
I did not go at all.
Veronica advised me to preserve the message and pass it to investigators.
The photograph's background showed a warehouse window and the edge of a riverfront loading dock.
That was not enough to identify the sender or prove anyone was in danger.
But it was enough to convince me that whoever held the letter wanted control over my next move.
I stayed home while the authorities evaluated the message.
The next morning, a second message arrived.
This one contained a photograph of a page bearing my grandfather's handwriting.
I recognized the slant of his capital letters.
The page said he had made a choice that caused suffering to the Vance family.
The rest was cut off.
I sat at the kitchen island where this entire nightmare had begun.
For the first time, I considered the possibility that my grandfather had kept something important from me.
Loving him did not require believing he had been perfect.
Veronica agreed.
"We'll examine the complete document if it becomes available. A cropped photograph is not context."
By afternoon, investigators had identified the number as connected to a prepaid phone.
The owner could not be reliably determined from the information available.
Then Teresa phoned.
"Jamie came to see Edwin last night," she said.
"What did she want?"
"He says she asked him to sign a statement that your grandfather defrauded the family."
"Did he?"
"No. He told her he wouldn't lie for Patricia again."
A moment later, Teresa began crying.
"I think Jamie is in trouble."
The information she had was thin, but troubling.
Jamie had been borrowing money from acquaintances and had complained that Adrian threatened to expose her involvement in the identity attempt.
I had spent years seeing Jamie as a spoiled woman who found cruelty entertaining.
I still believed she was responsible for her choices.
But I knew what desperation could do to people who had never learned to tell the truth.
I asked Veronica to pass Teresa's concerns to investigators.
At five, the special committee issued an interim report to the board.
The report identified significant control failures and potentially unauthorized financial instructions.
It did not accuse me of directing them.
It recommended suspending several compromised credentials and continuing the independent investigation.
For the first time, I could see a narrow path toward rebuilding trust.
At six, I received a call from a hospital.
Jamie Vance had been brought into the emergency department after collapsing in a hotel lobby.
She had listed me as her emergency contact.
May you like
And when she regained consciousness, the first thing she said was, "Don't let Adrian get the letter."
