Chapter 4 - The Audit Begins
The silence that returned to the house was pristine.
I carried Cedric down to the kitchen, set him gently on a chair at the marble island, and opened the refrigerator. I pulled out a carton of milk, poured him a glass, and made him a plate of toasted whole-wheat bread with strawberry jam—his favorite.
Cedric took a small bite of his toast, looking at me thoughtfully. “Is Daddy coming back?”
I sat down beside him, smoothing his messy morning hair. “No, sweetie. Daddy is going to be living somewhere else from now on.”
“Is that why those people were packing your clothes?”
I smiled softly, kissing his forehead. “They made a mistake, Cedric. Nobody is packing my clothes ever again.”
At eight-thirty, Arthur Vance stepped into the kitchen, carrying two hot cups of coffee he had ordered from a local café via his assistant. He set one in front of me and sat on the barstool opposite.
“The deputies cleared the driveway,” Arthur reported, taking a careful sip of his coffee. “Landen tried to sit in his car at the end of the cul-de-sac, but the officers informed him that EHB Heritage Holdings owns the private road access as well. He was forced to leave.”
“Where did he go?” I asked.
“My team tracked his cell signal. He drove straight to Bradley Commerce Creative’s corporate headquarters in downtown Richmond,” Arthur said, a thin, sharp smile touching his lips. “He thinks he can still access the building.”
I took a slow sip of my coffee, feeling the rich, dark warmth spread through me.
“Has the security protocol been updated?”
“At 6:00 AM sharp,” Arthur confirmed. “Your new private security team, along with forensic accountants from KPMG, locked down the entire third floor. When Landen arrives, he’ll find his keycard deactivated and his personal files seized.”
I turned my head toward the kitchen doorway.
Sitting on the floor near the pantry was the oversized black bag Laurel had been using to pack my sweaters. Beside it lay the blue silk robe Naomi had worn—dropped onto the floor when she ran upstairs to change.
I stood up, walked over to the robe, picked it up with two fingers, and tossed it straight into the stainless-steel trash compactor beside the sink.
I pressed the cycle button. The motor hummed to life, crushing the delicate silk into nothingness.
“Arthur,” I said, turning back to my attorney. “Call the managing partners at Aegis Healthcare. Tell them I’m taking emergency personal leave for two weeks.”
“And what will you be doing with those two weeks, Elisa?”
May you like
I looked out the high arched kitchen window at the morning sun rising over the green Virginia hills.
“I’m going to tear Landen’s fraud apart piece by piece,” I said quietly. “And then I’m going to build something he can never touch.”
