Chapter 6: The Accident That Was Never Investigated
The police officers had almost finished documenting the wedding incident when Nia asked Evelyn to explain the photograph.
They moved into a quiet office behind the reception hall, away from the remaining guests. Through the open doorway, Nia could see a staff member carefully collecting broken champagne glass from the patio.
Her dress was still damp. The borrowed jacket across her shoulders smelled faintly of Malik's cologne.
But she barely noticed the discomfort anymore.
“My father died in his home,” Nia said.
“The doctors told us it was a heart attack.””
Evelyn sat across from her.
“That was the cause listed on the death certificate.””
“You're saying something else happened?””
“I'm saying your father was afraid something might happen to him. I don't know whether his death was connected to the company.””
“Then why did he write that note?””
Evelyn studied the photograph.
“Because he believed Richard Vale had been diverting company money. He told me that he had found evidence of fraudulent contracts and payments to companies that didn't appear to have employees or offices.””
Malik leaned against the wall.
“Shell companies.””
“Possibly,” Evelyn replied.
“Your father was preparing to present his findings to the board. Then he died before the meeting.””
Nia's hands curled into the towel resting in her lap.
“Did you tell the police?””
“At the time, I had no evidence that his death was anything other than natural. I knew about the financial dispute, but I didn't know he had written that note until much later.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
Evelyn looked genuinely ashamed.
“Because I was afraid. Richard had already taken control of the company, and I had two young children. I convinced myself that I could protect your father's interests from inside the organization.””
“Did you?””
“No.””
The answer was immediate.
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
“I preserved what records I could. But Richard controlled the board, and the moment I questioned certain transactions, he threatened to report me for mishandling confidential documents. I stayed because I thought I could prevent worse damage.””
Nia looked toward the window.
Outside, two officers were speaking with Tasha beside the garden gate. Her sister's white gown looked almost gray beneath the fading afternoon sunlight.
“Was Tasha involved back then?”” Nia asked.
“I don't know. She wasn't employed by the company.””
“But someone gave her the key.””
“Yes.””
“And someone told her to make me sign a document.””
Evelyn nodded.
“That suggests the forgery wasn't an isolated act. It may have been part of a larger plan to keep you from exercising your rights as a shareholder.””
Nia looked at the photograph again.
Her father had always told her that money revealed what people valued most. She had thought he meant that people became selfish when they became rich.
Now she wondered whether he had meant something darker.
A knock sounded at the door.
One of the officers entered.
“Ms. Brooks, your sister has asked to speak with you.””
Nia's jaw tightened.
“Did she say why?””
“She says she wants to explain who paid her.””
Malik immediately shook his head.
“You don't have to see her.””
“I know.””
Nia took a slow breath.
“But I need to hear what she says.””
The officer agreed to supervise the conversation in a separate interview room.
Tasha sat at the table with her hands folded in front of her. Someone had given her a plain white shirt to wear over her wet gown, and her wedding veil was gone.
Without the flowers, jewelry, and carefully arranged hair, she looked like the younger sister Nia remembered from their childhood.
For one dangerous moment, Nia almost felt sorry for her.
Then she remembered the water closing over her head.
Tasha looked up.
“Nia.””
“Don't say my name like nothing happened.””
Her sister swallowed.
“I know you're angry.””
“Angry?””
“I didn't mean for you to get hurt.””
“You hid the rescue ring.””
Tasha looked down.
“I was told you would be safe.””
“Who told you that?””
Tasha's eyes darted toward the officer.
“I can't.””
Nia leaned forward.
“You nearly watched me drown because somebody told you it would help them take my inheritance. You don't get to protect them now.””
Tasha flinched.
“I thought it would only scare you. Richard said you would panic, sign the papers, and leave the company alone.””
“Why did you agree?””
Tasha's mouth trembled.
“Because he promised to pay off my debts.””
Nia stared at her.
“What debts?””
Tasha began picking at the edge of her sleeve.
“The wedding. The house. Some investments that went wrong.””
“You told me Malik was paying for the wedding.””
“He paid for most of it.””
“And the rest?””
“Richard offered me money. He said I could repay him after I received control of the company.””
Nia felt sick.
“You sold me out for a wedding?””
“No!”” Tasha slammed her palm against the table.
“I didn't know he was going to use your medical records!””
The officer shifted in his chair.
Tasha lowered her voice.
“He told me your surgery made you vulnerable. He wanted documentation proving that you might be unable to manage the company. If you signed the waiver, he could claim you had voluntarily surrendered your shares. If you refused, he planned to challenge your ability to make decisions.””
Nia stared at her sister.
“So you were going to use my injury against me.””
“I was trying to save myself.””
“From what?””
Tasha began to cry.
“I owe money to people I can't pay. Richard said he could make everything disappear if I helped him. He said nobody would get hurt.””
Nia's voice turned cold.
“You believed a man who needed you to steal your sister's inheritance?””
Tasha wiped her cheeks.
“I didn't think he'd let anything happen to you.””
“But you pushed me.””
Tasha's lips parted.
No answer came.
Nia stood.
“I spent my whole life protecting you. When Dad died, I worked extra shifts so you could finish school. When you couldn't pay your rent, I sent you money without telling anyone. When you got engaged, I was the first person you called.””
Tasha looked up at her.
“I know.””
“No. You remember. That's different.””
Nia turned toward the door.
Tasha suddenly grabbed the edge of the table.
“Wait!””
The officer told her to keep her hands where they could be seen.
Tasha ignored him.
“Richard said Dad kept a second ledger. A black ledger. He said it had the names of everyone who received money from the company.””
Nia stopped.
“Where is it?””
“I don't know. But Richard believes your father hid it somewhere in the old headquarters.””
“The archive room?””
Tasha nodded frantically.
“He said the key would lead to the ledger. He told me to retrieve it before the building was demolished.””
“Then why did you give him the key?””
“I didn't. He already had it.””
Nia turned slowly.
“What?””
Tasha looked terrified.
“The man who visited me this morning wasn't giving me the key. He was checking whether I had found it. Richard said someone else had taken it after Dad died.””
Nia felt the floor shift beneath her feet.
The key in the footage might have been a decoy.
Or there might be two keys.
Before she could ask another question, the officer's radio crackled. He listened for several seconds, then looked toward Nia.
“Ms. Brooks, we've received an urgent call from the demolition contractor at your father's old headquarters.””
“What happened?””
“They found signs of a break-in.””
Evelyn appeared in the doorway, having overheard the announcement.
“Was anything taken?””
The officer checked his notes.
“According to the contractor, the archive room has been opened. Someone removed several storage boxes, but left behind a locked metal cabinet.””
Nia's heart began to pound.
“Is the building secure?””
“Not yet. The contractor says a vehicle was seen leaving the property shortly before police arrived.””
Malik straightened.
“Richard Vale.””
“Possibly,” the officer replied.
“We don't have confirmation.””
Nia looked at Tasha.
Her sister was crying silently now, staring at the table as if the wood grain held the answers to everything she had done.
For the first time, Nia understood the scale of the danger.
Richard was not simply trying to protect his position. He was destroying evidence.
And if her father's black ledger contained proof of financial crimes, its disappearance could leave Nia with nothing but a forged signature, a dead father, and a sister who had betrayed her.
She followed Malik and Evelyn out of the interview room.
At the reception hall entrance, her phone vibrated again.
This time, the notification came from an unknown email address.
There was no subject line, only an attached photograph.
Nia opened it.
The image showed a black ledger resting on a metal desk. Beside it lay a silver key engraved with an oak tree.
On the ledger's cover, someone had written a date in thick black marker.
The date of her father's death.
Beneath the photograph was a single sentence:
*Your father didn't die before he could expose Richard Vale. He died because he already had.*
Nia's fingers went numb.
Then a second message appeared.
*Come to the old headquarters alone at midnight, or the original evidence disappears forever.*
Malik read the screen over her shoulder.
“No,” he said immediately.
“You're not going anywhere alone.””
Evelyn's face had gone pale.
“That's a trap.””
Nia looked at the photograph again.
The black ledger was real. The key was real. And whoever had sent the message knew exactly what her father had been trying to uncover.
But the final detail was what frightened her most.
In the corner of the photograph, barely visible beneath the desk, was a man's polished black shoe.
Nia recognized the distinctive silver buckle.
She had seen it that afternoon.
On the man who had handed Tasha the envelope.
May you like
And that meant the person holding her father's secrets might not be Richard Vale at all.
It might be someone who had been standing beside her family since before the wedding began.
