Chapter 6 - The Unraveling of Vanessa
While Nathan wept like a broken child in the interrogation room, three blocks away, Vanessa Hayes was discovering that the world without Nathan’s stolen wealth was a terrifying place.
Having posted her minimal administrative bail, Vanessa had returned directly to the luxury penthouse Nathan had rented for her in TriBeCa, fully intending to pack her designer luggage, gather the jewelry Nathan had bought her with company credit cards, and board a flight to Dubai.
She burst into the marble-floored lobby, still wearing the oversized sunglasses she used to shield herself from the paparazzi already gathering outside.
"Frank!" she snapped at the head doorman. "Call an executive cab immediately. And send two porters upstairs to help me with my trunks."
The doorman, who had spent the last eight months enduring her rude demands and unpaid tips, looked at her with an expression of serene satisfaction.
"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Miss Hayes," Frank said calmly, crossing his arms behind his back.
Vanessa lowered her sunglasses, her face twisted in rage. "Excuse me? Do you know who I am? I am Nathaniel Whitmore’s domestic partner! I am carrying the heir to this entire development portfolio!"
"You are carrying a fraudulent piece of foam, Miss Hayes," a crisp, aristocratic voice echoed from the elevator vestibule.
Jonathan Croft emerged from the shadows, accompanied by two uniformed New York City police detectives and a representative from the New York State Attorney General’s Commercial Fraud Division.
Vanessa took an involuntary step toward the revolving doors, but two additional officers blocked the exit.
"Vanessa Hayes," the female detective announced, displaying a gold shield. "We hold an active arrest warrant issued by the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Grand Larceny in the First Degree, Corporate Espionage, Wire Fraud, and Criminal Conspiracy."
"This is insane!" Vanessa shrieked, backing against the concierge desk. "I didn't do anything! I was an innocent bystander! Nathan was the one who tied her up! Nathan was the one who stole the money!"
"Miss Hayes," Croft spoke up, stepping forward with a calm, predatory smile. "Did you honestly believe that the Sterling Trust’s cyber-forensics division would not trace the eighty-five thousand dollars you wired to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands forty-eight hours ago? Funds drawn directly from Whitmore Development's designated employee retirement escrow account?"
Vanessa’s face lost every vestige of color. Her knees buckled, and she had to clutch the mahogany counter to prevent herself from falling.
"Furthermore," Croft continued, "your agreement with Sovereign Realty included a provision promising you a two-million-dollar bonus upon the successful execution of Nathan's insolvency. Unfortunately for you, Sovereign Realty was acquired yesterday morning at 7:30 AM by Vance Global Holdings. Marcus Vance personally reviewed your employment contract, terminated it for gross moral turpitude, and handed the unredacted files directly to the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
"No," Vanessa whimpered, shaking her head wildly as the detectives stepped forward. "No! Claire can't do this! I have rights! I’m a woman in distress!"
"You have the right to remain silent," the female detective recited smoothly, spinning Vanessa around and violently pinning her hands behind her back. The steel handcuffs clicked shut with an unforgiving snap. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
As they paraded the screaming, cursing mistress out through the revolving doors, sixty photographers erupted into a blinding storm of camera flashes. The hat that had once belonged to me was gone. The jewels were gone. The fake pregnancy was completely unmasked.
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All that remained was a terrified, two-bit con artist whose face was destined to lead the evening news across forty-eight states.
***
