Chapter 3 - The Yacht Phone
The yacht phone held worse things than photographs.
At 2:07 a.m., Julianne sent David a picture from the hot tub.
At 2:09, I called.
Declined.
At 2:13, Chicago Children’s Hospital called.
Declined.
At 2:14, David turned on Do Not Disturb.
The money trail was just as ugly.
Blue Marlin paid for yacht rental, jewelry, a villa deposit, and Julianne’s wellness brand.
Then investigators found 1.8 million dollars taken from Vance Meridian’s employee health reserve.
That money was supposed to pay claims.
David had used my backup authenticator.
The first protected-fund transfer happened the night Lily entered ICU.
Agent Ruiz showed Julianne an audio clip from the yacht office.
David’s voice said, “If Maya finds the health reserve, I’m finished.”
Julianne answered, “Then make her look like she approved it.”
David stared at her.
She stared at the floor.
The affair suddenly looked smaller than the conspiracy sitting around it.
Then Ruiz showed us another account.
Six million dollars had moved through a company bearing David’s brother Nathan’s name.
Nathan had always been the responsible Vance.
The boring one.
The uncle who brought Lily science kits instead of toys.
His signature was on every transfer.
Nathan swore it was forged.
The board chair called me that afternoon and asked whether I wanted to return temporarily.
I said no before he finished the sentence.
For the first time in my career, I did not care whether a room could function without me.
Lily's pink backpack was still in my car.
I drove around with it for six days because taking it inside felt impossible.
Nobody teaches you what to do with a child's ordinary things after the child is gone.
A second scapegoat.
Maybe a third.
David was not just stealing.
May you like
He was building people he could point at when the lights came on.
