Chapter 7 - The Photograph in the Safe
Ryker’s legal counsel joined the call from Steel-Cole headquarters.
The video feed showed Daniel’s former office, untouched beneath a layer of dust.
Lily held the brass key against the camera.
An assistant matched it to the lock on a black steel document case hidden behind a removable panel.
The key turned.
Inside were three objects.
A sealed envelope.
A flash drive.
And a printed photograph.
Ryker asked the assistant to hold the photograph closer.
It showed Daniel standing in a parking garage beside his SUV.
The timestamp was 11:43 p.m., six hours before his fatal crash.
Vanessa stood in front of him.
Beside her was Aaron Pike, Steel-Cole’s former chief financial officer.
Pike had disappeared after Ryker uncovered irregular transfers from company accounts.
Vanessa had sworn she had never met him.
She had also told police Daniel spent his final evening alone.
Ryker looked at her.
“You knew Aaron Pike.”
Vanessa did not answer.
The twins could not see the image clearly from their seats, but Vanessa could.
Her eyes fixed on the screen.
“That photograph proves nothing.”
“It proves you lied to investigators.”
“I forgot a conversation in a parking garage.”
“Daniel died six hours later.”
Vanessa laughed, but the sound was thin.
“Are you accusing me of murder in an airport?”
“No.”
Ryker’s voice remained level.
“I’m giving you the opportunity to explain why a man who stole eight million dollars from our company met you hours before my partner’s death.”
The gate area went still.
Vanessa glanced toward airport security.
“You cannot detain me based on a photograph.”
The supervisor replied carefully, “You are being asked to remain while we determine who has lawful custody of the children.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
Ryker looked back at the safe.
“Open the envelope.”
His attorney lifted it.
Across the front, in Daniel’s handwriting, were five words:
FOR RYKER—IF I DON’T RETURN.
May you like
For the first time since Ryker stopped the plane, Vanessa looked truly terrified.
👉 Daniel’s letter did not accuse Vanessa of killing him—but it revealed the reason she needed to get out of the country that morning.
