Chapter 19
Vanessa got out on bail a week later.
House arrest, with an ankle monitor, but she was still in the city, still close. James fought it as hard as he could, but the judge was firm. She was allowed to leave her apartment only for court dates and doctor’s appointments, with a guard. But we all knew money could buy anything, even a guard who looked the other way.
We increased security.
Marcus hired ten more guards, posting them around the house, at the gates, at the kids’ preschool, at Clara’s foundation office. We installed new cameras, new alarms, a panic room in the basement stocked with food and water and weapons. The kids didn’t understand why there were strange men everywhere, but we told them they were our friends, here to keep us safe.
Clara stopped going to the office alone, always with a guard. I stopped going to work as much, staying home with the kids when I could. We didn’t go out to dinner anymore, didn’t go to the park, didn’t do anything that wasn’t necessary. We were prisoners in our own home, just like I’d pretended to be a year and a half before.
The new trial was set for three months later.
Vanessa’s new lawyer was a shark, a man who’d gotten dozens of murderers acquitted on technicalities. He argued that Liam had forced Vanessa to help him, that he’d threatened to kill her if she didn’t go along with his plans. He argued that the gun had gone off by accident at the airport, that she’d never meant to shoot me. He even got Rico’s testimony thrown out, saying he’d been coerced by the police.
It was all lies, but the jury was listening.
The press loved it. “Maid to Millionaire: Did the Rich Man Frame His Fiancée?” the headlines screamed. “Vanessa Hale: Victim or Villain?” Reporters camped outside our house, outside the courthouse, shouting questions at us every time we left.
Clara was strong, but I could see the fear in her eyes. She slept with a knife under her pillow. She checked on the kids a dozen times a night. She jumped at every loud noise.
One night, I woke up and she wasn’t in bed. I found her in Lily’s room, sitting on the floor beside the crib, watching her sleep.
“I can’t lose them,” she said, when I sat down beside her. “I can’t lose any of you.”
“You won’t,” I said, putting my arm around her. “We’re going to win the trial. She’s going back to prison. And then we’ll be safe again.”
“What if we don’t?” she said. “What if she gets off? What if she comes for us?”
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“Then we’ll fight her,” I said. “Together. Like we always have. We’ve beaten her before. We’ll beat her again.”
She leaned her head on my shoulder, and we sat there in the dark, watching our daughter sleep, both of us scared, both of us determined to protect our family no matter what.
