Chapter 7 - The TrapClaire’s idea terrified Alexander.
That changed everything.
Vanessa had been obsessed with appearances.
Her apartment.
Her clothing.
Her charity work.
Her social connections.
But beneath the polished surface sat a pattern of broken friendships, secret payments, nondisclosure agreements, and people who had abruptly vanished from her circle.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Natalie Pierce.
Natalie had worked as Vanessa’s personal assistant six years earlier.
Then she disappeared from Manhattan society overnight.
No farewell.
No announcement.
No reference from Vanessa.
Ortiz found her living under her married name in Vermont.
When contacted, Natalie initially refused to speak.
Then she saw Claire’s photograph.
She changed her mind.
Alexander and Claire joined the interview by secure video.
Natalie appeared nervous.
Mid-thirties.
Brown hair pulled tightly back.
She kept glancing behind her despite being inside her own home.
“I knew this would happen someday,” she said.
Claire leaned closer.
“What?”
Natalie looked directly at her.
“She finds women she wants to replace.”
Alexander frowned.
“Explain.”
Natalie swallowed.
“Vanessa doesn’t fall in love with men. She falls in love with lives.”
Six years earlier, Vanessa’s closest friend had been socialite Caroline West.
Caroline was engaged to a hotel heir.
Vanessa became obsessed with their relationship.
She copied Caroline’s clothes.
Appeared at the same restaurants.
Befriended her fiancé.
Then began telling people Caroline was unstable.
“One night Caroline fell down a staircase,” Natalie said.
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“Was Vanessa there?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She said Caroline attacked her.”
Alexander and Claire exchanged a glance.
Natalie continued.
Caroline survived but suffered a serious head injury.
Vanessa became the sympathetic best friend.
Within months, Caroline’s engagement ended.
Her fiancé briefly dated Vanessa.
Natalie had witnessed the argument before the fall.
“She pushed Caroline.”
“Did you tell police?” Ortiz asked.
“I was twenty-five. Vanessa’s father paid me fifty thousand dollars and threatened to destroy my career.”
Natalie looked ashamed.
“I took the money.”
Claire felt no anger toward her.
Only horror.
“Why are you telling us now?”
“Because you’re pregnant.”
Natalie’s eyes filled with tears.
“And Caroline wasn’t.”
The implication hung in the air.
Vanessa escalated.
Every time.
If something worked once, she did it again more aggressively.
Ortiz reopened Caroline’s case.
Caroline agreed to cooperate.
That gave investigators a behavioral pattern.
Still, the greatest threat remained Claire’s baby.
Alexander doubled security again.
Claire complained until something happened that made her stop.
Her prenatal medication was replaced.
A nurse noticed the tablets looked slightly different.
Laboratory testing found they contained a drug capable of triggering uterine contractions.
Claire sat frozen when Ortiz told her.
Alexander became terrifyingly calm.
“Who had access?”
“Three nurses, your house manager, pharmacy delivery personnel, and security.”
“Test everyone.”
“We are.”
Claire looked at the medication bottle.
“This was inside our home.”
Alexander took her hand.
“We’re leaving.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere Vanessa can’t reach.”
He moved Claire to a private estate in Westchester owned through a company few people connected to him.
Only six trusted employees knew.
Dr. Bennett visited personally.
Claire began to relax.
For two days.
Then Alexander found the camera.
It was hidden in the nursery.
A pin-sized lens inside a stuffed rabbit delivered with dozens of baby gifts months earlier.
Police traced the rabbit.
It came from Vanessa.
Claire felt physically sick.
“How long has she been watching?”
Technicians examined the device.
“Possibly months.”
Claire sat down.
Her bedroom.
Nursery.
Private conversations.
Pregnancy appointments conducted over video.
Vanessa might have seen everything.
Alexander picked up the stuffed rabbit and nearly crushed it.
Ortiz stopped him.
“Evidence.”
He dropped it.
The device transmitted to a private server.
That server was registered through an offshore company.
Investigators traced payments.
Eventually they reached a Manhattan cybersecurity contractor named Aaron Vale.
Aaron confessed almost immediately.
Vanessa paid him to monitor Claire.
“She said she thought Claire was cheating.”
“How much?” Ortiz asked.
“Seventy-five thousand.”
“Did you believe her?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Aaron stared at the table.
“She started asking strange questions.”
“What questions?”
“When Mrs. Holloway would be alone. When the doctor visited. What medications she took.”
Claire’s hands began trembling.
Alexander noticed.
He covered them with his.
Ortiz asked the final question.
“Did Vanessa ever mention the baby?”
Aaron nodded.
Claire stopped breathing.
“What did she say?”
Aaron looked sick.
“She asked whether newborns could be legally surrendered by someone other than the mother.”
Alexander’s grip tightened around Claire’s hand.
“And?”
“She wanted to know how difficult it would be to create hospital paperwork showing a baby had died.”
The room went completely silent.
Claire whispered:
“She wanted my daughter.”
Ortiz nodded slowly.
“I think she wanted your entire life.”
That night Vanessa posted another photograph online.
She stood beside a church altar.
The caption read:
Sometimes God removes what was never meant for you.
Claire looked at the post once.
Then deleted every social media app from her phone.
She turned to Alexander.
“No more hiding.”
He studied her.
May you like
“What are you thinking?”
“We let her believe she’s winning.”
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