Chapter 7: Daniel’s Confession
In a small, windowless consultation room down the hall, Daniel paced back and forth like a caged animal. The door opened, and Detective Miller walked in, closing it firmly behind him. Daniel stopped pacing, his eyes bloodshot and desperate, the light blue shirt he wore now looking like a shroud of his own making.
"Sit down, Mr. Vance," Detective Miller instructed quietly, pulling out a chair.
Daniel sank into the seat, running his hands through his hair. "I want to talk. I need to tell you what happened before you talk to Victoria."
"That’s a wise choice," Detective Miller said, pulling out his recording device and placing it on the table. He pressed record. "State your name and your relation to the events of this afternoon."
"My name is Daniel Vance," he began, his voice cracking with emotion. "And I... I am responsible for creating the environment that led to this tragedy, even if I wasn't behind the wheel."
Detective Miller nodded slowly, encouraging him to continue without interruption.
"Victoria and I had a business partnership that turned into something else," Daniel confessed, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "Clara discovered our affair and refused to sign the settlement agreement for our company assets. Victoria... she convinced me that we needed to scare Clara into compliance. We talked about staging a near-miss in a quiet area. Something to rattle her nerves."
"A near-miss," Detective Miller repeated, his voice laced with quiet disgust. "You conspired to terrorize your pregnant wife."
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"I never thought Victoria would actually hit her!" Daniel cried out, slamming his fist onto the table. "When I saw the SUV accelerate, I realized too late what she was doing. It was supposed to be a warning, a threat to force her hand. But Victoria hated her. She wanted Clara out of our lives permanently."
"The forensic download from the SUV's event data recorder just came through," Detective Miller said coldly, stopping the recording. "There was zero brake application prior to impact. Maximum throttle until point of collision. That isn't a near-miss, Mr. Vance. That’s attempted murder, resulting in the unlawful termination of a pregnancy. You and Ms. Hayes are both going down for this."
