Chapter 5
The police told me not to go.
So did Evelyn.
So did Robert.
I agreed.
Then I lied.
Not because I thought I was brave.
Because the second message arrived ten minutes later.
A video.
Megan crying.
Lauren gripping her hair.
Thomas standing behind the camera.
“Thirty minutes, Claire.”
He turned the camera toward Megan.
“She came to us because she wanted to save herself.”
Megan shook her head violently.
Thomas continued.
“Then she decided family loyalty mattered more than survival.”
Lauren smiled.
“Bad choice.”
The video ended.
Robert almost collapsed.
The police were mobilizing.
But the construction site covered forty acres.
Multiple unfinished buildings.
Two access roads.
Thomas knew police procedures.
Daniel had told me that himself once.
Thomas used to “consult” on security.
I looked at Evelyn.
“If they see police, Megan dies.”
“If you go alone, you may both die.”
“I didn't say I was going alone.”
I called Rachel.
Not to bring Sophie.
Never.
I told her to stay locked inside the condo and contact my father.
Then I called Daniel.
He answered instantly.
“Claire?”
“Where are you?”
“Why?”
“Thomas has Megan.”
Silence.
Then, “What?”
“Lauren is with him.”
Daniel began swearing.
“I need you to help me.”
“No. Claire, listen. Don't go near them.”
“You're coming with me.”
“Absolutely not.”
“They asked for the drive.”
“Then give it to the police.”
“They'll kill her if I do.”
“And they'll kill you if you go.”
I looked at Robert.
“Then tell me how to get Megan out.”
Daniel didn't answer.
“Daniel.”
“I know that site.”
“Good.”
“Claire—”
“You wanted to steal our daughter from me yesterday. Today you can do one decent thing.”
His breathing stopped.
I hated the words as soon as I said them.
Not because they were cruel.
Because some part of me still wanted him capable of decency.
“Where are you?” he asked.
Evelyn shook her head.
I gave him a meeting point three blocks from the site.
Police were furious.
Evelyn was furious.
I didn't care.
Finally, one detective pulled me aside.
Detective Marcus Hale.
Late forties.
Calm voice.
Sharp eyes.
“If we use you, we do it our way.”
I nodded.
“You wear a wire.”
“Yes.”
“You don't improvise.”
I almost smiled.
“I'll try.”
His expression stayed serious.
“Mrs. Bennett, that wasn't a joke.”
“I know.”
Daniel arrived twenty minutes later in his SUV.
He looked terrible.
No jacket.
No perfect hair.
No expensive watch.
Just a frightened man.
He looked at Robert.
“Dad.”
Robert turned away.
Daniel looked at me.
“Where's the drive?”
“With the police.”
His face tightened.
“Thomas will know.”
“No.”
Detective Hale stepped forward.
“We made a copy.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You can't just copy that drive.”
“Why?”
“Encryption.”
Hale held up a plastic evidence bag.
“Apparently your password wasn't difficult.”
Daniel stared.
I said, “Sophie2012.”
He looked ashamed.
Our daughter's name.
The year she was born.
His whole criminal secret locked behind the easiest part of our family.
Hale handed me an identical blue drive.
“Blank?”
“No. Selected files. Enough to look real.”
Daniel frowned.
“You don't understand. Thomas checks hashes.”
Hale looked at him.
“Then maybe you should start being useful.”
Daniel swallowed.
He pulled out his phone.
“There's a utility building behind Tower C.”
He showed us a site plan.
“Thomas used it for meetings because there are no cameras.”
Hale looked at him.
“Meetings with whom?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Investors.”
“What kind?”
“The kind I should never have accepted money from.”
“How much?”
“Seven million total.”
Robert whispered, “Seven?”
Daniel ignored him.
“The company was drowning after the Riverstone project collapsed. Banks wouldn't extend credit. Thomas introduced me to private lenders.”
“And you falsified invoices to repay them?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Yes.”
“You stole from clients?”
“Yes.”
“You stole from me.”
He lowered his head.
“Yes.”
It should have felt satisfying.
It didn't.
Confessions don't return years.
They just confirm what was stolen.
Hale asked about Lauren.
Daniel's face changed.
“She handled the books.”
“Was she your partner in the fraud?”
“Yes.”
“And your romantic partner?”
Daniel looked at me again.
“Yes.”
I felt nothing.
That scared me.
Hale said, “Did Lauren know about Emily Carter?”
Daniel nodded.
“Emily trained her.”
“Why did Emily die?”
“I told Claire. I don't know.”
Hale stepped closer.
“You know more than that.”
Daniel looked around.
Then spoke quietly.
“Emily found payments to shell companies.”
“Whose shell companies?”
“Thomas's.”
“What happened?”
“She confronted me.”
“And?”
“I told her I'd investigate.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas found out.”
“How?”
Daniel's eyes moved toward the ground.
“Lauren told him.”
My stomach turned.
Hale said, “What happened next?”
“Emily disappeared from work for two days.”
“Then crashed?”
“Yes.”
“Did you question Thomas?”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“I was afraid of Thomas.”
“You still are.”
“Yes.”
The honesty came instantly.
Hale nodded.
“Good. Fear might keep you alive.”
We moved.
I drove alone toward the site.
A wire hidden beneath my shirt.
Police units stayed out of sight.
Daniel rode with Hale.
At the gate, my phone rang.
Thomas.
“You're late.”
“Traffic.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Drive forward.”
I obeyed.
Tower C rose ahead of me.
Half built.
Concrete skeleton.
Plastic sheeting snapped in the wind.
My hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“Park.”
I stopped.
“Get out.”
I stepped onto the gravel.
“Hold up the drive.”
I did.
“Turn around.”
I turned slowly.
No one.
“Walk toward Tower C.”
My heart pounded so hard I worried the wire could hear it.
I entered the unfinished building.
Darkness swallowed me.
Then lights came on.
Lauren stood thirty feet away.
Perfect hair.
Black coat.
Gun in her hand.
I had seen her sit at my dining room table.
Now she aimed a weapon at my chest.
“Claire.”
“Lauren.”
She smiled.
“This is awkward.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead I said, “Where is Megan?”
Thomas stepped from behind a concrete pillar.
He looked exactly like the man in the Christmas photograph.
Average height.
Gray jacket.
Calm face.
The kind of man you could pass in a grocery store and never remember.
“Megan is alive.”
“I want to see her.”
“You brought the drive?”
I held it up.
“Show me Megan.”
Thomas nodded toward Lauren.
Lauren disappeared through a doorway.
A moment later, she dragged Megan out.
Megan's wrists were tied.
Her face was bruised.
She saw me.
“No!”
Lauren struck her.
“Quiet.”
I stepped forward.
Thomas lifted his gun.
“Don't.”
I stopped.
“You have what you want.”
“Not yet.”
“Take it.”
I tossed the drive halfway across the floor.
It landed near him.
Thomas stared at it.
“You expect me to pick that up?”
“Yes.”
He almost smiled.
“Daniel said you were smarter than him.”
My stomach tightened.
“He talks about me?”
“He talks too much.”
Thomas looked toward the darkness behind me.
“Especially when frightened.”
I knew instantly.
Something was wrong.
He knew.
“Where is Daniel?” Thomas asked.
“I don't know.”
“You called him at 9:42 this morning.”
My blood went cold.
He held up a phone.
Daniel's phone.
No.
Not Daniel's.
A cloned screen.
Call records.
“You're monitoring him.”
“Daniel has belonged to me for years.”
I forced myself not to touch the wire.
Thomas kicked the drive toward Lauren.
“Check it.”
She inserted it into a laptop.
Seconds passed.
Her face changed.
“This isn't it.”
Thomas looked at me.
I said nothing.
Lauren turned the screen.
“Files are wrong.”
Thomas sighed.
“I hoped you wouldn't do that.”
He lifted his gun.
And fired.
The sound exploded through the building.
I screamed.
But the bullet hadn't hit me.
Megan collapsed.
“MEGAN!”
Blood spread across her upper arm.
She screamed in pain.
Thomas pointed the gun at me again.
“Next one goes higher.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Where is the real drive?”
“With the police.”
“Wrong answer.”
“It is!”
“Then you're useless.”
Lauren grabbed Megan.
Thomas moved closer.
My ears rang.
I prayed Detective Hale could hear.
I prayed they were close.
Thomas stopped three feet from me.
“You know what's funny?”
I stared at him.
“Your husband spent two years trying to become rich enough to impress you.”
My jaw tightened.
“You don't know anything about me.”
“I know Daniel.”
“So do I.”
Thomas smiled.
“No. You knew the version he wanted you to see.”
That hurt because it was true.
“He borrowed money to compete with your father. Lied to get contracts. Stole to cover losses. Then stole more to cover the theft.”
Thomas shrugged.
“Very common story.”
“Did you kill Emily?”
His smile vanished.
Lauren looked up sharply.
I repeated it.
“Did you kill Emily Carter?”
Thomas studied me.
Then laughed softly.
“Daniel thinks I did.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
For some reason, I believed him.
Not because he was trustworthy.
Because Lauren suddenly became very still.
I looked at her.
Thomas followed my eyes.
His expression shifted.
Interesting.
He didn't know.
“Lauren?”
She closed the laptop.
“We don't have time.”
Thomas stared at her.
“Did you kill Emily?”
Lauren rolled her eyes.
“Really?”
“Answer me.”
“She was going to expose us.”
Thomas's face hardened.
“I told you to scare her.”
“I did.”
“What did you do?”
Lauren's jaw tightened.
“She wouldn't stop.”
Megan began sobbing.
I stared at Lauren.
“You killed her.”
“It was an accident.”
The exact sentence every guilty person seems to love.
“She ran,” Lauren said. “I followed her. She drove off too fast. I only wanted the laptop.”
Thomas looked furious.
“You told me she lost control in the rain.”
“She did.”
“You were following her?”
Lauren said nothing.
Thomas stepped toward her.
“You lied to me for three years.”
Lauren raised her gun.
And aimed it at Thomas.
Everything changed.
He froze.
She smiled.
“You've become a liability too.”
Megan stared at her.
I understood.
Lauren didn't plan to leave witnesses.
Not me.
Not Megan.
Not Thomas.
Maybe not Daniel.
Thomas spoke carefully.
“You won't get out.”
“Sure I will.”
“Police are outside.”
Lauren's eyes flicked toward me.
Only for half a second.
But it was enough.
She knew about the wire.
“Of course they are.”
She aimed at my chest.
“You always did need someone else to save you, Claire.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
Then every light in the building went out.
Darkness.
Gunfire.
Megan screamed.
I dropped.
Concrete scraped my hands.
Someone grabbed me.
I fought.
“Claire!”
Daniel.
His voice.
He pulled me behind a pillar.
“What are you doing here?”
“Saving my sister.”
More shots.
Police shouted.
“DROP THE WEAPON!”
I heard Lauren running.
Then Thomas yelled.
A body hit the floor.
Megan cried out.
I crawled toward her voice.
Daniel followed.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Megan was alive.
Bleeding.
Terrified.
I reached her.
Then Daniel stopped.
His face went white.
I turned.
Thomas lay ten feet away.
A bullet in his chest.
He was still breathing.
Lauren was gone.
Detective Hale rushed in with officers.
Paramedics followed.
Thomas grabbed my wrist as they passed.
His fingers were slick with blood.
I wanted to pull away.
He held tighter.
“Listen.”
“Don't talk.”
“Lauren has another copy.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
He coughed.
“Where?”
His eyes moved toward Daniel.
Then back to me.
“She gave it to your mother-in-law.”
I stared at him.
“Patricia?”
Thomas smiled weakly.
“She was never protecting Daniel.”
May you like
His grip loosened.
“She was protecting herself.”
