Chapter 5
Richard Sterling became the most wanted man in Tennessee before sunrise.
His picture was everywhere.
News stations described him as a respected businessman wanted for questioning in connection with financial crimes and a reopened fatal crash.
Police didn’t publicly mention Emily yet.
They didn’t mention Lily.
They didn’t mention the flash drive.
But Richard knew.
That was what mattered.
We stayed inside the safe apartment.
Lily thought we were having a sleepover.
My mother tried to make it feel normal.
Pancakes.
Cartoons.
Crayons on the small dining table.
I couldn’t pretend.
Every sound outside made me look toward the door.
Detective Reed returned at nine.
“They found the truck.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned near Murfreesboro.”
“People inside?”
“No.”
“Fingerprints?”
“Being processed.”
“Richard?”
“Nothing yet.”
I hated that answer.
“What about Vanessa?”
“She’s cooperating.”
I laughed bitterly.
“She cooperated after two years of lying.”
“She wants a deal.”
“Of course she does.”
Reed sat opposite me.
“She gave us a storage unit.”
“What’s inside?”
“We’re checking now.”
“Whose?”
“Richard’s, but rented under another name.”
My phone buzzed.
Only three people had the number.
Mom.
Reed.
Agent Parker.
I looked at the screen.
Unknown caller.
Reed saw it.
“Don’t answer.”
It rang again.
Then a message appeared.
I KNOW WHAT EMILY TOLD YOU.
Another message.
GIVE ME THE DRIVE AND YOUR DAUGHTER LIVES.
My stomach turned.
Reed took the phone.
“Can you trace it?”
“We’ll try.”
A third message appeared.
YOU HAVE SIX HOURS.
Then a photograph arrived.
My house.
Taken from across the street.
The timestamp was from that morning.
Someone was watching our empty home.
Reed called his team.
Within minutes, officers surrounded the property.
Nothing.
No shooter.
No Richard.
No clue.
The threats continued from new numbers.
DO NOT TRUST POLICE.
EMILY MADE THAT MISTAKE.
At noon, Reed got another call.
He listened for thirty seconds.
Then looked at me.
“We found something in the storage unit.”
“What?”
“Your wife’s phone.”
“Emily’s?”
“Yes.”
The phone Richard had taken after the crash.
They brought it to the state lab.
Most data had been deleted.
But a technician recovered part of a voice recording.
I listened through headphones.
Wind.
Emily breathing.
Her frightened voice.
“Stop following me.”
Then Vanessa.
“Just give him the drive.”
Emily said, “You think he’s going to protect you?”
Then a man’s voice.
Richard.
“Get back in the car, Emily.”
A pause.
Emily said, “Daniel knows.”
My eyes widened.
I never knew.
Why would she say that?
Then Richard laughed.
“No, he doesn’t.”
The recording stopped.
“What did she mean?” Reed asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Did she ever give you documents?”
“No.”
“Tell you about Sterling?”
“No.”
“Ask you to keep anything?”
I started to say no.
Then I remembered something.
One week before Emily died, she had handed me a sealed envelope.
I had been fixing the kitchen sink.
She told me to put it somewhere safe.
I jokingly asked whether she was planning to rob a bank.
She said, “Just don’t lose it.”
I put it in my home office.
Then I forgot.
After her death, my mother helped me box Emily’s belongings.
I hadn’t seen the envelope since.
“There was something.”
Reed leaned forward.
“What?”
“An envelope.”
“What was inside?”
“I never opened it.”
“Where is it?”
“My office. Maybe.”
Reed stood immediately.
“We go with a team.”
My mother objected.
“Daniel shouldn’t leave.”
“I have to.”
“You have a daughter.”
“That’s why I have to.”
I kissed sleeping Lily.
Then went with Reed.
Six officers entered my house first.
Every room was cleared.
Nothing.
I walked into my office.
The room looked untouched.
Desk.
Bookshelves.
Old family photographs.
Boxes I had never unpacked after Emily died.
“Where?”
“Top drawer.”
Empty.
I checked the others.
Nothing.
Then I noticed one drawer didn’t close properly.
I pulled it out.
Behind it was a torn piece of yellow paper.
Emily’s handwriting.
D—
If anything happens, check Dad’s watch.
E.
I stared at it.
“Dad’s watch?”
Reed asked.
“My father died five years ago.”
“Did Emily have his watch?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
My pulse jumped.
I knew exactly where.
A wooden box in my bedroom closet.
We rushed upstairs.
The box was there.
Inside was my father’s old silver wristwatch.
I lifted it.
Something rattled.
Reed put on gloves.
He examined the back.
The metal plate had been loosened.
Inside was a tiny folded piece of paper.
Not a drive.
A list of numbers.
Bank accounts.
Dates.
And a name.
CHARLES WHITMORE.
The senator.
Below it, Emily had written:
If Sterling goes down, Whitmore will make sure he doesn’t go alone.
Reed photographed everything.
Then he looked at me.
“Emily was building an insurance policy.”
A floorboard creaked downstairs.
Reed froze.
He drew his weapon.
“Stay here.”
Another sound.
Then shouting.
“Police!”
A crash.
I ignored Reed and ran toward the hall.
Two officers were wrestling a man onto the floor.
He wore a maintenance uniform.
A pistol lay nearby.
“Who is he?”
Nobody answered.
The man looked directly at me.
Then smiled.
“Richard says hello.”
One officer pushed his face down.
My blood ran cold.
“You went near my daughter?”
The man laughed.
“Your daughter isn’t the problem.”
“What does that mean?”
He looked at me.
“Your dead wife should’ve minded her business.”
I lunged toward him.
Reed caught me.
“Daniel!”
“I’ll kill you!”
“That’s what he wants.”
The man kept smiling.
Officers dragged him outside.
Reed turned to me.
“Control yourself.”
“He threatened Lily.”
“And if you attack him, you become part of the story instead of the witness.”
I knew he was right.
I hated him for being right.
We returned to the safe apartment.
Lily ran to me.
“Daddy, Grandma burned lunch.”
My mother glared.
“I did not burn it.”
Lily giggled.
For ten seconds, life felt normal.
Then I saw something through the window.
A blue sedan.
Parked across the street.
A man behind the wheel.
He was looking toward our building.
“Reed.”
Reed turned.
The car accelerated.
An agent ran outside.
Too late.
Reed grabbed his radio.
The sedan disappeared around the corner.
“How did they find us?” I asked.
Nobody answered.
That was the worst part.
The safe apartment was supposed to be secret.
Only law enforcement knew.
Then Emily’s recovered recording echoed in my head.
Daniel knows.
And Richard’s laugh.
No, he doesn’t.
Emily had warned me not to trust anyone.
I looked at Reed.
“Who knew this address?”
He understood immediately.
“Six people.”
“Names.”
“Daniel—”
“Names.”
He stared at me.
“Myself. Parker. My captain. Two federal agents. And the deputy director.”
“So one of them could be working for Richard.”
“Possible.”
My mother whispered, “Oh my God.”
Reed’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
His face changed.
“What?”
He turned the screen toward me.
Security footage from the garage beneath the building.
A black SUV had entered fifteen minutes earlier.
No visible plate.
Reed grabbed his gun.
“Everybody move.”
The lights went out.
May you like
Lily screamed.
Then someone began pounding on the apartment door.
