Chapter 4 - The Window Across the Street)
Lauren answered on the first ring.
"Evan?"
"Take Sophie and go into the bathroom."
"What?"
"Now."
His voice was loud enough that Claire tried to sit up.
"What's happening?"
Evan turned away.
"Lauren, lock the bathroom door and get away from the windows."
"You are scaring me."
"Do it."
He heard movement.
Then Sophie crying.
"Okay. I'm in."
"Is the bathroom window locked?"
"Yes."
"Stay there."
Detective Vance was already speaking to officers.
"Send units to 118 Willow Creek Drive. Possible surveillance and threat against a child."
Claire stared at Evan.
"What happened?"
He showed her the photograph.
Claire covered her mouth.
"No."
"They're trying to scare us."
"They know where Sophie is."
"I know."
"We have to get her."
"Police are going."
"I don't care."
Claire pulled at the hospital monitor leads.
Vance stopped her.
"You are not leaving."
"My baby is there."
"And someone shot through a hospital window trying to kill you."
Claire looked ready to fight her.
Vance lowered her voice.
"Your daughter needs you alive."
Claire's anger broke into tears.
Evan held her hand.
"I'll go."
"No."
"I'll bring her here."
"Not here," Vance said.
Evan looked at her.
"This location is compromised."
"Then where?"
"We have a secure residence."
Claire shook her head.
"I don't trust police safe houses."
Vance studied her.
"Why?"
"Julian Cross has law enforcement contacts."
"Not on my team."
"You don't know that."
Vance's face tightened.
"No. I suppose I don't."
Twenty minutes later, officers surrounded Lauren's house.
No intruder was found.
But across the street, inside a vacant home listed for sale, police discovered a folding chair positioned near an upstairs window.
Beside it was a coffee cup.
Still warm.
A camera with a long lens sat on the floor.
The memory card had been removed.
Whoever took Sophie's photograph had left only minutes before police arrived.
Evan drove with two officers to retrieve his daughter.
When Lauren opened the bathroom door, Sophie reached for him.
"Daddy."
Evan lifted her and held her so tightly she protested.
"It's okay."
Lauren looked terrified.
"What is happening?"
"I don't know how much I can tell you."
"Someone was watching my house."
"I know."
"Why?"
Evan looked at Sophie.
"Because of Claire."
Lauren went pale.
"Is she involved in something?"
"She found something."
"What?"
"I can't explain right now."
Lauren looked around her own home as if the walls had changed.
"Am I in danger?"
The question hurt.
"I don't know."
Detective Vance arranged for Lauren to stay with a friend outside the city.
Evan took Sophie to a temporary apartment used by federal witnesses.
Vance had quietly contacted an FBI financial crimes agent she trusted.
His name was Daniel Ruiz.
Ruiz arrived shortly after midnight.
He carried three phones and looked like a man who had not slept properly in years.
"Claire Carter?"
She nodded.
"I read one of your fraud reports when I was still in training."
"Which one?"
"Granite Bay pension case."
Claire managed a tired smile.
"That was a long time ago."
"You put three executives in prison."
"Four."
Ruiz smiled.
"I forgot the accountant."
"So did everyone."
The warmth disappeared quickly.
Ruiz placed a folder on the table.
"Julian Cross is dangerous."
"We've established that," Evan said.
Ruiz looked at him.
"No. You haven't."
He opened the folder.
Inside were photographs of men in suits.
A judge.
A lobbyist.
A construction executive.
A former police commissioner.
A banker.
Ruiz pointed to the last photograph.
Robert Whitmore.
Evan's CEO.
"Your boss has met Julian Cross at least seventeen times in the last three years."
Evan stared.
"Why wasn't I aware of this?"
"Because you weren't supposed to be."
Ruiz turned to Claire.
"You said the ledger contained audio."
"Yes."
"Copies?"
Claire hesitated.
"No."
Evan looked at her.
"Are you sure?"
She did not answer.
Ruiz noticed.
"You made a backup."
Claire remained silent.
"Where?"
"I need Sophie protected first."
"We are protecting her."
"Not enough."
Ruiz leaned back.
"Mrs. Carter, someone entered your home, drugged you, stole your identity, emptied a bank box, attempted to shoot you in a hospital, and photographed your child through a window. If you have another copy, holding it back isn't leverage anymore. It's gasoline."
Claire looked at Evan.
He suddenly knew.
"There is another copy."
"Yes."
"Where?"
Claire lowered her eyes.
"Inside the house."
Evan almost laughed.
"The house is a crime scene."
"Which is why they may not have found it."
"Where did you hide it?"
Claire glanced toward Sophie.
"In the only place nobody searching for financial evidence would think to look."
Evan followed her eyes.
Sophie was sitting on the floor beside Milo.
The dog had been allowed into the apartment after officers checked him.
Milo wore a red leather collar.
Evan stared.
"No."
Claire nodded.
"Milo's collar."
Ruiz stood.
"Where is the drive?"
"The nameplate has a hidden compartment."
Evan reached for the dog.
Milo wagged his tail.
Evan removed the collar.
On the inside of the brass nameplate was a tiny recessed slot.
He pressed it.
A section opened.
Empty.
Everyone stared.
Claire's face turned white.
"It was there."
"When did you put it there?" Ruiz asked.
"Yesterday."
"Who knew?"
"No one."
Evan examined the collar.
A scratch ran along the metal.
Fresh.
Someone had opened it.
Ruiz looked around the apartment.
"Who handled this dog after police arrived?"
Evan thought.
Paramedics.
Officers.
Animal control briefly.
Hospital security.
Lauren.
Detective Vance.
His stomach tightened.
"Too many people."
Claire leaned forward.
"Wait."
She picked up the collar.
Turned it over.
Then smiled faintly.
"What?"
Evan asked.
Claire pressed the nameplate again.
A second panel opened beneath the first.
Inside was a black micro drive no larger than a fingernail.
Ruiz stared.
"You built two compartments?"
"I ordered the collar from a custom security company."
Evan let out a breath.
"You put a fake compartment above the real one."
Claire nodded.
"Whoever searched it thinks they have the backup."
Ruiz took the drive carefully.
"Then for the first time today, we may be ahead of them."
Claire looked at him.
"Not for long."
Her phone, which police had returned after processing, suddenly lit up.
No incoming call.
No message.
The screen activated by itself.
Then a video began playing.
Live video.
Their living room.
Back at the Carter house.
A figure wearing black gloves stood beside the turquoise dog bowl.
The figure picked it up.
Turned toward the hidden camera.
And spoke.
"You took something that belongs to us."
The voice was electronically distorted.
The figure slowly placed the bowl back on the rug.
Then added one final sentence.
"We took something that belongs to you."
The video ended.
Claire looked around.
"Sophie."
Evan turned.
Sophie was beside Milo.
Safe.
Ruiz's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
"What do you mean she's missing?"
Evan stared at him.
Ruiz lowered the phone.
"Detective Vance never arrived at the secure command post."
Claire whispered, "Mara."
May you like
Ruiz nodded.
"Her car was found abandoned."
