Chapter 7 - the cottage that could not be stolen)
The cottage stood beneath live oaks at the end of a sandy road near the marsh.
Police reached it shortly before sunset.
Daniel was not supposed to be there.
He followed anyway.
Alvarez threatened to have him removed.
Daniel told her she could arrest him after they found Claire.
She muttered something under her breath and ordered him to remain behind the first line of officers.
The house looked abandoned.
Gray boards.
Screened porch.
A rusted bicycle leaning beneath one window.
No vehicle.
No visible movement.
Officers approached.
The front door was unlocked.
Daniel waited thirty yards away, every muscle in his body tight.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
Then Alvarez emerged.
Daniel read the answer in her face before she spoke.
“She's not inside.”
He closed his eyes.
“But someone has been.”
Daniel opened them.
“How recently?”
“Food in the refrigerator. Bedding. Medicine.”
“Claire?”
“We don't know yet.”
Alvarez led him to the porch after the crime scene team secured the interior.
The cottage smelled like dust, salt and old wood.
Daniel stepped into the living room.
A blanket lay folded on the couch.
A ceramic mug sat beside the sink.
On the wall hung a framed photograph of Claire and Michael as children.
Daniel's eyes filled.
Someone had cleaned that photograph recently.
He entered the small bedroom.
A woman's clothing hung in the closet.
Simple clothes.
Mostly thrift-store brands.
On the nightstand sat an orange hand cream.
Claire's favorite scent.
Daniel picked it up before Alvarez could stop him.
His hands trembled.
“She was here.”
“We need DNA confirmation.”
“She was here.”
Alvarez did not argue.
Inside a drawer, police found notebooks.
Claire's handwriting filled every page.
Daniel was not allowed to read them immediately.
By midnight, Alvarez called him from the station.
“You should come in.”
Daniel left Lily asleep at Michael's house and drove straight there.
Alvarez handed him photocopies of selected pages.
“We're still processing the originals.”
Daniel read.
October 14.
I reached the cottage.
I thought Michael had followed me.
He hadn't.
I was wrong about him.
Daniel stopped.
Another entry.
October 19.
I watched Daniel's house from across the park today.
Lily was wearing yellow boots.
She has grown so much.
Victoria was with her.
I almost crossed the street.
I couldn't.
Daniel's chest tightened.
Claire had been within sight of them.
Alive.
Watching.
He continued.
November 2.
Victoria knows I escaped.
I received a message telling me that if I approach Daniel or Lily, they will release the records saying I attacked Lily.
The records are false.
But if Daniel believes them, I could lose her forever.
November 8.
I called Lily.
She knew my voice.
Victoria entered before I could tell her where I was.
She took the phone.
That explained the pink phone.
Daniel's eyes burned.
December 21.
I need proof before I go to Daniel.
Not because I think he helped them anymore.
Because I am afraid he will confront Victoria before we understand who is behind Martin.
Daniel looked at Alvarez.
“Who was behind Martin?”
“Keep reading.”
January 5.
Martin is afraid of someone.
Victoria is afraid of Martin.
That means the chain goes higher.
January 27.
Rivergate wasn't only bribery.
The land hid something.
Daniel frowned.
He continued.
February 3.
I went back to Rivergate.
Someone followed me.
If anything happens, the answer is under Lot 17.
Daniel looked up.
“Lot 17?”
Alvarez nodded.
“Your former development parcel.”
“The project was canceled.”
“Who owns it now?”
Daniel thought.
“Harrison Coastal Group.”
Alvarez searched.
The company's registration led through several corporate layers.
Eventually one name appeared.
Edward Kline.
Daniel recognized it from Claire's wall.
“Dr. Kline.”
Alvarez nodded.
“He was one of the physicians who signed Claire's incompetency records.”
Daniel felt a chill.
“So he owned Rivergate?”
“Through a corporation.”
“Why?”
“We're finding out.”
Daniel returned to the notebooks.
The final entry was dated five weeks earlier.
Not fourteen months.
Five weeks.
Claire had been alive recently.
Daniel's hands began shaking harder.
August 1.
I saw Victoria again.
She followed me from St. Marys.
I don't think she knows where the cottage is yet.
Martin called.
He says Kline is clearing everything before the Rivergate sale closes.
If the excavation begins, the evidence under Lot 17 disappears.
I have one chance.
Daniel turned the page.
Blank.
“That is the last entry?”
“Yes.”
“Five weeks ago.”
“Yes.”
“Where is Claire now?”
“We don't know.”
Daniel stood.
“You have to search Rivergate.”
“We are applying for warrants.”
“Tonight.”
“Daniel.”
“Claire went there.”
“We don't know that.”
“She wrote she had one chance.”
Alvarez held his gaze.
“We're moving as fast as the law allows.”
Daniel walked toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“To my daughter.”
It was partly true.
But when Daniel reached his car, he opened an old project map on his phone.
Rivergate.
Lot 17 sat at the northern edge near an abandoned pumping station.
Daniel had walked that land dozens of times.
He knew every access road.
Every drainage route.
Every unfinished service path.
He also knew something Alvarez did not.
The old pumping station had a maintenance tunnel beneath the property.
A tunnel that would lead almost directly beneath Lot 17.
Daniel started the engine.
His phone rang.
Michael.
Daniel answered.
“What?”
“Lily woke up.”
“Is she okay?”
“She says she remembered what Mom told her.”
Daniel gripped the steering wheel.
“What?”
Michael paused.
“She said Claire told her that if Daddy finds the papers, he has to look under the water.”
Daniel looked at the Rivergate map.
A blue line crossed Lot 17.
An old stormwater channel.
Under the water.
He whispered, “Claire knew.”
Then another thought hit him.
“How did Lily know about the papers before I opened the cabinet?”
Silence.
Michael answered slowly.
“She says Mommy told her they would be there.”
Daniel went cold.
That meant Claire had known about the cabinet.
Claire had known Victoria kept the documents.
Claire may even have put them there.
The cabinet had not merely exposed the conspiracy.
It had been a message.
May you like
A trap.
And Daniel had just stepped into the next part of it.
