Chapter 4 - The Third Bennett)
The Bennett family had always spoken as though there were only two people who mattered.
Diane.
Daniel.
Robert was dead.
The rest were employees, cousins, lawyers, distant relatives.
But Bennett Holdings had one more Bennett.
Daniel's uncle.
Thomas Bennett.
Claire had met him only twice.
He was Robert's younger brother, sixty-three years old, quiet, and almost invisible at family gatherings.
At the wedding, he had left before dinner.
Daniel once described him as "the family coward."
Now Thomas's name appeared on every emergency-access document Marcus could find.
"If someone is purging the Northstar archive," Marcus said, "Thomas may have the authority."
Detective Alvarez requested a preservation order immediately.
Bennett Holdings received notice that deleting records related to Northstar, Bellwood development, Erin Carter, Raymond Vale, Lewis Hart, or the July 14 incident could constitute obstruction.
For twenty minutes, Claire believed that might stop whoever was doing it.
Then Alvarez received the call.
Some files were already gone.
Not archived.
Not moved.
Destroyed.
Claire watched the detective's expression change.
"How many?"
Alvarez listened.
"Can they recover them?"
Another pause.
"Do it."
She hung up.
"Digital forensics believes most deleted material can be reconstructed from backups."
"Most?" Erin asked.
"Possibly all."
Claire looked at Marcus.
"Where is Thomas?"
"No one knows."
A strange memory returned.
At the rehearsal dinner, Claire had seen Thomas standing alone on a terrace.
She went outside because he seemed uncomfortable.
He had looked at her for a long time.
Then he said something Claire had found odd.
You still have time.
She assumed he meant before the ceremony.
A joke about marriage.
Now she wasn't sure.
"I need to find Thomas."
Alvarez shook her head.
"No. We need to find him."
"Detective, he tried to warn me."
"When?"
"Last night."
"Exactly what did he say?"
"You still have time."
Marcus looked interested.
"Anything else?"
"He asked whether Erin was staying at the hotel."
Erin frowned.
"He asked about me?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I thought he was making conversation."
Alvarez wrote something down.
"We'll locate him."
Claire sat again.
Her phone had accumulated fifty-seven messages.
Friends asking whether she was okay.
Relatives wondering why Daniel disappeared.
Wedding guests discussing rumors.
Her mother called six times.
Claire finally answered.
"Mom."
"Where are you?"
Her mother's fear tore through her remaining composure.
"I'm with Erin."
"Is she okay?"
"Yes."
"Are you okay?"
Claire glanced at the bruises on her shoulders.
"I will be."
"What happened?"
Claire closed her eyes.
She could not explain nine years in two minutes.
"Something happened with Daniel and Diane."
Her mother's breathing changed.
"What kind of something?"
"We found something connected to Erin's case."
Silence.
Then her mother whispered, "No."
"We don't know everything yet."
"Claire, come home."
"I will."
"Now."
"I need to help Erin."
"You need to stay away from those people."
Claire looked through the conference-room glass.
Daniel's family had been part of her life for five years.
Birthdays.
Christmas dinners.
Vacations.
Business events.
Had Diane watched Erin roll into restaurants and known exactly what she had done?
The thought made Claire's skin crawl.
"I won't be alone," Claire said.
Her mother cried quietly.
Claire promised to call soon.
When she hung up, Erin was watching her.
"Go home if you want."
"I'm not leaving you."
"You don't have to prove anything."
"I'm not."
"What are you doing?"
Claire looked at the photograph on the table.
"Finding out whether my husband dated me because he loved me or because his family wanted to know what we knew."
Erin's expression shifted.
Neither had said that possibility aloud.
Now it existed between them.
Marcus cleared his throat.
"There is something we should consider."
Claire's chest tightened.
"Daniel may not have approached you accidentally."
It hurt more because someone else said it.
"Find out."
Marcus nodded.
He opened his laptop.
Within an hour they reconstructed Claire and Daniel's first meeting.
The charity event had been hosted by the Mason Pediatric Foundation.
Claire worked for a marketing firm representing one of the sponsors.
Daniel was not on the original guest list.
His name had been added two days before the event.
By Diane Bennett's assistant.
Claire stared at the record.
"Why?"
Marcus searched.
A second document appeared.
The event's sponsor roster had been circulated publicly.
Claire's name appeared beside her firm.
Nothing unusual.
Then Marcus found a database search conducted from a Bennett Holdings computer three days before Daniel attended.
The query was still present in an old security log.
CLAIRE CARTER.
ERIN CARTER.
BELLWOOD.
Claire stopped breathing.
Erin reached across the table and took her hand.
Claire pulled away.
Not from Erin.
From everything.
She stood and walked to the window.
Outside, ordinary people crossed the parking lot.
A woman carried groceries.
A man drank coffee in his truck.
The world had the audacity to continue.
Five years.
Every memory became contaminated.
Daniel showing up with soup when Claire had the flu.
Daniel helping her mother repair a porch railing.
Daniel proposing beside a lake.
Daniel sitting beside Erin at Thanksgiving and asking about accessibility modifications.
Had every question been information gathering?
Alvarez returned.
"We found Thomas Bennett."
Claire turned.
"Where?"
"At a storage facility outside Richmond."
"Why?"
"We don't know."
"Is he deleting files?"
"No."
Alvarez looked at Erin.
"He called us."
Marcus leaned forward.
"What did he say?"
"That he has something belonging to Robert Bennett."
Claire's heart began pounding.
"What?"
"A safe-deposit box Robert gave him six weeks before he died."
Erin stared.
Alvarez continued.
"Thomas says he was told never to open it unless Diane tried to destroy the Northstar files."
Claire felt a chill.
"Did he open it?"
"Yes."
"What was inside?"
May you like
Alvarez looked from one sister to the other.
"A handwritten confession."
