Chapter 6 - The Second Attack)
For eighteen months, Erin had believed the incident in her parking garage was random.
A stolen purse.
A frightened moment.
A stranger disappearing between concrete pillars.
Now Detective Alvarez placed photographs from that night beside Diane's message.
Then make sure she never remembers the rest.
Claire stared at the date.
The message had been sent four days before the garage attack.
"What happened?" she asked.
Erin's mouth tightened.
"A man came up behind me while I was transferring into my car."
Claire remembered.
Erin had called afterward.
Shaken but dismissive.
Someone grabbed her bag.
Security cameras malfunctioned.
Police called it attempted robbery.
Claire had believed her.
"What did he take?"
"Nothing."
"Then why did you say he stole your purse?"
"I didn't want Mom worrying."
Claire pushed back from the table.
"Erin."
"I thought it was random."
"He attacked you and took nothing?"
"He ran when another car entered."
Alvarez opened another recovered file from Daniel's phone.
A photograph.
A man wearing a baseball cap stood outside Erin's apartment building.
Marcus recognized him.
"Calvin Price."
"Who?" Claire asked.
"Private security contractor. He worked for Bennett Holdings."
Alvarez nodded.
"He died eight months ago. Motorcycle accident."
Claire stared.
Another dead man.
Another convenient silence.
"Did Daniel hire him?"
"We found payments from a consulting budget Daniel controlled."
Erin's eyes closed.
Claire wanted to scream.
Instead she asked, "What exactly was Price paid to do?"
Alvarez's expression remained careful.
"We don't know."
"But Daniel knew my sister remembered something. His mother told him to make sure she never remembered the rest. Four days later, someone on Daniel's payroll attacked her."
"That is the timeline."
Claire stood.
"Where is Daniel?"
"Being interviewed with counsel."
"Arrest him."
"Claire."
"Arrest him."
"We need evidence that connects the payment to the attack."
"How much more do you need?"
"Enough that a prosecutor can prove it beyond reasonable doubt."
Claire hated that answer because she understood it.
Truth and proof were not the same thing.
The door opened.
A uniformed officer spoke quietly to Alvarez.
The detective's expression changed.
"What?"
The officer handed her a note.
Alvarez looked at Claire.
"Diane Bennett has been located."
"Where?"
"At Bennett Holdings."
"She went back to the office?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Apparently she barricaded herself inside Robert's old executive suite."
Marcus stood.
"What's in there?"
Thomas answered from the corner.
"A private document vault."
Everyone looked at him.
"You didn't mention that."
"I thought it was empty."
Alvarez was already moving.
Claire grabbed her coat.
"No."
Alvarez stopped her.
"I'm coming."
"No, you're not."
"She has evidence about my sister."
"Exactly why you aren't coming."
Erin rolled forward.
"We both are."
Alvarez stared at them.
"This isn't a television show. You cannot follow police into a potentially dangerous situation."
Claire almost argued.
Then she saw Erin's face.
This wasn't about curiosity.
It was about control.
For nine years, other people had decided what Erin could know about the night that changed her body forever.
Claire touched her shoulder.
"We'll stay outside."
Erin looked at her.
Then nodded.
Bennett Holdings occupied twelve floors of a glass tower in downtown Richmond.
By the time Claire and Erin arrived, police vehicles surrounded the entrance.
Employees gathered across the street.
News crews were already appearing.
Claire wondered how quickly a wedding-night family scandal became corporate news.
Thomas arrived with Marcus.
Alvarez met them near the lobby.
"Diane is alone. No weapon confirmed."
Claire looked toward the elevators.
"What is she doing?"
"Destroying documents."
"Again?"
"She has a shredder and access to old paper archives."
Thomas cursed under his breath.
Alvarez turned to him.
"We need the vault combination."
"I don't know it."
"Who does?"
"Diane."
"Anyone else?"
Thomas hesitated.
"Daniel."
Claire laughed without humor.
"Of course."
Daniel was brought from the station under escort because his attorney agreed to provide the combination.
He emerged from a vehicle wearing the same black suit trousers from the wedding.
For a second, Claire saw the man who had stood at the altar and promised her loyalty.
Then she saw the stranger beneath him.
Daniel stopped when he saw her.
"Claire."
She said nothing.
He looked at her bruises.
Something like shame crossed his face.
"Are you okay?"
Erin made a disgusted sound.
Daniel flinched.
Claire stepped closer.
"Did you send Calvin Price after Erin?"
His expression froze.
"Who told you that name?"
That was enough.
Claire felt Erin beside her.
Daniel looked toward the police.
Then at Claire.
"I never told him to hurt her."
Erin's voice cut through the lobby.
"What did you tell him to do?"
Daniel looked at her for the first time.
"Scare you."
The world seemed to stop.
Claire saw officers turn.
Marcus did not move.
Alvarez's face became unreadable.
Daniel realized what he had said.
His attorney rushed forward.
"My client is done speaking."
Erin stared at Daniel.
"Twice."
Daniel looked sick.
"You had me attacked twice."
"No."
"Once your mother. Once you."
"I didn't know what Price would do."
"You paid him."
"To scare you away from reopening the case."
Claire slapped Daniel.
The sound cracked through the marble lobby.
His attorney shouted.
An officer stepped between them.
Claire's palm burned.
Daniel touched his cheek.
She looked at him with five years of betrayal condensed into one sentence.
"You married me after you tried to terrorize my sister."
Daniel's face crumpled.
"I loved you."
Claire almost laughed.
"That makes it worse."
A crash sounded above them.
Then an alarm.
Alvarez looked at her radio.
"Fire detection. Twelfth floor."
Thomas went pale.
"The executive suite."
Smoke appeared behind the glass wall of the upper mezzanine.
May you like
Diane wasn't only shredding documents.
She had decided to burn them.
