Chapter 3 - seventeen)
Police arrived at 3:14 p.m.
The wedding never happened.
Vanessa changed out of her gown before detectives finished interviewing the first witnesses.
She sat in the bridal suite wearing a white hotel robe while Michael, her fiancé, remained beside her.
Claire sat across from them with Sophie asleep against her shoulder.
Detective Laura Hayes stood near the window.
Thomas Reed had provided copies of the security footage.
Preston had been taken to a separate room.
Margaret had hired three attorneys within forty minutes.
Claire expected the Blackwoods to bury the incident before sunset.
Detective Hayes did not appear impressed by money.
“What does seventeen mean to you?”
Claire shook her head.
“Nothing.”
“Your husband ever mention it?”
“No.”
“Did he discuss his work at Blackwood Capital?”
“Rarely.”
“Why?”
Claire looked down at Sophie.
“Daniel believed his job was boring.”
Hayes waited.
Claire corrected herself.
“He wanted me to believe it was boring.”
“What did he actually do?”
“Forensic accounting. Internal investigations. Fraud analysis.”
“For Blackwood Capital?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Seven years.”
“And he died four years ago.”
Claire’s fingers tightened around Sophie.
“Yes.”
Hayes lowered her voice.
“Was his death investigated?”
“It was ruled an accident.”
“Were you satisfied with that?”
Claire looked toward the window.
Rain.
Guardrail.
Police lights.
Daniel’s body beneath a white sheet.
“No.”
Hayes remained quiet.
Claire continued.
“The brakes failed. At least that’s what they said.”
“Mechanical failure?”
“Yes.”
“Any reason to think otherwise?”
“I found a voicemail Daniel left me that night.”
Vanessa lifted her head.
Claire had never told her.
Hayes leaned forward.
“What voicemail?”
“He sounded scared.”
“What did he say?”
Claire remembered every word.
Daniel’s voice had haunted her for four years.
Claire, if I’m late, don’t wait up. Kiss Sophie for me. And if anyone from work asks about the blue folder, you have never seen it.
Hayes asked, “Did you ever find a blue folder?”
“No.”
Vanessa whispered, “Oh my God.”
Claire looked at her.
Vanessa’s face had changed.
“What?”
Vanessa hesitated.
Then looked toward Michael.
He nodded slightly.
Vanessa stood and walked to the dressing table.
She opened a drawer and removed an envelope.
“I received this six months ago.”
She handed it to Claire.
Inside was a photocopy of a single sheet of paper.
Rows of numbers.
Corporate names.
Bank references.
And handwritten at the top:
PROJECT 17
Claire stopped breathing.
“Who sent this?”
“No return address.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know what it meant.”
Claire looked at her.
“You knew Daniel worked for your family.”
“Yes.”
“And you still didn’t tell me?”
Vanessa’s voice cracked.
“I thought it might be about my father.”
Claire stared at her.
Arthur Blackwood had died two years earlier.
Official cause: heart attack.
Vanessa sat again.
“The week before Dad died, he called me at two in the morning. He was drunk. He said he had failed Daniel.”
Claire felt Sophie move against her shoulder.
Hayes asked, “What exactly did he say?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“He said, ‘We should have listened to Carter before they buried everything.’”
The room went silent.
Claire looked at the sheet again.
Project 17.
Seventeen.
The number Sophie had seen inside the box.
Hayes took the document.
“Did Preston know you had this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Your mother?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“I asked her about Project 17.”
Claire looked up sharply.
“When?”
“Five months ago.”
“What did she say?”
“She burned the paper.”
Hayes frowned.
“You still have it.”
“This is another copy.”
Vanessa looked embarrassed.
“I lied to her. I told her it was the only one.”
Michael spoke for the first time.
“Vanessa became frightened after that.”
“Why?” Hayes asked.
“Because people started following her.”
Vanessa looked toward Claire.
“A dark SUV. Different license plates. Same dent above the rear wheel.”
Claire felt the room closing around her.
Hayes asked, “When was the last time you saw it?”
Vanessa looked toward the window.
“This morning.”
Claire stood too quickly.
Sophie woke.
“Mom?”
Claire hugged her.
“It’s okay.”
But it was not.
Detective Hayes spoke into her radio.
“Get units outside. Check vehicles.”
Moments later an officer answered.
They had found the SUV.
Parked behind the hotel.
Empty.
Inside the vehicle was one item.
A photograph.
Detective Hayes brought it upstairs in an evidence sleeve.
Claire recognized the photograph immediately.
Daniel.
Taken shortly before his death.
He stood outside Blackwood Capital headquarters.
Someone had drawn a red circle around his face.
On the back were four handwritten words.
THE GIRL HAS IT NOW.
May you like
Claire looked down at Sophie.
And for the first time since the wedding accusation, she wished the missing necklace had been the real problem.
