Chapter 4 - Daniel’s desk)
Claire did not take Sophie home.
Detective Hayes insisted they stay somewhere undisclosed until police understood who had been watching Vanessa.
Michael arranged a private apartment belonging to his law firm.
By midnight, Sophie was asleep in a guest bedroom with Claire sitting beside her.
Claire had told her only what an eight-year-old needed to know.
Preston had lied.
The adults were fixing it.
She was safe.
Claire wished any of those statements were completely true.
At 1:17 a.m., her phone rang.
Vanessa.
“Claire?”
“I’m awake.”
“They arrested Preston.”
“For framing Sophie?”
“For obstruction, evidence tampering, and assaulting security.”
Claire felt no satisfaction.
“Did he tell them what was in the box?”
“No.”
“Margaret?”
“Mother left with her attorneys.”
Claire stared at the dark window.
“What do you want, Vanessa?”
A long pause.
“Daniel kept a desk here.”
Claire sat up.
“What?”
“At Blackwood Capital. Dad never let anyone clear it out.”
“Four years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Claire stood.
“Where?”
“Executive archive floor.”
“Has anyone accessed it?”
“Not officially.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“What does officially mean?”
“The electronic records show it hasn’t been opened since Daniel died.”
“But?”
“The dust around the door was disturbed this morning.”
Claire was already putting on her shoes.
Twenty-five minutes later, Detective Hayes arrived.
She was furious.
“You are not going anywhere without me.”
Claire did not argue.
At 2:08 a.m., they entered Blackwood Capital headquarters through an underground garage.
Vanessa met them with Michael and a building security officer.
The executive archive occupied the thirty-first floor.
Daniel’s old office was at the end of a narrow hallway.
His name was still on the door.
DANIEL CARTER
FORENSIC OPERATIONS
Claire stared.
For four years she had imagined his workplace as something ordinary.
Fluorescent lights.
Spreadsheets.
Coffee.
Instead, the office looked almost untouched.
His leather chair.
Three filing cabinets.
A framed photograph of Claire and Sophie.
Sophie had been three when it was taken.
Claire touched the frame.
Vanessa stayed near the door.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire did not answer.
Detective Hayes examined the room.
“No obvious forced entry.”
Claire opened the desk drawers.
Pens.
Notebooks.
A calculator.
Receipts.
Then she noticed something underneath the center drawer.
A strip of blue tape.
Claire pulled harder.
A hidden panel dropped open.
Inside was a key.
And a note.
If Claire finds this, Arthur failed.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“My father?”
Claire unfolded the paper.
Daniel’s handwriting.
Her knees weakened.
Hayes read over her shoulder.
Locker 17.
Union Station.
Do not open inside the station.
Do not trust anyone named in the ledger.
Especially a Blackwood.
Vanessa went pale.
Claire looked at her.
“I’m sorry,” Vanessa whispered.
Claire folded the note.
“Don’t be sorry yet.”
A noise sounded in the hallway.
Footsteps.
Building security looked toward the door.
“Someone’s coming.”
The overhead lights went out.
Everything turned black.
Vanessa gasped.
Hayes drew her weapon.
“Stay down.”
A flashlight appeared at the far end of the corridor.
Then another.
The building security officer shouted, “Identify yourself.”
No answer.
A metallic object rolled across the floor.
Hayes yelled, “Move!”
Smoke exploded through the hallway.
Claire covered her mouth.
Someone grabbed her arm.
She swung blindly.
The grip tightened.
Then a familiar voice whispered in her ear.
“Daniel should have burned the key.”
Claire froze.
The person released her.
Claire lunged toward the voice.
Her hand caught fabric.
Then nothing.
Emergency lights flickered on.
The corridor was empty.
Hayes coughed through the smoke.
Vanessa leaned against the wall.
Building security checked both exits.
Locked.
Claire looked at her hand.
Something was inside her fist.
A button.
Black.
Engraved with a tiny silver symbol.
A crown split down the middle.
Vanessa stared at it.
Claire asked, “What is this?”
Vanessa’s voice trembled.
“My grandfather used that symbol.”
“On what?”
“Private Blackwood documents.”
Claire looked toward Daniel’s desk.
“What kind of documents?”
May you like
Vanessa swallowed.
“The ones that were never supposed to exist.”
