Chapter 10 - the voice behind the steel door)
Maya spent the night at the hospital.
Doctors said she was dehydrated, bruised, and had a badly sprained ankle, but she would recover.
Catherine never left her side.
Jack sat in the hallway outside her room until nearly midnight.
Laura tried to convince him to go home.
He refused.
Tyler understood.
Home did not feel like home anymore.
Rick was in custody.
Gary was missing.
Police had recovered one vehicle abandoned near a service road.
The black metal box remained gone.
At 1:20 in the morning, Detective Ruiz approached Tyler.
"We need to talk."
Tyler followed her into a quiet family consultation room.
Laura came too.
Ruiz closed the door.
"Gary Mallory's vehicle was found near the old Bennett property."
Laura frowned.
"What Bennett property?"
"Daniel's father owned land outside Mill Creek."
Laura stared.
"That was sold years ago."
"According to county records, yes."
Ruiz placed a folder on the table.
"But the deed transfer was unusual."
Tyler looked at his mother.
"What does that mean?"
Ruiz opened the folder.
"Three weeks before Daniel Bennett died, he filed a complaint against a local contractor."
Laura's expression shifted.
"What contractor?"
"Rick Mallory."
Silence.
Tyler felt something inside him drop.
Laura shook her head.
"No."
"Did Daniel ever mention Rick to you?"
"No."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
Ruiz watched her.
"Daniel worked as an insurance investigator."
"I know."
"He was investigating fraudulent claims involving Mallory Landscaping and Development."
Laura slowly sat down.
Tyler remembered Rick saying his business had existed for twenty years.
Daniel had died eight years ago.
Their lives had crossed long before Rick claimed.
Ruiz continued.
"Daniel collected evidence suggesting Rick and Gary were using damaged properties to submit inflated insurance claims. Daniel also believed county employees were helping them alter records."
"Gary," Tyler said.
"Possibly."
Laura stared at the table.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"The complaint was never completed. Daniel died before submitting his full report."
Tyler asked the question none of them wanted.
"Was his accident really an accident?"
Ruiz did not answer immediately.
"The case is being reopened."
Laura stood.
"No."
"Mrs. Bennett..."
"No. You don't say something like that and then hide behind an investigation."
Ruiz remained calm.
"We have reason to believe Daniel met with Rick Mallory on the night he died."
Laura's face crumpled.
Tyler caught her arm.
"Mom."
She pulled away, not angrily, just overwhelmed.
"Rick told me he met me at a fundraiser five years ago."
Ruiz nodded.
"That may still be true from your perspective."
"He knew who I was."
"Yes."
Laura covered her face.
"He knew who my children were."
"Yes."
"He married me."
No one answered.
The horror was not only that Rick might have known Daniel.
It was that he had deliberately entered their lives afterward.
Tyler felt sick.
"Why?"
Ruiz looked at him.
"We think he was searching for something Daniel left behind."
"The black box?"
"Maybe."
Jack's voice came from the doorway.
Everyone turned.
They had not heard him approach.
He looked exhausted.
"Is Dad's watch evidence?"
Laura closed her eyes.
Ruiz crouched.
"Jack, we're going to need you to tell us exactly what you saw."
Jack nodded.
"The watch was in the black box."
"Anything else?"
"Money. Papers. A gun."
Laura flinched.
Jack continued.
"And a photograph."
"What photograph?" Tyler asked.
Jack looked at him.
"I didn't tell you."
"Of what?"
"Dad."
Laura stopped breathing.
"Daniel?"
Jack nodded.
"He was standing beside Rick."
"Where?"
"I don't know. In front of a building."
Ruiz wrote quickly.
"Could you tell when it was taken?"
"No."
"Anyone else in it?"
Jack thought.
"A man with a red hat."
Tyler frowned.
Maya's room door opened down the hall.
Catherine stepped out.
"She's asking for Jack."
Jack looked toward Laura.
She nodded.
He returned to Maya.
Tyler remained with Ruiz.
"Gary took the box."
"That's our assumption."
"Then he's destroying everything."
"Possibly."
"Can you find him?"
"We're trying."
Tyler stood.
"I want to help."
"No."
"He might contact me."
"Then you tell us."
"He knows I have Maya's video."
Ruiz looked at him.
"Tyler, do not become bait."
"He already threatened me."
"Which is exactly why."
Laura finally spoke.
"What happens to Rick?"
"He will face charges connected to Maya's abduction and unlawful confinement. Additional charges depend on the older investigation."
"Can he get out?"
"We're asking that bail be denied."
Tyler looked through the small window toward Jack and Maya.
Maya was talking.
Jack was listening.
For the first time all week, his brother did not look afraid.
Then Tyler's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Black metal box.
Open.
Daniel's watch clearly visible.
A message followed.
YOU WANT THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FATHER?
Tyler's pulse jumped.
Another message.
COME GET IT.
A location pin appeared.
Mill Creek Road.
The abandoned Bennett property.
Tyler looked at Ruiz.
"What?"
He turned the phone toward her.
Ruiz's expression changed instantly.
May you like
Then one final message arrived.
COME ALONE OR THE BOX BURNS.
