Chapter 7 - The Woman Beside the Road
The video ended.
Adrian stepped away from the bank doors and disappeared around the corner.
Rowan ordered officers to find him, but Adrian’s car was already gone.
Elena demanded they trace the live video. Rowan’s partner called the cybercrime unit while the bank security director searched nearby traffic cameras.
“No ambulances have responded to anyone matching Maya’s description,” Rowan said.
“That does not mean she is safe.”
“No.”
“You told me not to trust her. Now she told me not to trust you.”
“She may be trying to divide us.”
“Or you both know something you are hiding.”
Rowan did not deny it.
Elena’s phone vibrated.
A location had been sent from Maya’s number.
It marked an abandoned service road near the river.
Rowan called patrol officers to the area.
Elena opened the location history and saw that Maya’s phone had remained there for almost an hour.
“I am going,” she said.
“You are staying here.”
“She came to warn me.”
“She may have led Adrian to your condo.”
“She may also be injured.”
Rowan stepped closer.
“You do not know Maya Mercer.”
“Neither do you.”
“I know she broke into police evidence storage four years ago.”
“Why?”
“She was looking for Daniel Voss’s files.”
“Did she find them?”
“She stole one.”
“What was in it?”
“The original recording she had given me.”
Elena stared at him.
“You said the recording might have been altered.”
“The stolen copy was the evidence we needed to prove whether it was altered.”
“Then someone could have changed the police version after Maya submitted it.”
Rowan’s silence answered her.
Elena took the black notebook from her purse.
“I lied to you.”
Rowan looked down at it.
“This was in the box.”
“Why did you hide it?”
“Because the old phone told me not to let you see it.”
The admission sounded impossible even as she said it.
Rowan accepted the notebook carefully.
He turned several pages.
When he reached the list of properties, his face went pale.
“Daniel Voss mentioned this system.”
“Using women’s properties as collateral?”
“He called it the widow chain.”
“What does that mean?”
“Every woman lost the property after the man controlling it disappeared, divorced her or died. The defaults were arranged. Mercer Capital acquired the assets through shell lenders.”
“Adrian is not dead.”
“No. He is trying to place your condo at the end of the same chain.”
Rowan photographed the pages and returned the notebook.
“Keep the original with you.”
“You trust me with evidence?”
“I trust the chain of custody inside my department less than I did an hour ago.”
His partner interrupted.
“Patrol found the road.”
“And Maya?”
“No person. No blood. Just a broken phone and a red scarf.”
Elena had never seen Maya wear a red scarf.
“Could the video have been staged?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“By Maya?”
“Or Adrian.”
The old phone rang again inside the signal-blocking bag.
Everyone stared at it.
The bag should have prevented any connection.
Rowan opened it.
The black screen displayed a single line of white text.
23:19.
“The condo number,” Elena whispered.
A second line appeared.
Wall behind Lydia’s piano.
Elena had sold Lydia’s piano after her aunt died.
But the wall remained.
Rowan read the message.
“It could be a trap.”
“It could be Claire.”
“It could be Adrian using an old device to direct us.”
“Then he expects us to go.”
“Which is why we do not.”
Elena looked at the black notebook.
Claire had hidden something in the condo. Adrian wanted ownership before she could find it. Lydia had died before revealing the truth. Maya had disappeared after bringing the courthouse photograph.
Waiting would only give the Mercers more time.
“I am going home,” Elena said.
Rowan studied her.
“To the estate?”
“No.”
May you like
She looked at the number glowing on the phone.
“To the only property that is actually mine.”
