Chapter 4 - the man who knew the security code)
Claire had been standing in the laundry room when she heard the front door open.
At first she assumed Ryan had forgotten something.
Then she remembered Ryan had left forty minutes earlier.
Ethan was at school.
Lily was upstairs taking a bath.
Claire walked quietly toward the foyer.
A man was standing inside.
He wore a dark jacket and a baseball cap pulled low over his face.
Claire could not see him clearly.
"What are you doing?"
The man immediately turned.
Then ran.
By the time Claire reached the front door, he had already disappeared behind the hedges.
She called Ryan's office.
His assistant confirmed Ryan was in a meeting.
Claire checked the security system.
There had been no forced entry.
Someone had used the keypad.
The correct six-digit security code.
Ryan listened without interrupting.
When Claire finished, he asked one question.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Sarah's voicemail said somebody close to you had access to the house."
"So you decided it might be me?"
Claire looked ashamed.
"For about an hour."
Ryan gave a humorless laugh.
"You thought I was involved in killing Sarah?"
"I didn't know what to think."
"And then?"
"I realized if you were involved, Sarah would never have told Lily you were her father."
Ryan looked toward the ceiling.
Ethan and Lily were asleep upstairs.
"Who knows our code?"
"You."
"You."
"Your father knew the old one."
"He's dead."
"Gavin knows it."
Ryan looked at her.
Claire continued.
"Your sister might know it. Your assistant probably does."
"Natalie doesn't."
"Are you sure?"
Ryan did not answer.
His assistant Natalie frequently arranged contractors and deliveries.
It was possible.
"Who else?"
Claire shook her head.
"I don't know."
Ryan took out his phone.
He opened the home security application.
No entry from three days earlier.
Nothing.
"There's no record of the code being used."
Claire nodded.
"I checked."
"Then how did he get inside?"
"Someone deleted the entry."
Ryan looked at her.
"Can that be done?"
"From the administrator account."
Ryan's phone felt suddenly heavy.
Only two people had administrator access.
Ryan.
And Gavin Price.
Gavin had helped Ryan install the system after a burglary in the neighborhood.
Ryan stared at Claire.
"No."
"I'm not accusing him."
"You were thinking it."
"I was thinking everyone."
Ryan shook his head.
"Gavin has known me since college."
"So?"
"He was best man at our wedding."
"So?"
"He held Ethan when he was twenty minutes old."
Claire's expression softened.
"Ryan, whoever this is wants you to think exactly that."
Ryan walked away.
He did not want Gavin's name inside this nightmare.
But Sarah's message repeated inside his head.
Someone close.
The next morning Ryan canceled work.
He told Gavin he had the flu.
Gavin immediately called.
"You sound terrible," he joked.
Ryan forced a cough.
"Food poisoning."
"Need anything?"
"No."
"I can drop by."
Ryan's eyes went to Claire.
She shook her head urgently.
"No, seriously. I'm sleeping."
"All right. Take care of yourself."
Before hanging up, Gavin added, "Tell Ethan I'll still bring that baseball glove Saturday."
Ryan stared at the phone after the call ended.
Claire whispered, "He wanted to come here."
"Because he's my friend."
"Maybe."
Ryan hated the doubt growing inside him.
Upstairs, Lily woke shortly before nine.
Ryan sat beside the bed while she ate cereal.
"Can I ask you something about your mommy?"
Lily stopped chewing.
Ryan kept his voice gentle.
"Did she ever talk about me?"
Lily nodded.
"What did she say?"
"That you didn't know."
Ryan's chest tightened.
"Didn't know what?"
"About me."
He swallowed.
"Did she say why?"
Lily looked at her cereal.
"She said she made a mistake."
Ryan wanted to ask a hundred questions.
Instead he asked, "Did anyone scare your mommy?"
Lily nodded.
"A man."
"What man?"
"The driving man."
"Did you see his face?"
"No."
"Did he come inside your house?"
Lily's spoon stopped halfway to her mouth.
Ryan noticed immediately.
"Lily?"
She whispered, "One time."
"What happened?"
"Mommy made me hide."
"Where?"
"In the closet."
"Did you hear them talking?"
Lily nodded.
"What did the man say?"
Her expression tightened as she tried to remember.
"He asked where she put the key."
Ryan looked toward Claire, who was standing in the doorway.
"The key Sarah mentioned."
Claire stepped closer.
"Lily, sweetheart, do you know what the man meant?"
Lily shook her head.
Ryan remembered Sarah's words.
Lily has the key. She doesn't know it is a key.
He studied the child.
Her pajamas.
Her stuffed rabbit.
The small necklace around her neck.
It had been hidden beneath her shirt.
Ryan leaned closer.
"What's that?"
Lily touched the necklace.
A tiny silver heart hung from the chain.
"Mommy gave it to me."
Claire and Ryan exchanged a look.
"Can I see it?"
Lily hesitated.
Then lifted the necklace.
Ryan examined the pendant.
It looked ordinary.
Until he turned it over.
There was a narrow seam running through the center.
Claire whispered, "That's not jewelry."
Ryan pressed his thumbnail into the seam.
The silver heart opened.
Inside was a micro SD card.
Neither of them spoke.
Then someone knocked on the front door.
Three slow knocks.
May you like
Ryan looked through the window.
Gavin was standing on the porch.
