Chapter 3 - the man without a photograph)
Daniel disconnected the laptop from the internet.
The message remained.
GRAYBRIDGE IS ALREADY INSIDE YOUR HOUSE.
He shut the computer.
For several seconds, he stood in Lily's bedroom listening.
The mansion had never felt so large.
Or so empty.
He left through the upstairs hallway and found Detective Mara Quinn waiting near the staircase.
She was in her early forties with dark hair pulled behind her head and a calm expression that made Daniel feel as if she had already noticed ten things he had missed.
"Mr. Hale."
"I need to go back to the hospital."
"I understand. I need two minutes."
"I really don't have them."
"This concerns the bottle."
Daniel stopped.
"What did you find?"
"The label was removed."
"I saw that."
"There are no usable fingerprints on the exterior."
"Vanessa was carrying it."
"That doesn't mean she handled the bottle."
"How could it be in her purse?"
"We're investigating that."
Daniel's impatience grew.
"My daughter watched her put something in Rachel's milk."
"I know."
"Then why does it sound like you're defending her?"
"I'm not defending anyone."
Quinn opened a small notebook.
"The bag belongs to Vanessa Cole. Her fingerprints are on the bag, the lipstick, the mirror, and several personal items. None are on the bottle."
"She could have wiped it."
"Yes."
"Then what's your point?"
"My point is someone wiped it carefully."
Daniel said nothing.
Quinn continued.
"The tablets inside aren't prescription medication."
"What are they?"
"We don't know yet."
"I thought toxicology would identify them."
"The hospital is testing what was in your wife's bloodstream. Our lab is testing what's in the bottle. They may not be the same substance."
Daniel absorbed that.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying the bottle could be evidence."
"Or a distraction."
Quinn studied him.
"Why did you say that?"
Daniel thought of the anonymous text.
THE BOTTLE WAS NEVER THE REAL PLAN.
He hesitated.
Quinn noticed.
"Someone contacted you."
Daniel met her eyes.
"How did you know?"
"You looked at the bottle as if you'd already considered it might have been planted."
Daniel told her about the messages.
Not everything.
He did not mention the memory card yet.
He did not mention Graybridge.
He wanted to speak to Rachel first.
Quinn held out her hand.
"May I see the messages?"
Daniel showed her.
Her expression did not change.
"Don't delete anything."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Have you ever heard of Graybridge?"
He looked at her sharply.
Quinn's eyes narrowed.
"So you have."
"No."
"Then why did your face change?"
Daniel said nothing.
Quinn closed her notebook.
"Mr. Hale, your wife may have been poisoned repeatedly. Someone appears to have access to your home. You're receiving anonymous messages. This is not the moment to hold things back."
"My wife is awake."
"Then speak to her."
"I intend to."
Quinn nodded.
"But before you leave, answer one question."
"What?"
"When Vanessa arrived today, why were you holding her hand?"
Daniel stiffened.
The question embarrassed him more than he expected.
"She nearly slipped on the stairs."
"That's all?"
"Yes."
"Your wife wasn't suspicious of your relationship with her?"
"No."
"You're certain?"
Daniel thought about Rachel's recordings.
Vanessa is involved.
But I don't think Vanessa is the person in control.
"Detective, my marriage wasn't perfect, but I was not having an affair with Vanessa."
Quinn held his gaze.
"I didn't say you were."
Daniel hated that answer.
At the hospital, Rachel was conscious but weak.
Lily sat beside her.
The second Rachel saw Daniel, her expression changed from relief to fear.
"Close the door."
Daniel did.
Mrs. Bell left with Lily to get something from the cafeteria.
Rachel waited until they were alone.
"You found it?"
"The memory card?"
She nodded.
"Yes."
"Did you watch everything?"
"Yes."
"Did anyone see you?"
"Detective Quinn was at the house."
"Did you show her?"
"No."
Rachel exhaled.
"Good."
Daniel stared at her.
"Why good?"
"Because I don't know who we can trust."
"Rachel, a detective is investigating your attempted murder."
"I know."
"Someone has been drugging you."
"I know."
"Vanessa was in our house talking about someone named Victor."
Rachel looked toward the glass door.
"Keep your voice down."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Who is Victor Caine?"
Rachel's fingers tightened around the blanket.
"I don't know."
"You warned the hospital not to let him near Lily."
"I know his name."
"How?"
"Because I saw it in Vanessa's phone."
Daniel waited.
Rachel continued.
"Two weeks ago, Vanessa left her phone on the kitchen counter. A message appeared."
"What did it say?"
"Are the doses working?"
Daniel felt sick.
"What?"
"The sender was saved as V.C."
"You assumed Vanessa was dosing you?"
"Not immediately. I thought maybe it was about something else."
"Rachel."
"I didn't want to accuse someone I'd known for ten years without proof."
"And then?"
"I looked at the message history."
"You went through Vanessa's phone?"
"Yes."
"What did you find?"
"Most of it was deleted. But one message remained."
Rachel closed her eyes as if seeing it again.
"'If Rachel remembers Graybridge, Lily becomes leverage.'"
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Lily?"
Rachel nodded.
"That's when I started recording everything."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because another message mentioned you."
Daniel stopped.
"What did it say?"
Rachel looked directly at him.
"'Daniel still believes the fire was an accident.'"
Silence filled the hospital room.
Daniel slowly sat down.
The fire.
There had only been one fire in his adult life that mattered.
The Hale Research Center.
Seven years earlier.
Three people had died.
Daniel's older brother, Michael.
A laboratory technician.
And a security guard.
Daniel had nearly died too.
Rachel reached for his hand.
"Daniel?"
He pulled away without meaning to.
"What does that fire have to do with Vanessa?"
"I don't know."
"Graybridge?"
"I don't know."
"Victor?"
"I don't know."
"But someone thinks I know something."
"Maybe you do."
Daniel looked at her.
"What?"
Rachel lowered her voice.
"Do you remember everything about the night Michael died?"
Daniel stared at her.
"Of course."
"Everything?"
"The fire alarm went off. I was in the west laboratory. Michael was upstairs. I tried to get to him."
"And then?"
"Part of the ceiling collapsed."
"You were unconscious for almost a day."
"I know."
"Do you remember the hours before the fire?"
Daniel frowned.
"Most of them."
Rachel watched him carefully.
"Most?"
"I had been working late."
"With Michael?"
"For part of the evening."
"What were you working on?"
Daniel opened his mouth.
Stopped.
Something flickered at the edge of his memory.
A locked storage room.
Michael arguing with someone.
A gray folder.
A logo.
A bridge symbol.
Daniel stood abruptly.
Rachel's eyes widened.
"What?"
"I saw it."
"Saw what?"
"Graybridge."
Rachel's face drained of color.
Daniel pressed one hand to his forehead.
"That night."
"Where?"
"In Michael's office."
The memory came in fragments.
Michael holding a gray folder.
Michael saying, This should never have made it past review.
Daniel asking, Who approved it?
Michael replying, Someone above us.
Then another voice.
A man.
A stranger.
"You need to forget you saw that."
Daniel gripped the hospital rail.
Rachel whispered.
"Daniel."
He looked at her.
"I met Victor Caine."
"You remember him?"
"No."
"But you just said."
"I remember someone."
"What did he look like?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
Tall.
Dark suit.
Silver cufflinks.
A small scar near his jaw.
A calm voice.
Then smoke.
An explosion.
Michael screaming.
Daniel opened his eyes.
"I can't see his face."
Rachel sat silently.
Daniel's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
He did not want to look.
He did anyway.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Daniel standing outside the hospital.
Taken less than fifteen minutes earlier.
The second image showed Mrs. Bell and Lily walking toward the cafeteria.
Daniel shot to his feet.
"No."
Rachel saw his expression.
"What?"
Daniel ran to the door.
"Lily."
He sprinted into the hallway.
Rachel called after him.
He didn't stop.
The elevator doors opened.
Mrs. Bell stepped out holding Lily's hand.
Daniel nearly collapsed with relief.
"Daddy!"
Lily ran toward him.
He lifted her.
Mrs. Bell looked alarmed.
"What happened?"
Daniel stared down the corridor.
Visitors.
Nurses.
Patients.
Anyone could have taken the photograph.
His phone vibrated again.
Another message.
GOOD.
May you like
NOW YOU UNDERSTAND.
THE NEXT TIME YOU RUN TOWARD YOUR DAUGHTER, YOU MAY BE TOO LATE.
