Chapter 2 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Gone)
Claire did not sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the elevator doors closing.
At 4:12 in the morning, Agent Reeves returned.
Claire handed him the phone.
He studied the photograph.
“Where did you get this?”
“Unknown number.”
“You recognize the older man?”
“Victor Hale.”
Reeves’ expression tightened.
“You’re certain?”
“I saw him at every Christmas dinner until I was twenty-two.”
“Who was he?”
“My grandfather’s financial adviser. Later my father’s.”
“You said was.”
“He retired.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
Reeves zoomed in on the photograph.
“Retired where?”
“Switzerland, I think.”
“You think?”
“That’s what my father told us.”
Reeves handed the phone back.
“Victor Hale entered the United States six weeks ago.”
Claire stared.
“You knew?”
“We knew someone using that name entered.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the passport is real, but almost nothing else about his activity since arrival is visible.”
Claire looked at Grace through the glass wall.
“What does he have to do with my penthouse?”
“We’re trying to establish that.”
“Then tell me what you already know.”
Reeves considered her.
Perhaps he saw something in her face.
Perhaps he simply understood that the family had forfeited the privilege of protecting her from unpleasant truths.
He sat down.
“Halcyon Meridian Trust has existed for twenty-three years.”
Claire’s eyebrows rose.
“That’s older than Ethan’s relationship with Chloe.”
“Much older.”
“So Chloe’s not behind it.”
“Probably not.”
“Ethan?”
“He would have been thirteen when it was created.”
Claire’s breath slowed.
“Who created it?”
“That information is protected behind multiple trust jurisdictions. But one name appears repeatedly in historical banking records.”
“Victor Hale.”
Reeves nodded.
Claire looked at the floor.
Her grandfather.
Her father.
Victor.
Twenty-three years.
This was not Ethan deciding he wanted a beautiful penthouse for his new wife.
This was a system.
And Claire had apparently stepped into the middle of it without knowing.
At 7:30, Chloe called.
Claire watched the phone vibrate until it stopped.
Then it rang again.
Reeves had told her not to arrange meetings, but he had not told her she could not listen.
Claire answered.
“Claire?”
Chloe was whispering.
“Where are you?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“I’m sorry.”
Claire said nothing.
“I didn’t know Ethan would leave you.”
“You walked into the elevator.”
“I panicked.”
“So did he. So did my parents. Everyone managed to panic in exactly the same direction.”
“I know.”
“No, Chloe. You don’t.”
“I thought you were okay.”
“My daughter was delivered by emergency surgery.”
Silence.
Then Chloe began crying.
Claire felt nothing.
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Oh God.”
“What do you want?”
“I need to tell you something.”
“Tell me.”
“Not on the phone.”
Claire almost ended the call.
Then Chloe said, “Ethan knows the federal government is investigating him.”
Claire became still.
“Since when?”
“I don’t know exactly. At least two weeks.”
“Then tonight wasn’t spontaneous.”
“No.”
“Why the penthouse?”
Chloe’s breathing became uneven.
“Because they needed an asset that wasn’t frozen.”
Claire looked toward Reeves through the window of the hospital family room.
“They?”
“Ethan and your father.”
Claire closed her eyes.
There it was.
Not suspicion anymore.
Words.
“My father is involved.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“But you know something.”
“I know Ethan has been moving money for your father.”
“How much?”
“I heard twenty-eight million.”
Claire gripped the side of the bed.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I’m telling you what I heard.”
“Then go to Agent Reeves.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because Ethan will know.”
“Good.”
“You don’t understand him.”
Claire almost smiled.
“I understand him better than I did yesterday.”
“No, you don’t. Claire, when he gets scared, he becomes dangerous.”
Claire’s eyes moved instinctively toward Grace.
“What did he do?”
Chloe did not answer.
“What did Ethan do?”
A long pause.
Then Chloe whispered.
“There was another property owner.”
Claire’s mouth went dry.
“Who?”
“His name was Bernard Keene.”
Claire had never heard it.
“What happened to him?”
“He refused to sign.”
“And?”
“I don’t know.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I heard Ethan tell your father, ‘Keene won’t be a problem anymore.’ The next week, Bernard disappeared.”
Claire’s pulse hammered.
“Disappeared?”
“His daughter reported him missing.”
Claire looked at Reeves.
He was already watching her.
Claire switched the call to speaker.
“Chloe, repeat what you just said.”
Silence.
“Chloe?”
“You put someone else on the call.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Someone you should talk to.”
The line went dead.
Reeves crossed the room immediately.
“Bernard Keene?”
“You know the name.”
“He owned a commercial building in Queens.”
“Owned?”
“Three months ago it transferred to a holding company.”
“Which one?”
Reeves looked at her.
“Halcyon Meridian.”
Claire felt the room narrow.
“Is he missing?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Ninety-one days.”
“And you think Ethan knows what happened.”
“We think several people know more than they’re saying.”
Claire looked down at her daughter.
Grace moved beneath the blanket.
Claire touched the glass.
A family could lie about money.
They could lie about property.
They could lie about a retired financial adviser living in Switzerland.
But if someone had disappeared because he refused to cooperate, then Claire had no idea where the edge of this conspiracy actually was.
Her phone buzzed.
Another unknown message.
No photograph this time.
Just an address.
An old Morgan Urban Development warehouse in Brooklyn.
May you like
Then:
Ask your father what is beneath Unit 14.
