Chapter 10 - the detective who knew too much)
Claire stepped out of the confessional alone.
Reyes looked past her.
“Where’s Laura?”
Claire closed the door behind her.
“Gone.”
“What?”
“There’s another exit.”
It was a lie.
Laura remained inside.
Claire watched Reyes carefully.
“How did you know Dad’s toxicology sample still existed?”
His expression changed.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Because I requested archived evidence.”
“Before the lab confirmed they had it.”
“Claire.”
“How did you know?”
Reyes looked down the aisle.
Then back at her.
“Who told you to ask that?”
She did not answer.
His jaw tightened.
“This is exactly what I warned you about. Whoever is contacting you is turning you against everyone.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Reyes exhaled.
“Your father asked me to keep the sample.”
Claire stared.
“What?”
“Privately.”
“You knew him?”
“Yes.”
“You told me you only handled his death.”
“I handled the original case.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Reyes looked suddenly exhausted.
“I knew Thomas before he died.”
Claire felt betrayal wash through her.
“How?”
“He came to me six weeks before the accident.”
“About Blackwood?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because he made me promise.”
“He’s dead.”
“And you were alive.”
Claire’s anger stopped.
Reyes continued.
“Thomas believed law enforcement might be compromised. He wanted one person to preserve evidence outside the normal path.”
“You?”
“I had worked financial crimes before homicide.”
“Was he already afraid he’d be killed?”
“Yes.”
Claire looked toward the confessional.
Laura remained silent.
“Did Dad tell you about Laura?”
“No.”
“Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“Charles?”
“Yes.”
“Ethan?”
Reyes nodded.
“He feared Ethan most.”
“Why?”
“Because you trusted him.”
Claire swallowed.
“What happened the night Dad died?”
Reyes looked at the altar.
“I got a call at 12:38 a.m.”
“From Dad?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That he had proof.”
“Of what?”
“He wouldn’t tell me over the phone.”
“Where were you supposed to meet?”
“The marina.”
Claire felt dizzy.
“What time did you arrive?”
“2:22.”
“Dad was already dead.”
“Yes.”
“Ethan left at 2:14.”
Reyes nodded.
“You saw his car?”
“No.”
“Then how”
“I later found traffic footage.”
Claire stared.
“Why wasn’t any of this in the case?”
“Because when I arrived, Thomas’s boat was gone. I reported him missing. By morning, the boat had been found drifting. His body was recovered hours later.”
“And then?”
“Evidence disappeared.”
“What evidence?”
“His phone.”
Claire whispered, “Police never found it.”
“I found it.”
The church seemed to fall silent around them.
“Where?”
“On the dock.”
“What was on it?”
“A voicemail.”
“From whom?”
“Ethan.”
Claire’s heart pounded.
“What did it say?”
Reyes looked directly at her.
“Ethan said, I know what you found. Meet me tonight and we can fix this before Claire gets hurt.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Why did you hide it?”
“I didn’t. I logged it.”
“And then?”
“By morning the phone had vanished from evidence storage.”
“Who had access?”
“Too many people.”
“Vivian?”
“No.”
“Charles?”
“No.”
“Evelyn?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Reyes gave her a terrible look.
“A deputy commissioner who now works as head of security for Blackwood Holdings.”
Claire thought of the security men at the wedding venue.
Martin Hale.
Former police.
Vivian’s personal security director.
The anonymous source had never mentioned him.
Not once.
Claire understood why.
“Martin Hale.”
“Yes.”
Reyes nodded.
“He resigned from the department four months after your father died.”
“And joined Vivian.”
“Yes.”
Claire turned toward the confessional.
Laura opened the door.
Reyes reached instinctively toward his weapon.
Claire stepped between them.
“Don’t.”
Laura looked at Reyes.
“You should have told her years ago.”
“I was trying to keep her alive.”
“So was Thomas.”
Claire raised her voice.
“Enough.”
Both stopped.
“We have Ethan. Vivian. Evelyn. Charles. Hale. And an anonymous source who knows everything.”
Laura nodded.
“Hale knows everything too.”
Claire looked at her.
“You think he is messaging me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“He is not subtle enough.”
Reyes frowned.
“Who else knew Thomas’s investigation?”
Laura hesitated.
“One person.”
Claire waited.
“Thomas’s younger brother.”
Claire stared.
“My uncle?”
“David Morgan.”
Claire had not spoken to David in years.
Her father’s younger brother had left the company after a bitter dispute.
He moved overseas.
Thomas rarely discussed him.
Claire remembered childhood Christmases.
Uncle David bringing expensive gifts.
Arguments behind closed doors.
Then nothing.
“David hated Dad.”
Laura nodded.
“He also believed half of Morgan Urban Development should have been his.”
Claire felt the pieces rearranging.
“If Ethan got control of Morgan”
“David could buy the shares cheaply after a collapse.”
Reyes added, “Or use Ethan as a temporary front.”
Claire thought of the mystery voice.
The moment Claire signs the papers, we’ll make Ethan disappear.
Her stomach dropped.
“David.”
Laura said nothing.
Claire called the number she still had for her uncle.
Disconnected.
Mara searched corporate records.
David Morgan had quietly returned to the United States six months earlier.
He controlled an investment fund through three shell companies.
That fund had recently purchased debt connected to Blackwood Holdings.
Claire stared at the screen.
David was not working with Ethan.
He was positioning himself to own Ethan.
Then the burner phone buzzed.
One new message.
You finally reached my name.
Claire’s blood went cold.
Another message followed.
Now stop digging.
Claire typed.
Uncle David?
Three dots appeared.
May you like
Then:
Your father should have listened when I gave him the same warning.
