Chapter 2 - the warning from a dead woman)
Claire did not sleep.
She sat in her kitchen until sunrise with the unknown messages open on her phone.
At 6:12 in the morning, she finally replied.
Who are you?
No answer.
How did you know my father?
Nothing.
What are you saying happened to him?
The message showed delivered.
Still nothing.
At seven, Claire called Detective Daniel Reyes, the investigator who had handled her father’s boating accident.
Reyes answered on the fourth ring.
“Claire?”
“I’m sorry. I know it’s early.”
“What happened?”
She nearly told him everything.
The documents.
Ethan.
The bruise.
The texts.
Instead she asked, “Was there anything suspicious about my father’s accident?”
A pause.
“We investigated every reasonable possibility.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Another pause.
“We found no evidence of foul play.”
“Was Ethan interviewed?”
“Ethan Blackwood?”
“Yes.”
“No reason to interview him. Your father was alone.”
Claire pressed the phone against her ear.
“Were you absolutely certain?”
“Claire, grief can make old questions feel new.”
“I’m not calling because of grief.”
That changed his tone.
“What happened?”
Claire looked down at the bruise on her wrist.
“Someone contacted me.”
“What did they say?”
“That Dad refused to sign something before he died.”
Reyes was silent.
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You handled the investigation.”
“I handled his death. Not his business.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Can you check?”
“Send me the messages.”
She did.
By nine, she was standing inside Morgan Urban Development headquarters.
Her father’s company occupied fourteen floors in a restored Art Deco tower overlooking the river.
Claire served as chairwoman but left daily operations to longtime executives.
Her father had raised her to understand every department while warning her never to let money become the center of her identity.
People who want your money will always tell themselves a story about why they deserve it, he used to say.
She had thought he meant strangers.
Her assistant Mara approached carrying coffee.
“You look terrible.”
“Thank you.”
“I meant concerned terrible.”
Claire took the coffee.
“Can you find every agreement Dad reviewed during the three months before he died?”
Mara stopped walking.
“All of them?”
“Anything involving Blackwood Holdings, Blackwood Foundation, Ethan, Vivian, or Charles Mercer.”
Mara’s expression sharpened.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know yet.”
That answer became more disturbing as the day continued.
At noon, Mara found a calendar entry dated six days before Thomas Morgan’s death.
Private meeting.
C. Mercer.
No subject.
No notes.
At two, Claire discovered her father had requested records from Blackwood Holdings shortly before his death.
At four, someone remotely attempted to access her corporate email account.
At five thirty, Ethan arrived.
He walked into her office carrying white roses.
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“Surprise.”
She forced herself to smile.
“What are you doing here?”
“Apologizing.”
He placed the flowers on her desk.
“For last night.”
Claire studied him.
The charming Ethan was back.
The man she had fallen in love with two years earlier.
He had remembered her coffee order after their first date.
He had driven four hours because her dog needed emergency surgery while she was away.
He had spent Christmas morning fixing a broken toy at a children’s charity event because a little boy had started crying.
Claire had not imagined those things.
That was what frightened her.
Cruel people were easier to leave when they were cruel all the time.
Ethan touched her wrist gently.
“I saw what I did.”
Claire pulled her hand away.
He looked hurt.
“I’m sorry.”
“You scared me.”
“I know.”
“Why does your mother need any control over my father’s company?”
“She doesn’t.”
“The agreement gives Charles access.”
“In an emergency.”
“Why?”
“Because he handles our family structures.”
“My father had his own attorneys.”
Ethan exhaled.
“Can we not do this?”
“No.”
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
Then he nodded.
“Okay.”
Claire waited.
Instead of answering, Ethan looked at the framed photograph behind her desk.
Thomas Morgan standing beside Claire on the day she graduated.
“Your father never liked me.”
“That’s not true.”
“He tolerated me.”
“He was protective.”
“He thought I wanted your money.”
Claire said nothing.
Ethan laughed without humor.
“See?”
“He worried about everyone.”
“No. He worried about me.”
He picked up one of the white roses.
“You know what the last thing he ever said to me was?”
Claire’s chest tightened.
“You saw him before he died?”
Ethan froze.
He had spoken too quickly.
Claire stood.
“When?”
“Claire.”
“When did you see my father?”
“About a week before.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“It wasn’t important.”
“He died six days later.”
Ethan put down the flower.
“You’re making this into something it isn’t.”
“What did he say?”
Ethan looked at her for a long moment.
Then he smiled.
“He told me men like me always mistake possession for love.”
Claire felt the room grow cold.
“And what did you say?”
“I told him he was wrong.”
He leaned across the desk.
“But maybe he had already decided not to believe me.”
Claire stepped backward.
Ethan’s eyes moved toward her computer.
For less than a second.
Then back to her.
“You’ve been searching through his files.”
It was not a question.
Claire felt fear climb her spine.
“How would you know that?”
He smiled.
“I didn’t.”
Claire realized immediately.
A trap.
Ethan had guessed.
Her reaction confirmed it.
He kissed her forehead.
“Don’t let grief ruin our wedding.”
Then he left.
Claire waited until the elevator doors closed.
She called Mara.
“Disconnect my computer from the network.”
“What?”
“Now.”
Mara hurried inside.
Twenty minutes later, their cybersecurity director found unauthorized monitoring software on Claire’s machine.
It had been installed eleven days earlier.
The night Ethan had come to her office after dinner.
Claire remembered leaving him alone for six minutes while she took a phone call.
At 7:48 that evening, the unknown number messaged again.
You finally found the spyware.
Claire stared at the words.
Then another message arrived.
If you want to know what happened to your father, go to Union Station tomorrow at 9:15 p.m.
Locker 318.
Come alone.
Inside the locker you will find proof.
Claire typed one question.
Proof from whom?
May you like
This time the reply came immediately.
From a woman Ethan believes is dead.
