Chapter 4 - What Chloe Remembered
At the hospital, Chloe and Daniel were placed in separate examination rooms.
Doctors soon determined that both were stable. They had been exposed to an irritant in the kitchen, but neither had suffered lasting harm. Daniel also had a concussion, probably from striking the floor when the chair broke.
Grace sat beside Chloe’s bed and held her hand.
“You’re not in trouble,” she said. “I only need you to tell me what you remember.”
Chloe stared at the white blanket.
“When I came home, Max was barking in the garage.”
“Was the kitchen door open?”
“A little.”
Chloe had stepped inside and found Daniel standing near the table. He looked confused and kept asking whether she had seen anyone.
Then the garage door had moved.
“A man came through,” Chloe whispered.
“Did you see his face?”
“He wore a cap. But I knew his voice.”
Grace’s stomach tightened.
“What did he say?”
“He told Daniel to give him the folder.”
Daniel refused.
The man moved farther into the kitchen. Daniel placed himself between the stranger and Chloe. During the struggle, the chair broke. Daniel fell and did not get up.
Chloe grabbed the kitchen phone, but the man pulled its wire from the wall. She ran behind the counter and used her watch to call Grace.
“Did he touch you?” Grace asked carefully.
Chloe shook her head.
“He didn’t see me at first. Then Max started barking, and the man went back into the garage.”
“What folder did he want?”
Chloe pointed toward her pink backpack, which an officer had brought from the house.
“Uncle Daniel gave it to me before the man came inside. He told me not to let anyone take it.”
Inside Chloe’s backpack, beneath her schoolbooks and lunch container, officers found a sealed brown envelope.
May you like
The label across the front read:
WEST DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL RECORDS.
