Chapter 9 - Serena Hale Did Not Exist
There was no Serena Hale before age twenty-four.
No school photographs.
No university transcript under that name.
No childhood address.
No birth record Detective Cole could verify.
Her social security history began six years earlier.
Her employment history began five years earlier.
Every reference from before that point led to companies that had dissolved.
Clara stared at the report.
“She’s fabricated.”
Cole nodded.
“Or protected.”
“By whom?”
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”
Julian sat propped against his hospital bed.
His color had improved, but his strength had not.
He read the report twice.
“She came to the company five years ago.”
“Who hired her?” Clara asked.
“My father.”
Arthur, standing by the window, turned.
“I approved her.”
“Who recommended her?”
Arthur hesitated.
“Our executive recruiter.”
Cole checked his notes.
“That recruiting firm closed three years ago.”
Arthur swore.
Clara looked at Julian.
“What project did Serena first work on?”
“The East Harbor redevelopment.”
Arthur turned sharply.
“No.”
Julian stared.
“Yes.”
“She joined later.”
“No, she didn’t.”
Father and son faced each other.
Julian’s voice hardened.
“She was at the first environmental review.”
Arthur’s expression went blank.
Clara noticed.
“What happened at East Harbor?”
“Nothing,” Arthur said.
Julian laughed bitterly.
“People died.”
Clara looked at him.
“What?”
“A retaining wall failed during excavation.”
“When?”
“Five years ago.”
“How many?”
Julian looked at his father.
Arthur said nothing.
“Three workers officially,” Julian answered.
“Officially?”
“There were rumors about more.”
Arthur slammed his hand against the windowsill.
“Enough.”
Cole stepped closer.
“What rumors?”
Arthur looked toward the door.
“Get out.”
Nobody moved.
Clara’s phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
She opened the message.
East Harbor. Parcel 17.
A second message followed.
Ask who was buried before the wall collapsed.
Clara showed Cole.
Arthur saw it.
And for the first time, Clara saw unmistakable terror in his eyes.
“You know what Parcel 17 is,” she said.
Arthur said nothing.
Julian looked between them.
“Dad?”
Arthur sat slowly.
“East Harbor was not an accident.”
Silence filled the hospital room.
Arthur rubbed both hands across his face.
“We found something during excavation.”
Cole asked, “What?”
May you like
Arthur looked at Clara.
“Bodies.”
