Chapter 9 - The Man Across the Street)
Daniel reached Noah before anyone else.
He pulled the boy away from the window.
Detectives moved through the station doors.
Michael locked the interior entrance.
Laura stood in the center of the lobby staring at the photograph on her phone.
Daniel guided Noah behind a solid wall.
"Stay with Michael."
Noah grabbed his shirt.
"Dad."
"I'm not leaving the building."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Daniel looked at Michael.
The restaurant owner nodded.
"I've got him."
Laura approached.
"That message could have been scheduled."
Daniel shook his head.
"The photo wasn't."
A detective returned five minutes later.
No one suspicious stood across the street.
Security cameras were being reviewed.
Laura looked pale.
Daniel lowered his voice.
"Is there anyone else involved?"
"Not that I know."
"Anyone Martin used?"
"Private investigators."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"He had you followed?"
"After I confronted Vanessa."
"Why didn't you tell police?"
"I did."
"What happened?"
"I didn't know who they were. They never threatened me directly."
Daniel rubbed his face.
Every answer created another question.
Michael walked over with the Shaw Private Holdings folder.
"I think we need to look at this more carefully."
Daniel opened it.
Property deeds.
Loan agreements.
Shell companies.
One document contained a list of initials and amounts.
L.C. 2,000,000.
N.C. Trust 1,650,000.
V.C. 184,000.
Daniel stared.
Laura pointed.
"V.C. is probably Vanessa."
"And N.C. is Noah."
Michael nodded.
"Then L.C. is you."
The insurance policy.
Two million.
Daniel looked toward the interview room where Vanessa remained.
"Martin was tracking sources of money."
Laura's face tightened.
"Or targets."
A detective joined them.
"We located the person who took the photograph."
Daniel looked up.
"Who?"
"An eighteen-year-old delivery driver."
Laura frowned.
"Martin hired him?"
"Apparently through a text message. Fifty dollars to photograph the woman in a gray coat entering the station."
Daniel looked at Laura's gray coat.
The detective continued.
"He never met the person who paid him. Digital transfer."
Michael exhaled.
"So Martin could be anywhere."
"Yes."
Daniel looked at the folder again.
Then something caught his eye.
One property address appeared repeatedly.
Lake Hollow Storage Facility.
A commercial unit purchased eighteen months earlier under Vanessa's company.
Daniel showed her through the glass.
Vanessa went pale.
He entered the interview room.
"What is Lake Hollow?"
She stared at the document.
"Storage."
"For what?"
"I don't know."
"You own it."
"Martin told me it was part of a real estate investment."
Daniel sat.
"Have you been there?"
"Once."
"When?"
"Six months ago."
"Why?"
"He asked me to sign papers."
"What did you see?"
"Boxes."
"What kind?"
"Records. Files."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Laura's files?"
Vanessa looked uncertain.
"Maybe."
"Why would Martin store Laura's files?"
"I don't know."
Daniel stood.
Then Vanessa said, "There was also a car."
He stopped.
"What car?"
She swallowed.
"A damaged sedan."
Laura's crashed car had been recovered by authorities four years ago and eventually released to the insurance company.
Daniel had never asked what happened afterward.
"What color?"
"Dark blue."
Laura's car had been dark blue.
Daniel felt cold.
"What condition?"
"Front crushed. Passenger side damaged."
"Did you see the license plate?"
"No."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know it was hers."
Daniel stared at her.
"You knew what Laura drove."
"It was covered mostly by a tarp."
"Then why remember it?"
Vanessa looked down.
"Because there was dried mud inside."
Daniel waited.
"And?"
"There was a child's toy on the back floor."
Daniel's pulse jumped.
Noah had lost a small wooden airplane months before Laura's crash.
He had cried for two days.
Daniel had assumed it disappeared at daycare.
He had forgotten about it until now.
"What toy?"
Vanessa looked at him.
"A red wooden airplane."
Daniel sat down again.
Laura's vehicle had supposedly been emptied by authorities.
Why would a toy remain inside a car now hidden in property linked to Martin?
Unless the car in evidence had not told the full story.
Daniel called the detective.
Within twenty minutes, officers were obtaining a warrant.
No one allowed Daniel to go with them.
He waited with Laura, Noah, Michael and Vanessa.
The strangest group imaginable.
Noah fell asleep against Laura's shoulder at 11:18 p.m.
Daniel watched them from across the room.
Laura stroked their son's hair.
The movement was exactly the same as four years ago.
Daniel felt grief and joy collide so violently he had to look away.
Vanessa sat three chairs down.
Her eyes followed them too.
"You hate me."
Daniel did not answer.
She continued.
"You should."
Still nothing.
"I didn't know Martin changed the insurance."
Daniel looked at her.
"I believe you might not have known that."
Hope appeared in her face.
He ended it.
"But you knew Laura was alive."
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
"You knew my son was being asked to carry secrets."
She cried silently.
"You stole from both of them."
"I know."
"And you left Noah barefoot outside because you thought evidence was hidden in his shoe."
"I know."
Daniel's voice remained quiet.
"You don't get forgiveness because something worse may have happened."
Vanessa nodded.
"I know."
For once, Daniel believed her.
At 12:06 a.m., the detective returned.
He carried an evidence bag.
Inside was a small red wooden airplane.
Daniel stood.
Laura woke Noah.
The boy stared sleepily.
The detective said, "We found the vehicle."
Laura's hand tightened around Noah.
"Is it mine?"
"We confirmed the VIN."
Daniel's mouth went dry.
"What else?"
The detective looked at Laura.
"There are sections of the brake line that appear to have been cut."
Laura stopped breathing.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at the detective.
"Before the crash?"
"We can't say yet."
Then the detective placed another evidence bag on the table.
Inside was a flash drive.
"It was taped beneath the driver's seat."
Laura looked confused.
Daniel asked, "What's on it?"
The detective's expression changed.
"A video recorded by Laura Carter four days before the accident."
Laura stared.
"I don't remember making that."
May you like
The detective nodded.
"You might want to."
