Chương 12
“She knew what Julian had told her.”
Daniel leaned back.
“And somewhere along the way, something changed.”
“Maybe.”
“Her phone call sounded like it had.”
“Or she’s still manipulating me.”
“Yes.”
Adrian turned toward him.
“You don’t have to agree with every ugly possibility.”
“I’m your lawyer.”
“Today you seem to think that means professional pessimism.”
“Today professional pessimism is outperforming romance.”
Adrian looked away.
Downstairs, the front door opened and closed.
The house was quieter now.
Most guests had gone.
Someone was carrying rental chairs through the ballroom.
A white rose had fallen from the staircase garland and been crushed into the carpet.
Adrian picked it up when he passed.
He held it absently for a moment, then dropped it into the wastebasket.
Daniel’s phone rang.
Ruiz.
He answered on speaker.
“We found the Range Rover.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Where?”
“Parking garage near Pioneer Square.”
“Elena?”
“Gone.”
“Mason?”
“Gone.”
“Blood?”
“No obvious signs.”
“Phone?”
“One prepaid handset in the back seat.”
“Anything else?”
Ruiz hesitated.
“The red folder.”
Adrian and Daniel exchanged a look.
“What’s in it?”
“We’re not opening it until evidence processing documents the exterior.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“Detective.”
“I know.”
Her tone sharpened.
“But there’s another problem.”
“What?”
“The plate on the Range Rover was stolen this morning from a vehicle in Bellevue.”
“And the Rover?”
“Reported stolen two days ago.”
Daniel muttered, “Prepared.”
“Yes,” Ruiz said.
“This was not improvised.”
Adrian walked to the desk.
“What about Mason?”
“We checked his financials as far as we can without warrants.”
“And?”
“He has debt.”
“What kind?”
“Medical.”
Adrian stopped.
Ruiz continued.
“His younger daughter had leukemia treatment last year.”
Adrian knew the daughter had been ill.
He had sent flowers.
Human resources had arranged leave.
He had not known the diagnosis.
“How much debt?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Enough to buy him?”
Ruiz’s voice turned cold.
“Don’t reduce it like that.”
Adrian said nothing.
“People do desperate things under money pressure,” she continued.
“They also accept help, make bad deals, hide things from employers, and get manipulated.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
He deserved that.
Ruiz went on.
“One more thing.”
Adrian waited.
“Mason called 911 eleven minutes before Elena left your property.”
“What did he report?”
“He didn’t.”
“The call disconnected before dispatch answered.”
“Accidental?”
“Maybe.”
“Location?”
“Your east service corridor.”
Daniel frowned.
“Near Elena’s suite.”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
“So something happened before he drove her out.”
“That is one interpretation.”
“Can we hear the call?”
“There’s almost nothing.”
“Almost?”
Ruiz paused.
“Four seconds of audio.”
Adrian’s skin tightened.
“What’s on it?”
“Footsteps.”
“And?”
“A man’s voice.”
“What does he say?”
“We’re enhancing it.”
“Detective.”
She exhaled.
“It sounds like, ‘He knows about Lily.’”
Adrian went perfectly still.
Daniel whispered, “No.”
Ruiz continued.
“We have no confirmation that’s the phrase.”
But Adrian was already reaching for his phone.
He called Nora.
No answer.
He called again.
Voicemail.
A third time.
Nothing.
His stomach dropped.
“Where did Nora’s sister take them?”
Daniel gave him the Tacoma address.
Adrian dialed Nora’s sister from the emergency contact record.
The number rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then a woman answered.
“Hello?”
“This is Adrian Cross.”
Silence.
Then, suspiciously, “Why?”
“Is Nora there?”
“No.”
Adrian’s pulse kicked.
“Was she there?”
“She called me.”
“When?”
“About half an hour ago.”
“You didn’t pick them up?”
“No.”
Daniel stood abruptly.
Adrian gripped the phone harder.
“Nora told us you did.”
The woman’s breathing stopped for a second.
“I’m in Tacoma.”
“Where is Nora?”
“I thought she was with you.”
Adrian looked at Daniel.
Daniel was already dialing Ruiz.
A message appeared on Adrian’s screen from Nora.
He opened it.
Three words.
WE’RE NOT HOME.
Then another message followed.
DON’T CALL ME.
A third arrived before he could respond.
LILY REMEMBERED THE MAN’S VOICE.
Adrian read the message twice before typing with both thumbs.
WHO?
The reply did not come.
Daniel was already speaking to Ruiz again, his voice low and urgent, but Adrian heard only fragments.
Minor witness.
Unknown location.
Possible threat.
He called Nora anyway.
It rang once and stopped.
A new message appeared.
DON’T CALL.
Then another.
SHE SAYS IT WAS DANIEL.
The room went silent around Adrian.
He looked up.
Daniel was still holding the phone to his ear.
Their eyes met.
Daniel stopped speaking.
Ruiz’s voice sounded tinny through the speaker.
“Mr. Mercer?”
Adrian turned the screen toward him.
Daniel read the message.
His face drained.
Ruiz said, “What happened?”
Daniel did not answer.
Adrian took the phone from his hand.
“Lily says the voice she heard on Elena’s call belonged to Daniel.”
Ruiz was silent for half a second.
Then her voice sharpened.
“Do not confront anyone.”
Adrian looked directly at Daniel.
“Little late.”
Daniel stepped backward.
“Adrian.”
“Sit down.”
“This is absurd.”
“Sit.”
Daniel’s mouth tightened.
He sat.
Ruiz said, “Keep him there.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“For seventeen years I’ve kept him out of prison, and this is the thanks.”
Adrian did not move.
“You knew about the letter.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the outside fiduciary.”
“Yes.”
“You knew exactly what kind of annex could change trust control.”
“Yes, because I wrote the trust.”
“You knew where the certified file was kept.”
Daniel stood again.
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“Sit down.”
This time Daniel did.
His fingers trembled once before he folded them together.
“That child heard a distorted conversation through a curtain.”
“She heard Elena.”
“She thinks she heard me.”
“She remembered your voice.”
“Children are suggestible.”
Adrian stared at him.
Daniel’s expression hardened defensively.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’ve already decided.”
Adrian almost said he had not.
The words would have been false.
Ruiz interrupted.
“Mr. Cross, an officer is coming to you now.”
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
“If Daniel is involved, he may not be the only one in the house.”
Daniel’s eyes flashed.
“I am not involved.”
Adrian ignored him.
“Find Nora and Lily first.”
“We are trying.”
His phone buzzed.
May you like
Nora again.
WE’RE IN A CHURCH PARKING LOT IN FEDERAL WAY.
