Chương 5
“I said I haven’t seen her.”
“What did she want?”
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Five thousand dollars.”
Gabriel let out a quiet breath.
“For what?”
“She didn’t say.”
“And you gave it to her?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
I stared at Dominic.
“Because five thousand dollars is five thousand dollars.”
He did not react.
I immediately hated the answer because it made me sound defensive and small.
“She has done this before.”
“Asked you for money?”
“Asked everybody.”
Rosa glanced at Lily.
I followed her eyes.
Lily had stopped feeding her rabbit.
She was listening.
“Baby, why don’t you look at your book?”
“I’m listening.”
“I noticed.”
“I’m good listening.”
“That is unfortunately true.”
I picked up one of the picture books Rosa had brought and put it beside her.
“Find the blue whale for me.”
“There’s no whale.”
“There is absolutely a whale.”
“No.”
“Prove me wrong.”
She opened the book with exaggerated suspicion.
Dominic waited until she was occupied.
“What kind of trouble does Rebecca get into?”
“Everything becomes trouble around Rebecca.”
“That’s vague.”
“It’s accurate.”
I lowered my voice.
“She borrows money.”
“Gambling?”
“Sometimes.”
“Drugs?”
“She had a problem with pills after a car accident.”
“Still?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know whether your sister is using drugs?”
“I don’t know much about my sister anymore.”
Gabriel leaned against the dresser.
“Was she ever violent?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Dominic caught it.
“Claire.”
“She threw things.”
“At you?”
“At everyone.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
I rubbed the heel of my hand against my forehead.
“She hit me once.”
Rosa’s face hardened.
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“You never told me.”
“There was nothing to tell.”
“There usually is when someone hits you.”
“It was one time.”
Dominic’s voice was flat.
“People say that a lot when they are trying to make one time sound smaller.”
I looked at him.
“You’re not exactly the person I expected to give that lecture.”
Something moved in Gabriel’s face.
He looked away.
Dominic accepted the insult without blinking.
“Fair.”
The lack of retaliation irritated me more than anger would have.
I stood and crossed toward the window, though the curtains were closed.
Rebecca’s face kept flashing in my mind.
The pale scar by her ear had come from the accident.
I had sat beside her hospital bed for two nights while she complained that the nurses watered down the coffee.
She had been twenty-four.
I had been twenty-seven and newly pregnant with Lily, though I had not known it yet.
Rebecca had cried when she learned.
Not from happiness.
From panic.
She had grabbed my wrist and whispered, “Don’t become Mom.”
The memory disappeared as quickly as it came.
Gabriel’s phone buzzed.
He answered.
“Yeah.”
He listened.
“When?”
His shoulders tightened.
“Send me the still.”
Dominic watched him.
Gabriel ended the call.
“The maintenance van has been located.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned near the Bedford Hills train station.”
“Driver?”
“Gone.”
“Registration?”
“Belongs to Moretti Grounds.”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“Our vehicle.”
“Yes.”
“Who signed it out?”
“Nobody.”
“That’s impossible.”
Gabriel gave him a tired look.
“Apparently not.”
My stomach turned.
“If Rebecca left in that van, she could be anywhere.”
“She didn’t.”
We all looked at Gabriel.
He held up his phone.
“Street camera caught the driver leaving the van.”
“Man or woman?”
“Man.”
“Same man as the cold room?”
“We can’t tell.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“And Rebecca?”
“No second person visible.”
The room seemed to shrink around us.
I thought about the staff passages, storage closets, laundry rooms, basement mechanical spaces, and unused guest suites.
I had spent six years learning every corner of that estate because that was my job.
Now each room became a place someone could hide.
“Then she could still be here.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Yes.”
Rosa stood.
“We need to move Lily.”
Dominic answered immediately.
“Agreed.”
“Where?”
“My private wing.”
Rosa stared at him.
“Your private wing is where everyone will expect you to be.”
“It also has independent security.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Reinforced doors, separate cameras, no service access.”
I looked toward Lily.
She had reached the page with the whale.
Her small finger tapped it triumphantly.
“Found it.”
“You win.”
“I told you.”
“You did.”
She smiled.
Then another thought hit me.
“My cottage.”
Dominic looked over.
“What about it?”
“If Rebecca knew where I worked, she probably knew where I lived.”
“Gabriel.”
“I already have two men checking it.”
“No.”
My voice rose.
“Call them back.”
Gabriel frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if she wanted something from me, that is where she would go.”
“Which is exactly why they are checking it.”
“You said she was in the house less than two hours ago.”
“Yes.”
“She may have had access to my cottage before that.”
“Claire.”
“There are photographs.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Of what?”
“Lily.”
I grabbed my phone from the table.
“School pictures, daycare information, emergency contacts.”
Gabriel crossed the room.
“What else?”
“My laptop.”
“Password protected?”
“Yes.”
“Anything linking Rebecca to you?”
“Old mail, maybe.”
“Keys?”
I stopped.
Dominic noticed.
“What?”
“My spare car key.”
“That’s not important.”
“It is if she knew where it was.”
Gabriel was already texting.
“What kind of car?”
“Blue Honda CR-V.”
“Plate?”
I gave it to him.
He sent another message.
Rosa folded her arms.
“Claire, when Rebecca called three weeks ago, what exactly did she say?”
I looked at her.
“She asked for money.”
“Exactly.”
“She said she was in trouble.”
“What kind?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
“What did you say?”
“That I couldn’t help.”
Rosa’s mouth tightened.
“And?”
“And she got angry.”
“What did she say?”
I wished Lily were farther away.
“She said I always choose strangers over family.”
Dominic glanced at me.
“Why would she say that?”
“Because I work here.”
“That seems like a leap.”
“To Rebecca, everything is betrayal.”
I looked down at my phone.
“She thinks I abandoned her after our mother died.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
The answer hurt more than I expected.
“I spent two years cleaning up after her.”
May you like
Dominic waited.
“Then what happened?”
