Chương 10
“A man named Victor.”
Maya grabbed a notepad from the bedside table.
“Last name?”
“Mom, what's Victor's last name?”
“I only heard Richard say it once.”
“Say what you remember.”
“Victor Hale.”
Maya wrote it down.
Claire sent the name to Daniel.
Three dots appeared beneath his contact almost instantly.
Where did you get that?
Claire replied.
My mother.
Daniel's next message took longer.
Do not contact Hale.
Claire's stomach turned.
She typed back.
You know him.
Daniel answered.
Yes.
“Claire?”
Diane's voice trembled through the phone.
“What?”
“Is the baby all right?”
The question landed badly.
Claire looked toward the NICU direction as if she could see through walls.
“She was born.”
Diane gasped.
“Oh.”
“She's premature.”
“Can I come?”
Claire did not answer.
“Please.”
“I don't know.”
“Claire.”
“I don't know.”
For once Diane did not push.
Claire heard her take a shaky breath.
Then a sound came through the line.
A car door.
Diane stopped speaking.
“Mom?”
No answer.
“Mom.”
Another car door closed.
Maya stood.
Claire could hear footsteps on the phone.
Diane whispered, “Someone's here.”
“Who?”
“I can't see.”
“Go back inside.”
“I dropped my garage key.”
“Leave it.”
“I need—”
“Leave it.”
The footsteps became faster.
Diane's breathing turned shallow.
Claire gripped the phone.
“Mom, get into the elevator.”
“I'm trying.”
A man's voice sounded faintly through the call.
Diane froze.
Claire could not make out the words.
“Who is that?”
Diane did not answer.
Then the line went dead.
Claire called back.
No connection.
Again.
Nothing.
Maya was already dialing 911.
Claire sent Daniel one message.
Someone approached my mother in her garage.
His reply came before Maya finished giving the address.
Police are en route.
Claire hated the phrase even more now.
Ten minutes passed.
Then fifteen.
A nurse came in to check Claire's incision.
Claire answered every medical question while staring at her phone.
Pain level.
Seven.
Nausea.
Some.
Dizziness.
Yes.
The nurse frowned.
“You need to rest.”
“My family is possibly being hunted by a man connected to financial crimes.”
The nurse blinked.
“Okay.”
Maya covered her face.
Claire looked at the nurse.
“That sounded dramatic.”
“It did.”
“It's unfortunately accurate.”
“I am definitely staying in my lane.”
The nurse finished the check and left.
At 4:31, Daniel called.
Claire answered before the first ring finished.
“Tell me.”
“Your mother is safe.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Where?”
“With NYPD.”
“What happened?”
“A man approached her in the garage.”
“Who?”
“Building security detained him when she ran toward the elevator.”
“Name?”
“We're still confirming.”
“Was it Hale?”
“No.”
Claire exhaled.
“Did he have a weapon?”
“Not that we know.”
“Then why was he there?”
“He says he was delivering a message.”
“What message?”
Daniel hesitated.
Claire's patience vanished.
“Daniel.”
“He told your mother Richard Morgan has something that belongs to Mr. Hale.”
Claire looked at Maya.
“What?”
“That's all he'll say without an attorney.”
“My father has something?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“We don't know yet.”
Claire heard voices behind Daniel.
“Did you find Chloe?”
“No.”
“Ethan?”
“No.”
“What about the blood?”
“Preliminary field testing confirms it's human.”
Claire's fingers tightened.
“That doesn't tell me whose.”
“No.”
“Anything else from the car?”
“A broken phone.”
“Whose?”
“We're checking.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Documents?”
“No.”
Daniel paused.
“There was one other item.”
“What?”
“A key.”
Maya leaned closer.
“To what?”
Daniel said, “A safe-deposit box.”
Claire frowned.
“Where?”
“Atlantic Federal Bank.”
Maya stared at her.
Claire's mouth went dry.
Atlantic Federal had been the bank listed in the old acquisition records.
The account her father had claimed was from college.
Claire spoke carefully.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“I know that bank.”
“Why?”
“Because the closed account in my acquisition file was there.”
Silence.
Then Daniel said, “Claire, I need you to think very carefully.”
“About what?”
“Whether you ever had a safe-deposit box at Atlantic Federal.”
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“How certain?”
Claire looked at Maya.
Then she remembered something she had not thought about in years.
Her father taking her to a bank when she was twenty-one.
A summer afternoon.
She had been home from graduate school.
Richard had complained about parking.
Inside, a woman slid forms across a desk.
Claire signed because her father said he was adding her to an emergency family account.
She remembered the woman asking whether Claire wanted a second key.
Her father answering for her.
“No,” Claire whispered.
Daniel heard the change in her voice.
“What?”
“I may have signed for one.”
“When?”
“Thirteen years ago.”
“Do you know whose box?”
Claire stared at the wall.
“My father's.”
Daniel was silent for half a second.
Then he said, “We need to find Richard before Ethan does.”
Claire sat frozen with the phone against her ear while the machines around her continued their indifferent beeping.
“What does Ethan know about the box?”
“We don’t know.”
“If Chloe found the trust documents, she may have found the bank records too.”
“That’s possible.”
“Stop saying possible.”
“Then give me a better word.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Likely.”
Daniel was quiet.
“Likely,” he said.
Maya pulled the visitor chair closer and sat.
Claire heard papers moving on Daniel’s end.
“Can the bank open the box without me?”
“Not at this hour, and not casually.”
“Casually?”
“There are procedures.”
“My father may be missing.”
“I know.”
“My brother may be chasing him.”
“I know.”
“And you’re worried about procedures.”
“I’m worried about evidence being destroyed because someone panics and skips procedure.”
Claire stared at the floor.
The polished linoleum reflected a thin line of light beneath the door.
“How soon can the bank be secured?”
“Already in motion.”
“By who?”
“People whose jobs I’m not going to list over the phone.”
Maya whispered, “He enjoys being irritating.”
Daniel heard her.
“I do not.”
“That sounded defensive.”
Claire rubbed her forehead.
“Can we focus?”
“Gladly.”
Daniel’s voice shifted back into professional calm.
“Do you remember anything else about that bank visit?”
“Not much.”
“Who was there?”
“My father.”
May you like
“Anyone else?”
“A woman at the bank.”
