Chương 3
Claire almost smiled.
The nurse finished tightening the strap and said, “Your baby’s heart rate is still reassuring.”
“Still.”
“That word is going to bother you no matter how I say it.”
“It is.”
“I know.”
She left the room carrying a wad of discarded tape.
Claire stared at Chloe’s name on her screen.
She called back.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Voicemail.
On the third attempt, the call rang once before being rejected.
Claire switched to messages.
What trust?
The typing indicator appeared.
Then vanished.
It appeared again.
Nothing came.
Claire sent another message.
Are you safe?
This time the reply came immediately.
I don’t know.
Claire sat up too quickly.
Pain pulled through her lower abdomen and she grabbed the railing until it eased.
Where are you?
No answer.
She called Daniel Reeves.
He picked up after two rings.
“Reeves.”
“This is Claire Morgan.”
“I have your number.”
“My sister-in-law just called me.”
Daniel’s tone sharpened.
“What did she say?”
“She said Ethan told her the transfer was going through whether I signed or not.”
A pause.
“Anything else?”
“She said my father told them they should’ve done it before I found out about a trust.”
The pause lasted longer this time.
“Did she identify the trust?”
“No.”
“Did she say where she was?”
“No.”
“Did she sound coerced?”
Claire looked at Chloe’s last message.
“Scared.”
“Send me screenshots of the conversation.”
“I’m sending you everything.”
“Good.”
“You sound like you already know something.”
“I know enough not to speculate on an unsecured call.”
“You knocked on my door because of a fraudulent property transfer and then found me in labor after my brother assaulted me.”
“Yes.”
“I think we’re past the point where discretion is calming.”
Daniel exhaled.
“That’s fair.”
She waited.
“There is an entity connected to the transfer documents,” he said.
“What entity?”
“Westbridge Holdings.”
Claire had never heard the name.
Daniel continued.
“It appears in several transactions we’re reviewing involving assets moved between family-controlled trusts and shell companies.”
“Family-controlled whose family?”
“I can’t give you the full case.”
“Mine?”
“I can tell you your father’s name appears in records connected to Westbridge.”
Claire’s mouth went dry.
“My father is a retired dentist.”
“I’m aware.”
“He complains about property taxes.”
“I’m also aware people can complain about taxes and still own complicated things.”
Claire rubbed the bridge of her nose.
“Why would my father be involved in transferring my penthouse?”
“That is one of the questions we’re trying to answer.”
“The apartment is mine.”
“On paper, yes.”
“On paper and in reality.”
“I’m not disputing that.”
“He didn’t give me the money.”
“I didn’t say he did.”
“I bought it after the acquisition.”
“I know.”
Claire’s grip tightened around the phone.
“How do you know?”
“Public records, financing records, and documents obtained during the investigation.”
The words settled unpleasantly.
Claire had spent years designing systems that exposed hidden patterns in other people’s data.
She had never considered what it would feel like to become a pattern in someone else’s investigation.
“Did Ethan know you were coming tonight?”
“We hadn’t contacted him.”
“Did my father?”
“No.”
“So they weren’t trying to move the property because they knew you were investigating.”
“We don’t know that.”
Claire heard the door open.
Maya walked in carrying a canvas tote bag and wearing black sweatpants, a long wool coat, and two different sneakers.
She stopped when she saw Claire.
Claire stopped speaking.
Maya’s eyes moved over the hospital gown, the monitors, the bruising beginning near Claire’s temple, and the swollen line around her wrist where Ethan had grabbed her.
Her face changed very little.
That was worse.
“I’ll call you back,” Claire said.
Daniel replied, “Send me the screenshots first.”
She hung up.
Maya placed the tote bag on the visitor chair.
“I brought you socks.”
Claire looked at her shoes.
“Are those two different sneakers?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I put them on in the dark.”
“You live in a building with electricity.”
“I was in a hurry.”
Claire nodded.
Maya stood beside the bed.
Then she slapped Claire across the shoulder.
Claire stared at her.
“What was that?”
“That was for waiting six months to call me until your brother tried to kill you.”
“He didn’t try to kill me.”
“Fine.”
Maya folded her arms.
“He merely assaulted a woman in her third trimester and left her bleeding on a floor.”
“My parents left too.”
Maya’s jaw flexed.
“Great.”
Claire looked toward the door.
“I lied to the nurse and told her my friend was coming.”
“Well, for once your control issues predicted reality.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
She turned away.
Maya’s expression softened.
“Oh, hell.”
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You’re about to.”
“I was going to ask if you want your hair tied back.”
Claire touched it.
It was still tangled from Ethan’s hand.
“Yes.”
Maya pulled an elastic from her wrist and carefully gathered Claire’s hair without commenting on the sore patches near her scalp.
When she finished, she sat in the chair.
Neither woman spoke for a minute.
A cart rattled past outside.
Somebody laughed loudly down the hall.
Maya reached into the tote.
“I also brought your charger, toothbrush, and that ridiculous face cream you buy.”
“You went to my apartment?”
“Marco let me in.”
Claire looked at her.
“Daniel was still there?”
“The federal agent?”
“Yes.”
“He was standing in your living room with two other people and looked deeply offended by your brother’s paperwork.”
“That sounds like him.”
“You’ve known him forty minutes.”
“He has a very expressive forehead.”
Maya handed over the charger.
“Marco told me what happened.”
“He shouldn’t have.”
“Marco thinks privacy is a European concept.”
Claire plugged in her phone.
“I need you to look at something.”
“Your baby monitor?”
“No.”
“That would have been my first choice.”
Claire showed her Chloe’s messages.
Maya read them twice.
“What trust?”
“I don’t know.”
“Your parents ever mention one?”
“No.”
“Grandparents?”
“No.”
Claire watched Maya scroll upward through Ethan’s threats.
May you like
Maya stopped.
“He put this in writing?”
