Chương 14
"Anna."
"What?"
"There's something else."
I looked at him.
"You keep saying that."
"I know."
"I don't like it."
"I know."
"What?"
He sat across from me.
"Before I came here, Daniel called me."
Beth stopped scrolling through her phone.
"When?"
"About an hour ago."
"Why didn't you say so?"
"Because I wasn't sure it mattered."
"Everything matters right now."
"I know that now."
"What did he say?"
Mark rubbed his thumb against the edge of the table.
"He asked whether Claire had come home."
"And?"
"I told him no."
"What else?"
"He said she had been unstable lately."
My jaw tightened.
"He used that word?"
"Yes."
"Anything else?"
"He said she had been threatening to ruin both relationships if he didn't leave you."
Beth frowned.
"That's convenient."
Mark nodded.
"He said she had become obsessed with him."
"Did you believe him?"
He looked embarrassed.
"For about five minutes."
That honesty surprised me.
"Why?"
"Because I was furious with her."
He looked at the floor.
"And because some part of me wanted there to be a version where she had done all of this alone."
I understood.
The ugliest stories were sometimes the easiest ones because they gave pain a single address.
"What changed your mind?"
"The drive."
"Before or after you spoke to him?"
"After."
"What exactly did he ask you?"
Mark hesitated.
"He wanted to know whether I still had the external drive."
Beth and I looked at each other.
"He asked specifically?"
"Yes."
"What did you say?"
"I said I didn't know what he was talking about."
"Did he believe you?"
"No."
I stared at the progress bar.
Fifty-three percent.
"So he knows it's missing."
"Yes."
"And he knows it can expose him."
"Probably."
My phone buzzed.
A message from Claire.
He is outside.
I stood so fast the chair rolled backward.
"Who?"
Beth was already beside me.
Another message arrived.
Daniel.
Then another.
He wants me to come to the car.
I called Claire.
She answered whispering.
"Where are you?"
"Inside now."
"Lock the door."
"I did."
"Are Mom and Dad still at urgent care?"
"Yes."
"Is anyone else there?"
"No."
"Do not go outside."
"I won't."
I heard a car door slam faintly through her phone.
Then Daniel's voice, distant.
"Claire!"
She stopped breathing.
My whole body went cold.
"Go upstairs."
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
"Anna—"
"Go."
I heard her footsteps.
Daniel called her name again.
Then something struck the front door.
Claire gasped.
"He's knocking."
"Stay away from the windows."
"It's his house too, sort of."
"No, it isn't."
"I mean he knows the code."
My stomach dropped.
"Did Mom change it?"
"I don't know."
I heard keypad tones through the phone.
Then a long electronic beep.
The lock clicked.
Claire whispered, "Oh God."
Beth was already dialing 911.
Mark yanked the copied drive from its packaging even though the transfer was only fifty-eight percent complete.
"No."
I pointed at the screen.
"Leave it."
"Anna, he knows we're here."
"Then let him know."
Through Claire's phone came the sound of the front door opening.
Daniel called her name again.
His voice was calm.
That frightened me most.
"Claire, I just want to talk."
I said, "Lock yourself in my old room."
Claire was breathing hard.
"I am."
"Push the dresser against the door."
"It's heavy."
"Then use the chair."
I heard scraping.
Daniel's footsteps entered the house below.
"Claire?"
He sounded almost gentle.
"Come on."
Then he raised his voice.
"Anna is turning everybody against us."
My sister whispered, "Us?"
I closed my eyes.
"Don't answer him."
Daniel called again.
"She doesn't understand what happened."
Claire's breathing changed.
Not fear now.
Anger.
"Don't."
I heard the word before I could stop it.
She whispered, "He planned this."
"Claire."
"He planned all of it."
"Do not talk to him."
"He made me think I started everything."
The footsteps reached the stairs.
Beth spoke urgently to the dispatcher beside me.
Claire said, "Anna."
"What?"
"I'm sorry."
"Not now."
"I know."
"Claire, listen to me."
The footsteps creaked on the staircase.
"Stay behind the door."
Daniel's voice came closer through the phone.
"Claire, open up."
She did not answer.
He knocked once.
Then twice.
"Claire."
My sister whispered, "What if he breaks it?"
"He won't."
I did not know that.
I said it anyway.
Daniel tried the handle.
Then his voice changed.
"Open the door."
Claire started crying silently.
I heard her breathing.
Beth covered the phone and said, "Police are four minutes out."
Four minutes sounded enormous.
Daniel hit the door.
Claire screamed.
I gripped the edge of the table.
"Daniel!"
The word tore out of me before I thought.
Silence came through Claire's phone.
Then his voice.
"Anna?"
He sounded surprised.
Claire had put me on speaker without telling me.
I stood very still.
"Yes."
Another silence.
Then Daniel laughed softly.
"I knew you'd get involved."
"You broke into my parents' house."
"I have the code."
"That isn't permission."
"I came to talk to Claire."
"Then leave."
"Tell her to open the door."
"No."
"Anna."
"Police are coming."
He went quiet.
Then he said, "You really want to do this?"
I looked at the computer.
The copy bar reached sixty-four percent.
"Yes."
His voice hardened.
"You think those files prove something?"
So he knew.
Mark heard it too.
His face changed.
I said, "I didn't mention files."
Daniel did not answer.
I let the silence sit.
Then he said, "You have no idea what you're looking at."
"Your lawyer said the same thing."
That startled him.
Good.
I heard movement.
Fast footsteps.
Not upstairs.
Down.
The front door slammed.
Claire began sobbing.
Beth told the dispatcher he was leaving.
I moved to the window.
A black SUV pulled away from the curb outside the office building across from us.
Not Daniel's car.
I froze.
"Mark."
He came to the glass.
"What?"
I pointed.
"Did you tell anyone we were here?"
"No."
"Is that his?"
"No."
May you like
The SUV disappeared at the intersection.
My phone buzzed again.
