Chương 10
“I think somebody knew the warrant targets.”
“That list was limited.”
“How limited?”
“Me, the prosecutor, four investigators, two supervisors, and the judge.”
I blinked.
“That’s not limited.”
“In law enforcement, that’s a small dinner party.”
Daniel rubbed his jaw.
“What about the storage unit?”
“The address was in the affidavit.”
“Who could see it?”
“Same group.”
I thought of the backup drive sitting conveniently inside Margaret’s unit.
Not hidden well enough to survive a search.
Hidden well enough to be discovered.
“Could Beckett have learned about the warrant from Margaret?”
Ruiz shook her head.
“She didn’t know until execution.”
“Victor?”
“Same.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Unless the drive was planted before the warrant existed.”
That changed the shape of everything.
Ruiz sat again.
“When did the drive disappear?”
“Yesterday,” I said.
“Maybe.”
She nodded.
“Warrant application was finalized Tuesday night.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“So whoever took the drive yesterday could already have known which unit would be searched.”
“Yes.”
“Someone close to the investigation.”
“Or someone monitoring the people involved.”
My phone vibrated on the table.
All three of us looked at it.
The screen showed a number I did not recognize.
A local area code.
No name.
Ruiz lifted one finger.
“Don’t answer yet.”
The phone stopped.
A second later, a voicemail notification appeared.
Ruiz said, “Speaker.”
I opened it.
There were four seconds of silence.
Then Charles Beckett’s voice filled the room.
“Claire, I imagine Daniel is standing beside you by now.”
Daniel’s face drained.
Beckett continued.
“If you want to know why Frank Vale died believing his own son would eventually destroy the company, tell Daniel to stop lying about the notebooks.”
A pause followed.
Then Beckett laughed softly.
“And before Detective Ruiz starts tracing this call, she should ask herself which member of her team told me where Margaret would be searched.”
The message ended.
Nobody moved.
Daniel looked at Ruiz.
She was already reaching for her phone.
I caught her wrist.
She looked at me sharply.
“Wait.”
“Claire.”
“He wants you to react.”
“I know.”
“He named your leak because he wants you looking inward.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t mean there isn’t one.”
“No.”
Daniel stood.
“What did he mean about my father?”
I turned toward him.
“You tell me.”
“I don’t know.”
“That answer is getting old.”
“I swear to you.”
Ruiz pulled her wrist gently from my hand.
“Both of you listen.”
Her voice had changed.
Not louder.
Colder.
“From this moment forward, assume Beckett knows more than he should.”
She looked at Daniel.
“Assume he may know about the notebooks.”
Then she looked at me.
“Assume he knows Claire matters more to you than the company.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“He already proved that with the brake threat.”
“Yes.”
Ruiz picked up the envelope.
“And assume this was never about getting Margaret arrested.”
I stared at the forged handwriting.
“What was it about?”
Ruiz looked at me.
“Getting Daniel alive in public.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why would Beckett want that?”
I saw it a second before he did.
“Because now he doesn’t have to guess whether Daniel survived.”
Ruiz nodded.
“And because everyone who matters now knows exactly where Daniel is.”
A heavy thud came from upstairs.
Then another.
The lights flickered.
The fluorescent tube above us went dark.
Daniel reached for me in the same instant Ruiz drew her weapon.
Emergency lighting glowed red along the baseboards.
From somewhere above came a woman’s scream.
Ruiz moved toward the door.
“Stay behind me.”
The officer outside shouted.
“Lockdown.”
A second voice answered from the stairwell.
“Detective, we lost power to the front security doors.”
Ruiz stopped.
“How?”
“Main panel was cut.”
Daniel’s hand tightened around mine.
I almost pulled away.
Then another sound came through the ceiling.
Glass breaking.
Ruiz looked at us.
“Back room.”
We moved.
The small storage room behind the kitchen smelled like dust and industrial cleaner.
Ruiz pushed us inside and positioned herself at the doorway.
Daniel whispered, “This is Beckett.”
“Maybe.”
I looked at him.
“You are not allowed to steal Elena’s word.”
Something almost like a laugh escaped him.
Then footsteps pounded down the basement stairs.
Ruiz raised her weapon.
“Police.”
The footsteps stopped.
A man’s voice called back.
“Ruiz, it’s Harris.”
She did not lower the gun.
“Show me your hands.”
A uniformed officer appeared slowly with both palms raised.
His face was sweating.
“We found Keene unconscious behind the hearse.”
“The funeral director?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Blunt-force injury.”
“Alive?”
“Breathing.”
“Who did it?”
“Don’t know.”
Ruiz’s eyes narrowed.
“Where’s his jacket?”
Harris looked confused.
“What?”
“Keene’s suit jacket.”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel whispered, “Oh, hell.”
Ruiz turned toward him.
“What?”
“The funeral staff all had access badges.”
Harris nodded.
“Front service entrance.”
Ruiz swore under her breath.
Her radio crackled.
“Possible male suspect, gray funeral-home jacket, east corridor.”
Ruiz moved instantly.
“Harris, with me.”
She pointed at Daniel and me.
“Stay here.”
They ran upstairs.
Daniel shut the storage-room door.
I turned on him.
“You’re going to tell me where those notebooks are.”
He shook his head.
“Not here.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“If Beckett is inside this building, the rules changed.”
“The reason I’m not telling you is because he may be inside this building.”
“You think he can hear through walls?”
“I think every time I decide something is impossible, today proves me stupid.”
That was difficult to argue with.
We stood in red emergency light while footsteps and shouted commands moved above us.
His hand was still around mine.
I looked down.
He released it immediately.
“Sorry.”
I did not say anything.
After a moment he leaned against a shelf.
His knees were shaking again.
“You need to sit.”
“I’m fine.”
“You were chemically sedated, spent an hour in a coffin, got slapped, and have been standing for half the day.”
“That sounds bad when you list it.”
“Sit.”
He lowered himself onto an overturned bucket.
May you like
I found another and sat across from him.
For thirty seconds we listened to the chaos upstairs.
