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I could hear David breathing somewhere behind Peter’s voice.Not close enough to touch the phone, but close enough that every uneven breath felt like a hand closing around my throat.“What did you do to him?”Peter made a quiet sound that might have been amusement.“Nothing permanent.”Marco stepped toward the counter.“Peter, listen to me.”“No.”The word came sharp enough to stop him.“I have listened to you for fifteen years.”Marco’s face emptied.Peter continued.“I listened when you told Alessandro I was getting careless.”“I told him you were getting greedy.”“Same difference to a man who thinks suspicion is wisdom.”“That man put food on your mother’s table.”“My mother put food on her own table.”Marco looked away.The remark had found something.Peter knew it.So did everyone else.I gripped the edge of the counter until my fingertips hurt.“I don’t care about your family history.”Peter’s attention shifted back to me.“No, Catherine, you care about yours.”“Put David on.”“He isn’t in a cooperative mood.”A muffled thump sounded behind him.Then David cursed.I took one step toward the phone despite knowing distance meant nothing.“David.”“I’m here.”His voice was strained.Peter said, “You see?”I hated how reasonable he sounded.“Why did you say he wasn’t the victim?”Peter exhaled slowly.“Because everyone in that hospital has spent two years treating David Winters like a man who got trapped between criminals.”Vance’s face tightened.Peter went on.“He wasn’t trapped.”David said, “Peter.”“Tell her.”“Not like this.”“There was never going to be a good version.”“Shut up.”I closed my eyes.The anger in David’s voice was familiar.Not the fear.The fear was new.“Tell me,” I said.Silence.“David.”He did not answer.Peter did.“Your husband sold the first ledger.”My eyes opened.Vance moved closer to the phone.“That is not true.”Peter laughed.“You should know better than anyone.”“Who bought it?”“Ask him.”I did.David stayed silent.My stomach began to sink before he spoke.“I copied the records because I thought I needed leverage.”“That part I heard.”“I didn’t know who I could trust.”“So you sold them?”“No.”Peter interrupted.“You took fifty thousand dollars.”David’s breathing sharpened.“That money was for information.”“Information you got by selling them pages.”“Redacted pages.”Peter laughed again.Marco looked at Vance.Vance’s face had gone gray.I said, “Who did you sell them to?”David answered this time.“A private investigator.”“Working for who?”“I didn’t know then.”“That is not good enough.”“I know.”I almost screamed at the phone.Instead, I lowered my voice.“Who was paying him?”David’s answer came after a long pause.“Peter.”Marco turned sharply toward the device.Peter said, “There we are.”I stared at nothing.It was too ugly to fit together quickly.“You bought information from David?”“Indirectly.”“And he didn’t know it was you?”“Not at first.”David said, “He used three layers of intermediaries.”Peter sounded pleased.“I was careful.”“You’re a parasite.”“Coming from you, that lacks force.”Sergeant Hall stepped closer.“This conversation is over unless you provide your location.”Peter ignored her.She glanced at the younger officer and pointed toward the end of the hall.He left immediately, already speaking into his radio.Peter heard the movement through the phone.“Police are charmingly predictable.”Hall said, “So are kidnappers.”A pause.“Kidnapper is dramatic.”“You’re holding a man against his will.”“He came to me.”David shouted something I could not make out.Peter sighed.“He came armed, if that improves your paperwork.”Hall did not react.“Location.”“No.”I cut in.“Why did David come to you?”Peter’s voice softened.“Because he knew I had found the storage facility.”Marco shook his head.“He wouldn’t go alone.”David answered.“I didn’t.”Peter went quiet.That silence was different.For the first time, he had not planned for the line.Marco heard it too.“Who went with you?”David did not answer.Peter said, “That’s enough.”“Who?” I asked.A scraping noise came through the phone.Then David grunted.I pressed both palms against the counter.“Stop touching him.”Peter’s voice returned colder.“Then stop asking questions that create problems.”“You called me.”“Yes.”“You wanted witnesses.”“Yes.”“Then you don’t get to complain because I’m listening.”Marco glanced at me.Something in his expression changed.Respect, maybe.Or concern that I had begun sounding like people he worked for.I did not care.“Who went with David?”Peter said nothing.David forced the words out.“Maya.”The room disappeared for a second.I saw only Renee holding Logan.My son was picking at Captain Bear’s ear.“Maya?”David said my babysitter’s name again.I looked at Sergeant Hall.“She had an asthma attack.”Renee’s face changed.Vance whispered, “Jesus.”Peter gave a tired sigh.“It wasn’t asthma.”My stomach turned.“What did you do?”“Nothing.”“You said—”“She used the inhaler because she needed an excuse to cancel.”I could not understand the sentence.“Why?”David said, “Because she was supposed to meet me.”I stared at the phone.“No.”“Cat.”“No.”“I contacted her six months ago.”The betrayal came from such an unexpected direction that it felt almost ridiculous.Maya.Twenty-four years old.Graduate student.Always late by seven minutes.Always leaving glitter in my carpet because she did crafts with Logan even after I told her glitter was the herpes of art supplies.“You contacted my babysitter.”“Yes.”“She knew you were alive?”“Not at first.”“When?”“Three months ago.”I looked toward Logan.He was trying to put Captain Bear into Renee’s scrub pocket.My voice dropped.“She knew for three months.”David said nothing.“That girl sat at my kitchen table.”“Cat.”“She watched me cry on your birthday.”“I didn’t ask her to lie to you about that.”“She still did.”“She was helping me watch Logan.”“I hired her to watch Logan.”“Peter’s people were getting closer.”“So you recruited my babysitter into whatever this is?”“She was already involved.”That stopped me.“What does that mean?”David hesitated.“Maya’s older brother worked for the storage company.”Marco leaned in.“Which one?”Peter snapped, “David.”David ignored him.“Chesapeake Self Storage.”Vance pulled out his own phone.Marco slapped it from his hand.“No calls.”Vance looked at him.“You think Peter is the only one who can find an address?”“I think anyone touching a phone right now is advertising.”Sergeant Hall said, “He’s right.”Vance looked offended that she agreed.I barely heard them.“What happened to Maya’s brother?”David’s voice changed.“He died last year.”My chest tightened.“Maya told me he overdosed.”“That’s what the report said.”Peter muttered something.David continued.“He found somebody accessing old payment records tied to my unit.”“And told Maya?”“Yes.”“And she told you?”“Eventually.”“Why not the police?”“She did.”Sergeant Hall looked up.David said, “Nothing happened.”Hall’s expression hardened.“That depends who she called.”“She filed a report in Anne Arundel County.”Hall looked toward the officer who had left.“I’ll check.”Peter laughed quietly.“You really do believe paperwork saves people.”“No,” Hall said.“I believe paperwork tells me who ignored them.”Peter went silent.That was the second time someone had unsettled him.I filed it away.“What happened to Maya’s brother?”David answered carefully.“He was found in his apartment.”“Overdose?”“Yes.”“Was it?”“I don’t know.”Peter said, “He was an addict.”David’s voice went hard.“He was in recovery for fourteen months.”“People relapse.”“People also get killed.”The two men fell silent.I could feel an entire history between them that I did not understand.“Is Maya with you now?”“No.”“Where is she?”David did not answer.“David.”“She was outside.”Peter said, “Past tense.”My mouth went dry.“What does that mean?”A new sound came through the line.A distant alarm.Not a hospital alarm.Higher pitched.Regular.Beep.Beep.Beep.Marco’s head lifted.Vance turned toward him.David shouted, “Maya, go.”Everything on the phone erupted at once.Peter cursed.There was a heavy crash.A woman screamed.Then the line went dead.I stared at Sergeant Hall’s gloved hand.“No.”She immediately tried calling back.The phone rang.Once.Twice.Then voicemail.Marco pulled out his phone.Hall pointed at him.“Who are you calling?”“My people.”“No.”“They can find the storage facility faster.”“And possibly warn whoever is there.”Marco stopped.He hated that she was right.Vance bent to pick up his fallen phone.“Chesapeake has multiple locations.”Marco said, “David said Peter traced the facility from an old receipt.”I looked at him.“You remember that?”“I remember useful information.”“Then remember the alarm.”He stared at me.“What?”“The sound before the call dropped.”“It could be anything.”“No.”I closed my eyes and heard it again.Beep.Beep.Beep.Not a fire alarm.Not a car.Something irritatingly familiar.I had heard it before.Years ago.David and I had rented a storage unit when we moved apartments because the new place was smaller.Every night after nine, the side entrance required a code.If somebody held the door open too long, an alarm sounded.Exactly like that.I opened my eyes.“That was a storage facility door alarm.”Marco’s expression sharpened.“You’re sure?”“No.”I hated the uncertainty.“I think so.”Sergeant Hall was already on her radio.“Get me locations for Chesapeake Self Storage, Baltimore metro, prioritize any property tied to Catherine or David Winters, Elliot Vance, Peter Romano, Maya’s full name once we have it.”Renee supplied Maya’s last name.“Chen.”Hall repeated it.Vance said, “There are four Chesapeake facilities.”“How do you know?”“I checked years ago.”Marco looked at him with open disgust.“Of course you did.”Vance ignored him.“Essex, Glen Burnie, Catonsville, and one near the port.”I looked at Marco.“Which makes sense for Peter?”“The port.”Vance shook his head.“Too obvious.”Marco said, “He uses port warehouses.”“Exactly.”“He hides inside patterns because people assume he won’t.”Vance stared at him.“That sentence is nonsense.”“It isn’t if you know him.”I said, “Maya’s brother worked for the company.”Everyone looked at me.“What?” Marco asked.“If Peter wanted old records, he’d go where her brother worked.”Sergeant Hall was already typing.Renee said, “Maya once mentioned Glen Burnie.”I turned.“When?”“She said her brother used to bring her lunch from a place near the airport.”Hall relayed it.Marco grabbed his coat from a chair.“We’re going.”Sergeant Hall blocked him.“No, I’m going.”“So am I.”“No.”I stepped between them.“I’m going too.”Three people answered at once.“No.”I looked at Sergeant Hall first.“My husband is there.”“That is exactly why you are not coming.”“Then what am I supposed to do?”“Protect your child.”The words landed.I turned toward Logan.He had fallen asleep against Renee’s shoulder.Just like that.While adults lied and threatened and reorganized my entire life, my three-year-old had simply run out of energy.One sneaker still blinked faintly whenever his foot twitched.I looked at the flashing blue light.Then at Captain Bear pinned between his cheek and Renee’s shoulder.The choice should have been obvious.It was not.That frightened me.For one second, I wanted to hand my son to Renee and run toward the elevators.I wanted David more than I wanted to admit.Not forgiveness.Not answers.I wanted to see him alive with my own eyes.Sergeant Hall must have seen it on my face.“Catherine.”I swallowed.“I know.”Marco’s phone vibrated.He checked it.Then he looked toward the operating room.“Alessandro is out.”“Alive?” I asked.“For now.”He read the message again.“He’s asking for Catherine.”I almost laughed.“Of course he is.”Sergeant Hall frowned.“Why?”Marco’s eyes stayed on the screen.“Because Peter just sent him a photograph.”“What photograph?”Marco looked at me.“David standing inside a storage unit.”My heart started pounding again.“That tells us where he is.”“No.”Marco’s voice had gone very quiet.“The photograph was taken sixteen months ago.”Vance stepped closer.Marco turned the phone toward us.I saw David immediately.Thinner than I remembered.Bearded.Alive.He stood beside rows of cardboard boxes under fluorescent lights.Behind him, half hidden by his shoulder, was a woman.I leaned closer.At first I thought the shock had made me misread her face.Then my stomach dropped.I knew her.I had seen her every morning for almost two years.She was my supervisor.
