Chương 13
“Did she know you planned to give Claire the files?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know Claire would be in the study that night?”
“Yes.”
Claire's heartbeat accelerated.
Maya took her wrist, checking her pulse.
“Where does Lena live?” Cole asked.
Margaret gave the address.
Alvarez finished her call.
“She flew to Lisbon two days after the fire.”
Daniel stared.
“Portugal?”
“Ticket purchased morning after the fire.”
Claire felt the story trying to become too clean.
The suspicious assistant.
The international flight.
The perfect missing person.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
Cole said, “No what?”
“This is too easy.”
Nobody spoke.
Claire looked at Margaret.
“Why would Lena want to hurt me?”
“I don't know.”
“Then don't turn her into the answer because she got on a plane.”
Cole nodded.
“Agreed.”
Daniel looked toward the study.
“What did she know about the Asterion?”
Margaret's expression became guarded.
Claire saw it.
“What?”
Margaret said nothing.
Claire stepped toward her.
“You're doing it again.”
“Claire—”
“You are standing in the burned hallway where I almost died, and you are still deciding which truth is safe enough.”
Margaret looked at Daniel.
Then down.
“Lena's father was one of the men killed on Asterion.”
Silence.
Daniel whispered, “Jesus Christ.”
Claire stared.
“What was his name?”
“Peter Price.”
Claire remembered the article.
Two dead crew members.
Peter Price.
Miguel Santos.
“Did she know Thomas ignored the maintenance report?”
“Not when I hired her.”
“When did she find out?”
“After Thomas died.”
“When she helped you with the papers.”
“Yes.”
Claire felt anger rise.
“You kept her employed?”
“She asked me to.”
“Why?”
“She said she needed the job.”
Cole said, “Did she ever threaten the family?”
“No.”
“Express anger?”
“Of course she expressed anger. Her father died.”
“Anything directed at Claire?”
“No.”
Claire looked toward the blackened doorway.
“Maybe I wasn't the target.”
Cole followed her gaze.
“What do you mean?”
“The documents.”
Daniel said, “She might have wanted them destroyed.”
Claire nodded.
“If Margaret told her I planned to expose everything—”
Margaret interrupted.
“I did not tell her that.”
“You said she knew I would be here.”
“She knew I was giving you records. That's all.”
“Did she know which records?”
“Yes.”
Cole turned to the investigator.
“Can we determine whether the latch was tampered with recently?”
“Maybe. There may be residue in the tool marks.”
“How long?”
“Lab.”
Claire stared at the study.
She suddenly remembered something else.
A sound after Daniel left.
A knock.
Then Lena's voice through the door.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
Claire turned so fast she became dizzy.
“She came to the room.”
Margaret went pale.
“Lena?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After you left.”
“What did she say?”
Claire closed her eyes.
The memory came in pieces.
She was crouched near the desk gathering papers.
Knock.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
Claire called, “Come in.”
The door opened.
Lena stood there holding a tray.
A crystal glass of water.
A charger cable.
“Mr. Bennett said you might need this.”
Claire looked at the charger.
“I already have the battery.”
Lena's eyes on the papers.
Then on Evelyn's photograph.
Her face changed.
Claire opened her eyes.
“She saw the documents.”
Cole said, “Did she enter?”
“Yes.”
“Did she touch the door?”
“I don't know.”
“Did she say anything?”
Claire pressed her fingers against her temple.
Lena setting the water down.
Her hand shaking.
“You found Evelyn.”
Claire looking up.
“You knew her?”
“No.”
A lie.
Claire could see it now.
Lena staring at Peter Price's name on the maintenance sheet.
Then asking:
“What are you going to do?”
Claire answering:
“Tell the truth.”
Lena laughing once.
Not amused.
“Which one?”
Claire opened her eyes.
“She was angry.”
“At you?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel said, “Did she leave before the fire?”
“Yes.”
“Did she close the door?”
Claire pictured it.
Lena in the doorway.
Her hand at the edge.
A tiny metallic object.
A key?
No.
Claire strained.
Maya touched her shoulder.
“Stop.”
“I almost have it.”
“No. You're forcing.”
“I need—”
“You need to stop.”
Claire snapped, “Do not tell me what I need.”
Maya recoiled.
The silence that followed was ugly.
Claire regretted it immediately.
But she did not apologize.
Not yet.
She was tired of apologizing while injured.
Cole said, “We'll find Lena.”
“How?”
“Through Portuguese authorities, airline records, her phone, financial activity, attorney contact if she has one.”
“Not instantly.”
“No.”
Claire nodded.
Reality again.
Paperwork.
Delay.
Uncertainty.
Good.
She trusted things that took time more than revelations that arrived on command.
Daniel looked at her.
“You should leave.”
Claire almost laughed.
“You definitely lost the right to say that.”
“I mean the house.”
His voice was gentle.
“You're shaking.”
She looked down.
He was right.
Her entire body trembled.
Maya stepped closer but did not touch her this time.
Claire looked at her.
“I'm sorry.”
Maya nodded.
“Later.”
“Fair.”
They left Briar House before sunset.
Daniel stayed behind with investigators.
Margaret went with her attorneys.
Claire returned to Maya's townhouse and spent the evening doing something she had not expected: watching a terrible home renovation show.
Maya ordered Thai food.
Claire ate three bites of noodles and half a spring roll.
Neither discussed the fire for almost an hour.
Then Maya pointed at the television.
“That kitchen island is a crime.”
Claire looked at it.
“It's marble.”
“It's the size of Delaware.”
“Rich people like surfaces.”
“I've noticed.”
Claire smiled.
Her phone remained face down on the coffee table.
At nine twelve, it vibrated.
She ignored it.
At nine thirteen, again.
Maya glanced at it.
“Cole?”
Claire checked.
Emily.
She opened the message.
Found something weird in your original email headers. Call me.
Claire called.
Emily answered immediately.
“I didn't want to text this.”
“What is it?”
“The files I sent you that night weren't the same files you originally gave me.”
Claire sat upright.
“What?”
“The maintenance report was the same. Evelyn's letter was the same. But the spreadsheet wasn't.”
“What changed?”
“Rows were deleted.”
May you like
“Which?”
“I don't know yet. But your original file had more data.”
