Chương 7
“I don’t know.”
“Did Vivienne tell you?”
“I can’t discuss her statement.”
“She told me to ask.”
Ortiz gathered her papers.
“Then maybe you should ask yourself why that sentence bothered you more than nine million dollars.”
Daniel stared at her.
She left before he could ask how she knew about the trust.
That evening, Lily requested macaroni without cheese.
Daniel made plain noodles with butter.
She ate three bites.
“Mom hated peas,” she said.
Daniel looked up.
They had not been talking about Amelia.
“Yes.”
“She said they roll around like little green eyeballs.”
Daniel smiled despite himself.
“She did.”
“Did Vivienne know that?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she hate peas too?”
“I never asked.”
Lily stabbed a noodle.
“What if twins hate the same food?”
“Sometimes they might.”
“What if they like the same boys?”
Daniel coughed.
Lily looked at him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You made a weird noise.”
“I’m old.”
“You’re forty.”
“Exactly.”
She rolled her eyes.
For thirty seconds they were themselves.
Then Lily asked, “Was Mom leaving you?”
Daniel put down his fork.
“Where did you hear that?”
“Boat.”
He nodded.
“Vivienne said it.”
“Yes.”
“Was she?”
“I don’t know.”
Lily frowned.
“You don’t know a lot.”
“No.”
“Before, you always knew.”
Daniel looked at the uneaten food between them.
“I probably pretended more.”
She considered this carefully.
“I liked it better.”
“So did I.”
After Lily went to bed, Daniel opened the documents Marcus had sent.
The apartment application was real.
Amelia Hart.
One adult.
One child.
Planned occupancy date: June 1.
The crash had happened May 21.
Daniel stared at the form until the letters blurred.
There was an emergency contact.
V. Mercer.
He enlarged the scan.
His wife had written the name herself.
Vivienne Mercer.
The woman Amelia had supposedly never mentioned.
Daniel stood so abruptly his chair fell backward.
He walked outside.
The night air smelled of cut grass from a neighbor’s yard.
A dog barked three houses away.
Daniel leaned against the patio wall and pressed both palms over his face.
The last month of Amelia’s life returned in pieces.
Not revelations.
Annoying things.
She had stopped buying the expensive yogurt Lily liked.
She had complained about Daniel taking calls during dinner.
She had slept in the guest room twice and blamed his snoring.
She had asked how difficult it would be to transfer Lily’s preschool records.
He had told her it was probably online.
She had looked at him for a long time.
He had forgotten the conversation by morning.
A week before the crash, she asked what he would do if she disappeared.
Daniel had laughed.
He remembered the exact stupid answer.
Enjoy the closet space.
Amelia had laughed too.
Maybe that was why he had never understood it as a question.
His phone rang.
Marcus.
Daniel answered.
“She was leaving.”
“Looks that way.”
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“She put Vivienne down as emergency contact.”
“I saw.”
“So they were talking.”
“Yes.”
“When did you find this?”
“Early this morning.”
“You should’ve told me about the contact.”
“You were standing in a hotel bathroom after your daughter had a flare held to her shoulder. I gave you the important part.”
Daniel almost snapped at him.
Then stopped.
“Fair.”
Marcus said, “I found the storage facility manager.”
Daniel straightened.
“He remembers the unit?”
“Not really. But the company keeps archived gate logs and identity scans for closed accounts.”
“And?”
“Vivienne entered the facility three days before Amelia died.”
Daniel’s hand tightened.
“Amelia too?”
“Yes.”
“Together?”
“Same ten-minute window.”
“When did they leave?”
“Amelia’s car exited forty-eight minutes later.”
“Vivienne?”
“No separate vehicle recorded.”
Daniel went quiet.
Marcus continued.
“That doesn’t mean anything by itself.”
“She could’ve left with Amelia.”
“Yes.”
“Where was Amelia going after?”
“We don’t know.”
“Her crash was three days later.”
“Yes.”
Daniel stared toward the dark kitchen window.
“Did Vivienne kill her?”
Marcus sighed.
“Stop.”
“She was with her.”
“Three days earlier.”
“She lied about who she was.”
“Now.”
“She knew the records.”
“Yes.”
“She wants Lily’s trust.”
“Possibly.”
“She tried to take Lily.”
“Possibly.”
Daniel’s voice rose.
“What would be enough for you?”
“Evidence.”
Daniel hung up.
Then immediately regretted it.
He called back.
Marcus answered.
“Sorry.”
“I assumed you would be.”
“Keep looking.”
“I am.”
“Find out what they did at that storage unit.”
“I’m working on it.”
“And Marcus?”
“Yes?”
“Find my daughter’s passport.”
The next morning, Lily refused school.
Daniel did not argue.
He emailed her teacher with a vague explanation about a family emergency.
Five minutes later the teacher called.
Daniel let it ring.
Lily sat at the kitchen table drawing two women.
Both had yellow hair.
One wore green.
One wore blue.
Daniel pretended not to notice.
At ten, his attorney arrived.
Rachel Kim had represented Daniel’s company through two acquisitions, one ugly shareholder dispute, and an employment case that had kept him awake for six months. She wore a gray suit and carried no sympathy on her face.
“You wired an alleged extortionist fifty thousand dollars while your daughter was on the same vessel.”
“Good morning.”
“Why do wealthy men think money becomes wisdom when there are enough zeros?”
“I was having a difficult afternoon.”
“So was Rome.”
Daniel poured coffee.
Rachel declined.
He drank hers too.
She reviewed what police had told him, what Marcus had found, and what Nora had witnessed.
Then she said, “Vivienne’s attorney contacted me.”
Daniel put down the cup.
“What does she want?”
“To communicate an offer.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You don’t know what it is.”
“She held a flare beside Lily.”
“I am aware.”
“She took her passport.”
“Allegedly.”
“She copied it.”
“Yes.”
“She asked about a tender.”
“Yes.”
“What part of this sounds like negotiation?”
“The part where she claims to have evidence relevant to Amelia’s death.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What evidence?”
“She won’t provide it without conditions.”
“Of course.”
Rachel opened a folder.
“She claims Amelia gave her documents before the crash.”
“What kind?”
“Unknown.”
May you like
“What conditions?”
“She wants the remaining two hundred thousand you offered on the yacht.”
