Chương 10
He took her hand.
Claire’s fingers were trembling.
“I felt tired,” she whispered. “Too tired. My arms were heavy.”
Nathan thought of the toxicology report.
The tea.
Victoria alone in the room.
James gone for four minutes.
Claire’s eyes filled.
“I pulled over.”
“What?”
“I think I tried.”
Nathan went still.
“The police report said you drifted across lanes.”
“I know.”
“You remember pulling over?”
“I remember the turn signal.”
She closed her eyes.
“The clicking.”
A turn signal.
A tiny mechanical sound.
Nathan understood then why memory had returned in the kitchen.
The refrigerator.
Every forty minutes, the compressor knocked twice and the ice maker clicked.
Claire opened her eyes.
“I didn’t just lose control.”
Nathan waited.
“I knew something was wrong before the crash.”
The police recovered traffic-camera footage that afternoon.
It did not show the crash clearly.
It showed Claire’s SUV entering the ramp too slowly.
The right turn signal was blinking.
She moved toward the shoulder.
A dark sedan approached from behind.
For three seconds, the two vehicles were side by side.
Then Claire’s SUV accelerated suddenly, crossed the painted line, and disappeared out of frame.
The second car continued.
Its plate was unreadable.
Its make was common.
Nathan watched the video seven times.
Alvarez stopped him before the eighth.
“It does not prove the other driver caused the crash.”
“I know.”
“It does not prove Cross was in that car.”
“I know.”
“It does not even prove Claire saw another car.”
“I know.”
Alvarez looked at him.
“You’re getting better.”
“No, I’m getting tired.”
“That helps too.”
A second camera, half a mile away, caught the sedan exiting.
The plate remained unclear.
But one fact was visible.
The right rear taillight was cracked.
James remembered something.
Nathan did not.
Three years earlier, Daniel Cross had owned a black Mercedes sedan with a damaged right taillight.
James had noted it in the old security file because Daniel once accused a Cole Meridian parking attendant of causing the damage.
The car had been sold.
Police traced it.
The current registered owner was a holding company.
The company’s mailing address belonged to NH Strategic Services.
That was enough for a warrant.
The vehicle was found Friday in a private parking facility near LaGuardia Airport.
Cleaned thoroughly.
Almost.
Investigators recovered fibers and trace material Nathan was not given details about.
More important, the onboard navigation history showed the car near the Cole Meridian Foundation garage Thursday evening.
It also showed the car near St. Augustine Medical Center Sunday night.
Daniel’s lawyer issued a statement by noon.
Mr. Cross categorically denies any involvement in wrongdoing and looks forward to correcting a false narrative driven by a disgraced corporate executive seeking to redirect attention from his own conduct.
Nathan read it twice.
Then handed the phone to Claire.
She read it.
“You’re disgraced now.”
“Apparently.”
“How does it feel?”
“Efficient.”
Claire laughed.
Then she winced and held her ribs.
“Stop making me laugh.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did accidentally.”
Nathan took the phone back.
His own statement had already been drafted by three lawyers and one crisis-communications firm.
He deleted it.
Claire watched.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s new.”
Nathan released a statement containing four sentences.
Three years ago, Cole Meridian failed to report serious internal concerns involving Daniel Cross to appropriate authorities. I supported that decision. It was wrong. I am cooperating fully with investigators and the independent board review.
His lawyers hated it.
The board hated it more.
Daniel Cross hated it most.
Nathan had just destroyed the thing Daniel had been using as leverage.
Saturday morning, Victoria called.
Not Nathan.
Claire.
The phone rang while they were eating pancakes.
Claire stared at the screen.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
Nathan reached for it.
Claire moved the phone away.
“No.”
“It could be her.”
“I know.”
“Then let Alvarez—”
“It’s my phone.”
Nathan stopped.
Claire answered.
“Hello?”
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Claire’s face changed.
“Victoria.”
Emma froze.
Nathan stood.
Claire held up one hand.
“Where are you?”
Victoria’s voice was too faint for Nathan to hear.
Claire listened.
“No.”
Another pause.
“No, you don’t get to ask me that.”
Nathan moved closer.
Claire turned on speakerphone.
Victoria’s voice filled the kitchen.
“I am trying to keep you alive.”
Emma dropped her fork.
Nathan said, “You’re doing an unusual job of it.”
Silence.
Then Victoria said, “Nathan.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Police are looking for you.”
“I know.”
“You left the hospital twenty minutes before Claire almost died.”
“I know what it looks like.”
“What does it look like from your side?”
Victoria breathed slowly.
“Daniel is going to kill me.”
Nathan looked at Claire.
Claire’s expression remained hard.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because he thinks I kept something.”
“What?”
“A copy.”
“Of what?”
Victoria hesitated.
Nathan almost laughed.
“Still negotiating.”
“Shut up, Nathan.”
Emma flinched.
Claire reached across the table and covered her daughter’s hand.
Victoria continued.
“The original Cross audit.”
Nathan frowned.
“The board has it.”
“Not that audit.”
Claire looked at him.
Victoria said, “The one Claire made.”
Nathan stared at his wife.
Claire shook her head.
“I don’t remember.”
“You photographed the vendor files before the internal investigation was closed,” Victoria said. “You told me.”
Claire’s face went pale.
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“Why would I tell you?”
“Because you trusted me.”
The sentence silenced the room.
Emma looked down at her pancake.
Victoria’s voice became quieter.
“You were my friend.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“For how long?”
“What?”
“How long were you stealing from us while being my friend?”
Victoria said nothing.
Claire opened her eyes.
“Months? Years?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like?”
“Complicated.”
Claire laughed once.
“That word should be illegal.”
Nathan moved toward the phone.
“Where is Daniel?”
Victoria answered immediately.
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“It’s the truth.”
“What copy does he think you have?”
Victoria’s breathing sounded uneven now.
“The files Claire saved included correspondence Daniel thought was destroyed.”
“About?”
“The vendor scheme.”
“That’s already exposed.”
May you like
“No.”
Victoria’s voice tightened.
