Chapter 10 - The Dead Man's Phone.
The body in Evan Pike's car was not Evan Pike.
Dental records identified the victim as one of his employees, Martin Gage.
Pike disappeared.
His office was empty.
His home had been cleared of clothes, computers, and personal documents.
His bank accounts showed a transfer of two hundred thousand dollars six hours before the kitchen confrontation.
The money came from a shell company listed in Richard's second ledger.
Daniel finally felt the shape of the conspiracy.
Margaret had not hired random people.
She had access to the family lawyer, the company security firm, internal financial accounts, and enough personal information to forge medical and custody documents.
But one question remained.
Who had built the system for her?
Margaret was manipulative.
She was not technically skilled.
Rachel was.
That thought followed Daniel everywhere.
At home, Emma locked the doors twice.
Noah refused to sleep alone.
Daniel moved a mattress into their bedroom and told him it was camping.
Noah knew it was not.
"Is Grandma bad?" he asked.
Daniel sat beside him.
"Grandma made bad choices."
"Does she hate Mommy?"
Daniel looked toward Emma.
She stood in the doorway, eyes wet.
"No one gets to hurt Mommy," Noah said.
Daniel swallowed.
"That's right."
Noah touched the scratches on his face.
"Did Grandma do that?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Daniel had no answer simple enough for a five-year-old.
"Because she wanted people to believe something that wasn't true."
Noah thought about that.
"That's lying."
"Yes."
"Then tell the truth louder."
Daniel almost smiled.
"We're trying."
At midnight, Ortiz called.
Police had located Martin Gage's phone near the burned vehicle.
Most data had been wiped.
One unsent draft message remained in temporary storage.
Daniel met Ortiz and Maya at the station.
The draft contained six words.
SHE DOESN'T KNOW RACHEL IS RUNNING IT.
Daniel read them without breathing.
Maya cursed softly.
Ortiz watched him.
"Do not call your sister."
"I wasn't going to."
"Your face says otherwise."
Daniel shoved the phone away.
"What does 'running it' mean?"
Ortiz spread photographs across the table.
"Could mean the financial theft."
She placed another photo down.
"Could mean Blackridge."
Another.
"Could mean the custody operation."
Maya added, "Or it could be planted."
Daniel looked at her.
"Everything can't be planted."
"No."
Maya's voice was careful.
"But enough planted evidence can make the real evidence invisible."
Ortiz received a call and stepped away.
When she returned, her expression had changed.
"We found Dr. Keene."
Emma joined by speakerphone.
"Is he okay?"
"He's alive."
Ortiz sat.
"He was hiding at a motel near the airport."
"Why?"
"He says Charles Voss paid him fifty thousand dollars to sign the affidavit."
Maya closed her eyes briefly.
"And Margaret?"
"Keene says Voss told him the request came from Margaret."
Daniel felt no relief.
"That's still secondhand."
Ortiz nodded.
"But Keene also recorded one meeting."
She played the audio.
Charles Voss's voice was unmistakable.
"You sign it, Margaret gets temporary control, and we have forty-eight hours to clean the account."
Keene asked, "What account?"
Voss answered, "The one Rachel built."
Daniel stared at the speaker.
Maya leaned forward.
"Play that again."
Ortiz did.
The one Rachel built.
Emma's voice came through the phone.
"Daniel."
He could barely speak.
"I heard it."
At that exact moment, his home security app sent a motion alert.
BEDROOM WINDOW OPEN.
Daniel's blood turned cold.
Emma was home with Noah.
"Emma, get out of the house."
She was already moving.
"What?"
"Take Noah and run."
A loud crash came through the phone.
Emma screamed.
Then the call went dead.
Before Daniel left the station, Maya made him promise not to go home alone.
He promised because he intended to keep it.
Then Emma called to say Noah had finally fallen asleep.
Daniel heard a floorboard creak in the background.
Emma heard it too.
"Carla?" she called.
No one answered.
The babysitter had already left twenty minutes earlier.
Daniel stood so quickly his chair overturned.
That was when the security alert appeared.
BEDROOM WINDOW OPEN.
May you like
The danger had not arrived after the call.
It had already been waiting inside the house.
