Chapter 4 - SOMEBODY INSIDE THE HOUSE
Hannah searched the floor.
Nothing.
Under the desk.
Nothing.
Behind the safe.
Nothing.
Nicholas slammed one palm against his wheelchair.
“She took it.”
“No.”
“She was standing right there.”
“She never came close enough.”
“Then who did?”
Hannah replayed the scene.
Nicholas had arrived.
Then Claire.
Nobody else.
Unless—
She looked at the safe again.
There was a second opening at the back.
A narrow gap.
She pressed the panel.
It shifted.
Nicholas stared.
The safe connected through the wall into the next room.
Someone could have reached inside from behind.
Hannah ran into the hall and opened the neighboring storage room.
Empty.
But the rear panel of the safe stood open.
Nicholas swore.
“They were listening.”
“Or waiting.”
Hannah crouched.
A shoe mark disturbed dust near the baseboard.
Large.
Men’s.
Nicholas pulled out his phone.
“Hector.”
Hannah grabbed it from him.
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“He runs security.”
“Rebecca wrote his name.”
“She wrote everyone’s name.”
“She also warned you not to trust household records.”
Nicholas stared at her.
“You think Hector is involved?”
“I think you have spent years surrounded by people who know exactly what you want to hear.”
His face hardened.
“That sounds judgmental.”
“It is.”
Nicholas reached for his phone.
Hannah held it away.
“Until we know who’s involved, nobody gets warned.”
He looked almost offended.
“That’s my phone.”
“And those are your poisoned pills.”
He stopped.
Hannah handed the phone back.
“Call nobody.”
Nicholas stared at her for another second.
Then placed it on his lap.
“Fine.”
They returned to his room through the back corridor.
Halfway there, Walter stepped from the library.
“What happened?”
Nicholas’s gaze sharpened.
“Where were you ten minutes ago?”
Walter paused.
“In my office.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone see you?”
Walter’s eyes narrowed.
“What is this?”
“Answer.”
“No.”
Nicholas’s expression darkened.
Walter came closer.
“I have known you since you were seven years old. I carried you out of your mother’s funeral because you refused to cry where people could see you. If you’re accusing me of something, do it like a man.”
Nicholas flinched.
Hannah watched both of them.
Walter’s hurt looked real.
But real feelings did not prove innocence.
Nicholas held up Rebecca’s notebook.
“Did you know she was keeping records?”
Walter’s face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
That was not the reaction Hannah wanted.
Nicholas noticed too.
“You knew.”
Walter sighed.
“She came to me.”
“When?”
“Two days before she vanished.”
Hannah stepped forward.
“What did she say?”
“That Nicholas was being medicated improperly.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I checked the pharmacy deliveries.”
“That isn’t nothing,” Nicholas said.
Walter looked at him.
“It wasn’t enough.”
“What happened?”
“The pharmacy records were clean.”
Hannah shook her head.
“A clean delivery doesn’t mean nobody switched the pills afterward.”
“I know that now.”
“Did Rebecca tell you about Claire?”
Walter hesitated.
That hesitation said too much.
Nicholas leaned forward.
“Walter.”
“Yes.”
The older man exhaled.
“She believed Claire was involved.”
Nicholas looked away.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were in love.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“You were broken.”
Nicholas went still.
Walter continued.
“Your driver was dead. You couldn’t move your legs. Doctors didn’t know how much function you would recover. Claire was the only person who could get you to eat, sleep, even speak some days.”
“So you decided I couldn’t handle the truth?”
“I decided Rebecca needed proof.”
“And then she disappeared.”
Walter said nothing.
Hannah crossed her arms.
“Did you report it?”
“I hired someone privately.”
“Who?”
Walter’s jaw tightened.
“His name was Samuel Price.”
“And?”
“He found Rebecca’s phone near Union Station.”
“Anything else?”
Walter’s eyes shifted to Nicholas.
“Yes.”
Nicholas’s voice dropped.
“What?”
“The last call Rebecca made before she disappeared.”
“To whom?”
May you like
Walter looked directly at him.
“To your brother.”
