Chapter 16 - Lauren Disappears.
Lauren's message included an address outside Greenwich, Connecticut.
Gabriel recognized it immediately.
"The Whitmore lake house."
Collins looked at the phone.
"No one goes alone."
Chloe nodded.
"For once, we agree quickly."
They contacted local authorities before leaving the warehouse.
By the time Gabriel, Chloe, and Collins reached the private road leading to the lake house, a patrol unit was waiting nearby.
The front gate stood open.
Lauren's car was parked crookedly beside the house.
The driver's door was unlocked.
Her handbag sat on the passenger seat.
Her phone was gone.
Collins looked at Gabriel.
"Stay behind me."
This time Gabriel did not argue.
The front door of the lake house was open by three inches.
Inside, the living room was empty.
A glass had shattered near the fireplace.
One dining chair lay on its side.
Chloe's stomach tightened.
"Lauren?"
No answer.
Collins motioned for silence.
Officers cleared the first floor.
Then the second.
No one was there.
On the kitchen island, a laptop displayed a paused video.
Gabriel approached carefully after police confirmed the room was clear.
The frame showed an old gas station at night.
The timestamp was twenty years earlier.
Chloe stared at it.
"That date."
"Your father's accident."
Gabriel said.
She nodded.
An officer pressed play.
The security footage had no audio.
A sedan matching Thomas Avery's old car pulled into the station.
Thomas stepped out.
Chloe recognized him instantly despite the poor resolution.
He went inside.
Two minutes later, another car arrived.
A younger Evelyn Whitmore got out.
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
"She met him that night."
The video continued.
Evelyn and Thomas argued beside his car.
Then a third vehicle entered the frame.
A man stepped out.
The camera angle caught only his profile.
Gabriel leaned closer.
"Robert Dean."
Chloe's breathing became shallow.
The three spoke for several minutes.
Thomas pointed angrily toward Robert.
Evelyn appeared to step between them.
Then Thomas returned to his car and drove away.
Robert followed less than a minute later.
Evelyn remained at the gas station.
The video ended.
Chloe felt her legs weaken.
"Robert followed him."
Gabriel steadied the back of a chair but did not touch her.
"Yes."
On the laptop desktop was a folder named LAUREN COPY.
Inside were photographs of old police reports, insurance forms, and email printouts.
One email had been sent from Robert Dean to a private security contractor the morning after Thomas's death.
REMOVE VEHICLE TELEMATICS BEFORE INSURER REVIEW.
Chloe stared at the words.
"He altered the evidence."
Collins shook his head.
"It strongly suggests he interfered with something."
"Don't soften it."
Chloe snapped.
Then she closed her eyes.
"Sorry."
"You don't need to apologize to me."
A local officer returned from outside.
"We found Ms. Whitmore's phone."
"Where?"
"At the end of the dock."
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"In the water?"
"No."
The officer held up an evidence bag.
"Placed on a bench."
Chloe looked around the lake house.
"So where is she?"
Collins noticed a small blinking light beneath the kitchen counter.
He crouched and removed a portable audio recorder taped underneath.
"Someone wanted conversations recorded."
Gabriel looked at the laptop.
"Lauren?"
"Maybe."
Collins pressed the most recent file.
Lauren's voice filled the kitchen.
"I have the files."
A man's voice answered.
Marcus.
"You were supposed to delete them."
"You lied to me."
"About what?"
"Everything."
Lauren's voice shook.
"You told me Chloe was trying to steal Gabriel's company."
"She is a liability."
"You knew she was an Avery before she got hired."
Marcus said nothing.
Lauren continued.
"My mother used my trust to hide money when I was a child."
"Your mother protected you."
"From what?"
"From understanding your family."
A chair scraped.
Lauren's voice became quieter.
"What happened to Thomas Avery?"
Marcus answered after a long pause.
"My father made sure he couldn't testify."
Chloe stopped breathing.
Gabriel looked at her.
The recorder continued.
Lauren whispered.
"Are you saying your father caused the crash?"
"I'm saying he followed instructions to contain a threat."
"Whose instructions?"
Marcus did not answer.
Lauren pressed him.
"Whose?"
Then a door slammed on the recording.
There was a struggle of footsteps, not a fight, followed by Lauren shouting.
"Get away from me."
The audio ended.
Chloe's face went white.
"He was here."
Collins looked at the timestamp.
"Forty-seven minutes ago."
A police officer entered from the rear patio.
"We found tire tracks behind the detached garage."
Gabriel looked toward the lake.
"Marcus took her."
Then another officer called from upstairs.
"Wait."
They found a handwritten note taped inside the bedroom closet.
It was in Lauren's handwriting.
IF MARCUS SHOWS UP, I WILL MAKE HIM THINK I HAVE THE ONLY COPY.
Below it was another line.
I'M SORRY, CHLOE.
And beneath that, an address.
Not a house.
Not a hotel.
May you like
The address belonged to Vale Meridian's original headquarters, an abandoned brick building scheduled for demolition the following week.
The Ring on the Marble
