Chapter 4 - The Night They Lost Control
The officers separated everyone.
Gloria was taken into the kitchen.
Mark remained in the dining room with Agent Chen.
Tiffany sat on the staircase under the watch of Captain Brooks.
For once, none of them could coordinate their stories.
That mattered.
Liars were strongest when they had time to agree on the lie.
I had spent my career preventing exactly that.
Daniel brought me a cold towel for my face.
“You should go to the hospital.”
“I will.”
“Rachel.”
“I’m okay.”
His eyes sharpened.
“You always say that.”
I almost smiled.
“Occupational habit.”
He crouched beside my chair.
“I got your message two nights ago.”
I looked at him.
“I didn’t send you one.”
“I know.”
My stomach tightened.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
A message appeared from my number.
Everything is fine.
Don’t come home early.
Love you.
I stared at it.
“I never wrote that.”
“I figured.”
“How?”
“You don’t end messages with ‘love you.’”
Despite everything, I laughed quietly.
“I usually say ‘come back safe.’”
“Exactly.”
Someone had accessed my account.
Or copied my number.
Either possibility meant the conspiracy went further than I realized.
Agent Chen heard us.
“May I see that?”
Daniel handed over the phone.
Her expression became serious.
“We’ll have digital forensics trace it.”
From the kitchen, Gloria’s voice rose.
“I did not assault anybody.”
The officer replied calmly.
“Mrs. Carter, she has a split lip and visible swelling.”
“She provoked me.”
Daniel’s hand tightened around the chair.
I touched his arm.
“Don’t.”
He looked at me.
“She hit you.”
“I know.”
“I need you not to give them anything they can use against you.”
The anger in his face slowly changed.
He understood.
That was why Daniel and I worked.
Neither of us needed the other to be reckless on our behalf.
We needed each other to remain standing.
Agent Chen returned to the documents.
“There is another issue.”
She pointed toward the property transfer.
“The notary stamp.”
I examined it.
The seal belonged to Helen Mercer, a local notary.
I knew the name.
Helen had notarized documents for Mark’s business before.
Agent Chen asked,
“Do you know her?”
Mark answered too quickly.
“No.”
I opened my laptop and found an old vendor payment.
Mark’s company had paid Helen Mercer three times.
Agent Chen stared at him.
Mark looked away.
The room had become a trap built from his own paperwork.
Then Tiffany suddenly stood.
“I need the bathroom.”
Captain Brooks motioned toward the hallway.
“Door stays unlocked.”
She hesitated.
That tiny hesitation caught my attention.
I looked toward Daniel.
He saw it too.
Tiffany walked down the hallway.
Three seconds later, I heard glass break.
Captain Brooks ran after her.
Daniel followed.
We found Tiffany kneeling beside the downstairs bathroom window.
Her handbag was open.
A small flash drive lay near the broken glass.
She had been trying to throw it outside.
Agent Chen picked it up with a gloved hand.
May you like
Tiffany closed her eyes.
And I knew we had just found something far worse.
