Chapter 7 - Two in the Morning
At 1:52 a.m., Daniel was asleep.
At least Emily hoped he was.
She lay beside him listening to his breathing.
Seven minutes passed.
Then eight.
When the grandfather clock downstairs chimed twice, she moved.
Emily slipped from the bed.
She crossed the room barefoot.
The bedroom door opened without a sound.
Mara waited near the staircase.
“Ready?”
“No.”
Mara gave her a faint smile.
“Neither am I.”
They moved toward Daniel’s office.
Mara pulled a small lock pick from her pocket.
Emily stared at her.
“Why do you know how to do that?”
“Long story.”
The lock opened.
They entered.
Daniel’s office smelled of leather, cigar smoke, and expensive cologne.
Emily had been inside hundreds of times.
Tonight, it felt like entering the home of a stranger.
Mara searched the shelves.
Emily opened the desk drawers.
Bills.
Contracts.
Property documents.
Nothing unusual.
Then Emily remembered Daniel tapping beneath the center drawer several weeks earlier.
She reached underneath.
Her fingers found a hidden latch.
Click.
A false panel opened.
Emily almost stopped breathing.
Inside were gambling markers.
Loan agreements.
Threatening handwritten notes.
One demanded twelve million dollars within thirty days.
Another carried only six words.
PAY OR YOUR WIFE HEARS EVERYTHING.
Mara photographed every page.
Then Emily found a second folder.
Insurance documents.
She opened them.
Forty million dollars.
Double indemnity for accidental death.
Daniel Blackwood listed as primary beneficiary.
Her hands began shaking.
Mara touched her shoulder.
“Keep going.”
Another document appeared beneath the policy.
Emily stared at it.
It was a preliminary estate transfer.
Daniel had already prepared paperwork to assume temporary control of Whitmore Global after her death.
The date was printed at the top.
Three weeks before the chandelier fell.
“He planned this.”
Emily’s voice barely existed.
Mara photographed everything.
Then she noticed a black leather notebook behind the encyclopedias.
Inside were dates.
Emily’s car accident.
Her food poisoning.
The staircase fall.
Beside each date was a short handwritten notation.
FAILED.
Emily felt the room tilt.
Then they reached the final page.
TODAY - 9:00 A.M.
CHAIN.
Mara looked at Emily.
There was no longer any doubt.
Daniel had documented his murder attempts.
Emily photographed the page.
A floorboard creaked outside.
Both women froze.
Someone touched the office doorknob.
Mara switched off the flashlight.
The door slowly opened.
Emily’s heart hammered.
A figure entered.
Daniel.
He stood in darkness for several seconds.
Then the desk lamp turned on.
Emily and Mara were gone.
Daniel scanned the room.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
He walked toward his desk.
The hidden compartment remained closed.
He almost turned away.
Then he noticed something on the carpet.
A single drop of blood.
Mara’s cut forehead had opened again.
May you like
Daniel touched the blood.
And smiled.
