Chapter 3 - The Detective Who Lied
Evan called Grace.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Rebecca stopped him before he contacted police.
“The man who investigated Caroline's death may be involved.”
“So we do nothing?”
“We find someone outside his chain of command.”
Evan contacted federal authorities through Rebecca's network.
Within hours, an investigator named Marcus Reed arrived.
He examined Caroline's letter, recorder, financial records, and the photograph.
Then he asked a question Evan hadn't considered.
“Why send the picture?”
“To threaten me.”
“No. If Pike wanted Grace gone, you wouldn't know he had her.”
Reed tapped the message.
“He wants you frightened enough to stop digging.”
“Then they're alive.”
“For now.”
Evan looked at Lily's face on the screen.
She was clutching the one-eared rabbit.
Fear showed in her eyes.
Something inside him hardened.
“Find them.”
The federal team traced traffic cameras.
Pike's vehicle left the city.
Then vanished near an industrial district.
Meanwhile, Rebecca investigated Grace's mysterious account.
She discovered it had been created using documents submitted electronically.
The signature was forged.
The account's mailing address belonged to a Mercer subsidiary.
Someone had manufactured evidence against Grace before she even worked for Evan.
“Why?” Evan asked.
Rebecca stared at the timeline.
“Maybe Grace wasn't hired by accident.”
They examined her employment application.
Thomas had personally approved it.
Evan called him into the study.
Thomas entered calmly.
“Where is Grace?”
“I told you. She resigned.”
“You also told me you didn't know about Caroline's book.”
Thomas's face remained blank.
Evan placed the recorder on the desk.
For the first time, Thomas's composure cracked.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“You've been busy,” he said.
“Where are they?”
“I genuinely don't know.”
“Pike has them.”
Thomas looked surprised.
Evan couldn't tell whether the reaction was real.
“Why did you hire Grace?”
“She was qualified.”
“You personally approved a housekeeper?”
Thomas said nothing.
“Who is she?”
“I suggest you ask her.”
“I would if she hadn't been abducted.”
Thomas looked toward the window.
Then he said something unexpected.
“Caroline trusted the wrong policeman.”
“You knew about Pike.”
“I knew she was speaking to someone.”
“You destroyed her evidence.”
“No.”
“Her letter says you did.”
Thomas's jaw tightened.
“Your wife believed many things during those final weeks.”
Evan stood.
“Careful.”
Thomas met his eyes.
“You want the truth? Caroline accused half the executive staff. She hadn't slept properly in months. She believed she was being followed.”
Evan froze.
“Caroline wasn't sleeping?”
Thomas realized his mistake.
Too late.
“How do you know?”
Silence.
Evan walked around the desk.
“My wife's medical records never mentioned insomnia.”
Thomas stepped backward.
“You should stop.”
“That's what Pike said.”
“I am trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
Thomas's answer never came.
Evan's phone rang.
Marcus Reed.
They had found Pike's abandoned vehicle.
There was blood inside.
Not much.
Enough to terrify Evan.
A child's pink hair clip lay on the floor.
Evan recognized it.
Lily had worn it the previous night.
Reed continued.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Pike didn't take them.”
Evan frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
“Traffic footage shows Grace entering the car voluntarily.”
“And Lily?”
“Voluntarily.”
Evan looked at Thomas.
Reed said, “They knew Pike.”
The call ended.
Thomas watched him.
Evan spoke slowly.
“Who is Grace Bennett?”
Thomas exhaled.
“Her husband wasn't Daniel Bennett.”
Evan's skin went cold.
“Who was he?”
“Daniel Pike.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Aaron Pike's younger brother.
Grace had married into the detective's family.
Evan suddenly understood why she recognized things she shouldn't.
Why she found Caroline's hidden compartment.
Why Thomas hired her.
Or perhaps why someone wanted her hired.
He rushed to Grace's personnel file.
Her emergency contact had been left blank.
Rebecca searched public records.
Daniel Pike had died three years earlier.
Six weeks after Caroline.
Official cause: suicide.
Grace had changed her surname back to Bennett afterward.
Then Reed called again.
“We found Grace.”
“Where?”
“She walked into a federal field office twenty minutes ago.”
“And Lily?”
“With her. Safe.”
Evan closed his eyes.
Relief nearly dropped him to the floor.
Grace had not been kidnapped.
She had contacted Aaron voluntarily because he told her he possessed evidence about Daniel's death.
The threatening photograph had been sent without her knowledge.
Aaron disappeared after dropping them near the federal building.
Grace returned to Evan's estate under federal escort.
She looked exhausted.
Lily ran toward Evan before anyone could stop her.
He crouched.
She threw her arms around him.
It was the first time Evan had held a child.
He didn't know what to do with his hands.
Then he simply hugged her.
“You scared me,” he whispered.
“Uncle Aaron said we had to go.”
Grace heard.
Pain crossed her face.
Later, she told Evan everything.
Daniel had worked as an accountant for a Mercer subsidiary.
He discovered irregular transfers.
Caroline contacted him secretly.
Together, they traced the money.
Aaron Pike promised to help.
Then Caroline died.
Six weeks later Daniel was found dead.
Grace never believed it was suicide.
Before his death, Daniel told her one thing.
“If anything happens, get close to Mercer.”
Not Evan.
The Mercer organization.
Grace applied repeatedly for positions.
Thomas eventually hired her.
“I came here looking for answers,” she admitted.
“Did you use Lily?”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“I would never.”
Evan believed her.
But another question remained.
“Why did Aaron send the threat?”
Grace shook her head.
“I don't know.”
They received the answer at midnight.
A package arrived.
No return address.
Inside was Aaron Pike's badge.
And a flash drive.
Rebecca inserted it into an isolated computer.
One video file.
Aaron appeared on screen.
He looked terrified.
“If you're watching this, they know I talked.”
He explained that Caroline's crash had not been accidental.
Someone had ordered her car serviced the morning she died.
The brake line was weakened deliberately.
Aaron discovered it.
Then he accepted money to bury the evidence.
Grace covered her mouth.
Aaron continued.
“I told myself I was protecting Daniel. Then Daniel found out what I did.”
His voice cracked.
“I lost my brother anyway.”
Evan stared at the screen.
“Who paid you?” he whispered.
As if answering him, Aaron looked into the camera.
“The person who paid me was not Thomas Harlan.”
Footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Rebecca turned.
The study door opened.
Thomas entered with federal agents behind him.
But they weren't arresting him.
Thomas looked directly at Evan.
“I know who killed Caroline.”
Then he placed a photograph on the desk.
May you like
Evan looked down.
The person standing beside Caroline was someone Evan had trusted his entire life.
