Chapter 3 - What Lena Had Been Hiding
Detective Mercer enlarged the photograph.
"Do you recognize this?"
Lena stared.
"No."
Daniel did.
Or at least he recognized part of it.
"The wallpaper."
Everyone looked at him.
"That's upstairs."
Lena frowned.
"There isn't a door like that upstairs."
"Your hallway has that pattern."
Mercer sent the image to officers at the house.
Within an hour, they discovered why Lena had never seen the door.
A tall bookcase in Travis's home office had been installed over it.
Behind the bookcase was a narrow storage room.
No basement.
But somebody wanted them to look there.
Mercer obtained the proper authorization before entering.
Inside were filing boxes.
A locked metal cabinet.
Old electronics.
And no hidden phone.
Daniel stayed at the hospital with Lena.
Derek went nowhere without speaking to the detective first.
By evening, Lena was discharged into Daniel's care.
She refused to return home.
Daniel didn't ask her to.
"You stay with me as long as you want."
"Dad, I don't want to ruin your life."
He stared at her.
"Don't ever say that again."
She looked down.
"Sorry."
"And stop apologizing for taking up space."
A tiny smile appeared.
It disappeared quickly.
Daniel drove her to his house.
Derek followed.
That evening, they sat around Daniel's kitchen table.
For the first time, Lena told them the whole story.
Not just that afternoon.
Everything.
The first time Travis shoved her.
The first time he punched a wall beside her head.
The first apology.
The flowers.
The promises.
Then the second incident.
Then the third.
Each time Lena convinced herself it wasn't serious enough.
Or that it wouldn't happen again.
Or that leaving would somehow make everything worse.
Daniel listened without interrupting.
When she finished, his eyes were wet.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was embarrassed."
"Of me?"
"No. Of myself."
Daniel reached across the table.
"You have nothing to be embarrassed about."
Lena nodded but didn't look convinced.
Derek was quieter.
"Tell us about the recording."
Lena looked toward him.
"Two weeks ago I woke up around midnight. Travis wasn't in bed. I heard him downstairs."
She had taken the hidden phone.
She had approached the office.
Travis was speaking to someone.
Not in person.
On speakerphone.
The conversation concerned payments.
A company.
Something called Halcyon.
And a name.
"Victor Shaw," Lena said.
Daniel stiffened.
Derek noticed.
"You know him?"
Daniel nodded slowly.
"Victor Shaw worked for my company."
"Worked?"
"I fired him eight months ago."
"Why?"
"Financial irregularities."
Lena stared at him.
"What kind?"
"We found payments to vendors that didn't make sense. Victor was director of procurement."
"Was Travis involved?"
"Not that I knew."
Derek leaned forward.
"What exactly did you hear?"
Lena closed her eyes.
"Travis said, 'Daniel still thinks Shaw did it alone.'"
Silence.
Daniel felt the words like a physical blow.
"What?"
"That's why I recorded it."
"You never told me."
"I didn't understand what it meant."
Daniel did.
His company had lost nearly $900,000 through fraudulent vendor invoices.
Victor Shaw had been fired.
The company had recovered part of the money.
But no evidence had ever connected anyone else.
Until now.
Mercer arrived later that night.
She listened.
Then asked a question Daniel hadn't considered.
"How did Travis meet Lena?"
Daniel looked at his daughter.
"At a charity event."
"Whose?"
Daniel answered.
"My company's."
Mercer wrote that down.
"When?"
"Two years ago."
"And when did the suspicious payments begin?"
Daniel stared at her.
"About two and a half years ago."
Nobody needed to say what they were thinking.
Travis might have known Daniel before he knew Lena.
That didn't prove anything.
But suddenly the marriage existed inside a much larger timeline.
Mercer warned them not to jump to conclusions.
They needed evidence.
The hidden phone could provide it.
If they could find it.
The next morning brought another development.
Travis had been released pending further proceedings, subject to restrictions and a protective order.
Lena's face tightened when she heard.
Mercer reassured her.
"Do not contact him. If he contacts you, save everything."
"He knows where Dad lives."
"We're aware."
Daniel upgraded the security system that afternoon.
Derek stayed.
At 6:42 p.m., Lena received an email.
No subject.
No sender she recognized.
Inside was a single audio file.
Mercer told her not to open it until investigators could preserve it properly.
Once they did, they played it.
Static.
Then Travis's voice.
"Daniel still thinks Shaw did it alone."
Lena grabbed Daniel's hand.
The recording continued.
Another male voice spoke.
"You married his daughter. Don't tell me you're getting sentimental."
Travis answered.
"I married Lena because it got me close enough."
Daniel felt Lena's fingers go cold.
Nobody moved.
The voice continued.
"And now?"
A pause.
Travis said something quieter.
"I didn't plan for her to start asking questions."
The recording ended.
Lena stared straight ahead.
Daniel wanted to destroy something.
Instead, he stayed beside her.
Because this wasn't about his anger.
It was about her.
Mercer replayed the recording.
"Do you recognize the second voice?"
Daniel listened again.
Something about it felt familiar.
Derek said, "I do."
Everyone looked at him.
"Who?"
Derek didn't answer immediately.
He replayed three seconds.
Then another three.
"No."
"What?"
"I thought I did."
Mercer asked, "Who did you think it was?"
Derek looked at Daniel.
"Mark."
Daniel laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was impossible.
Mark Ellison had been Daniel's business partner for seventeen years.
He had been in the conference room when Lena called.
He had watched Daniel leave.
"He was with me yesterday."
"That doesn't mean anything," Derek said.
"Mark is practically family."
Derek's expression didn't change.
"That's exactly why you should listen again."
Daniel did.
This time he heard it.
A slight rasp.
A particular way of saying daughter.
He had heard Mark say that word dozens of times.
Mercer took the recording.
"We verify. We don't assume."
Daniel nodded.
Later that evening, Lena went upstairs to sleep.
She stood outside the guest room.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you leave the hallway light on?"
His heart broke quietly.
"Of course."
She went inside.
Daniel returned downstairs.
Derek was waiting.
"You believe it's Mark."
Daniel poured water he didn't drink.
"I don't want to."
"That's not what I asked."
Daniel stared at the counter.
"Yes."
Derek nodded.
Then the security system chimed.
Someone was at the front gate.
Daniel checked the camera.
A woman stood there.
Mid-fifties.
Gray coat.
Dark hair.
She held a large envelope.
Daniel didn't recognize her.
The intercom activated.
"Mr. Whitmore?"
Daniel frowned.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Rebecca Shaw."
Derek stood.
Daniel stared at the screen.
"Shaw?"
The woman lifted the envelope toward the camera.
"I'm Victor Shaw's wife."
Daniel's pulse quickened.
"What do you want?"
Her answer came immediately.
"My husband disappeared three days ago."
Daniel looked at Derek.
Rebecca continued.
"Before he vanished, Victor gave me something and told me that if anything happened to him, I was supposed to bring it to you."
She looked directly into the security camera.
"But there's something you need to know before you open this envelope."
Daniel unlocked the gate.
Rebecca walked toward the house.
May you like
Then she said the sentence that made Derek reach for his phone.
"Your daughter's husband wasn't working alone."
