Chapter 8 - Warehouse 19
The address led to Warehouse 19 in Brooklyn.
Martin insisted on police backup this time.
Clara insisted on going.
At 6:40 p.m., they entered through a side door with two detectives and a private security team.
The warehouse smelled like dust, river water, and machine oil.
"Charles?" Clara called.
No answer.
A light flickered near the rear office.
Alive.
"Oh, thank God," Clara said.
Charles looked up. "You shouldn't have come."
A detective cut the ties.
"Who did this?"
"Olivia?"
Charles shook his head. "They never said."
Martin crouched beside him. "Why did you send Robert the ledger?"
Charles looked confused. "I didn't."
Clara held up the cash box.
"Then who did?"
A phone began ringing on the metal desk.
Everyone froze.
It was an old landline.
The detective put it on speaker.
A distorted voice filled the room.
"Clara Devereux."
"Who is this?"
"You sent the ledger?"
"Yes."
"You left the flash drive?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because your wedding put every necessary person in one place."
Clara felt a chill.
This had been planned.
"Did you know Olivia would attack my parents?"
"No. That was a gift from her temper."
"Who are you?"
The line crackled.
"Ask Helen what happened to her brother."
Clara stopped breathing.
Her mother had never spoken about a brother.
The caller continued.
"Then ask why Olivia Sterling paid for his funeral."
The line went dead.
Helen stared at the ledger for a long time.
Then she asked Robert to leave the room.
He refused.
"We've hidden enough," he said.
Clara sat across from her mother at the kitchen table.
"Who was your brother?"
Helen pressed her good hand flat against the wood.
"Daniel. He was four years older than me. Funny. Reckless. Always convinced he could fix everybody's problems."
"What happened to him?"
"He worked for Sterling Construction. Accounting."
Clara's stomach dropped.
Helen continued. "He found irregular payments. This was before your father discovered anything. Daniel said someone was using supplier accounts to move money."
"Harbor."
"Maybe. He never used that name with me."
"And he died?"
"Olivia paid for the funeral?"
"Her husband did. Olivia arranged it. She said Daniel had been loyal to the company."
Clara looked at Robert.
"You knew?"
"Not until years later."
Clara thought of the caller.
"Someone thinks his death is connected."
"Someone always did," Helen said.
"Who?"
Her mother looked toward the dark window.
"Daniel's fiancee. Rachel Wynn."
"Where is she?"
"She disappeared after the funeral."
Martin, who had been silent near the door, typed the name into his tablet.
His face changed.
"Rachel Wynn isn't missing."
He turned the screen toward them.
CEO: Rachel Wynn Mercer.
Clara recognized the company name immediately.
It handled Sterling Group's internal security systems.
Martin said, "She's had access to their servers for seven years."
Clara stared at the screen.
May you like
Then her phone lit up with a new message.
UNKNOWN: NOW YOU KNOW WHO I AM. TOMORROW, 8 A.M. COME WITHOUT ETHAN.
