Chapter 6 - The Informant
Detective Ortiz came back to the ballroom just after midnight.
By then the charity gala looked like the aftermath of a storm. Half-empty glasses covered the tables. Guests sat in nervous clusters. Police tape crossed the service wing.
Victoria repeated her claim.
Thomas Bell had once worked as a private security consultant for the Whitmore Foundation. According to her, he had discovered irregular transfers, contacted federal investigators and quietly recruited Anna as a source.
“Why didn’t the FBI ever charge anyone?” Ethan asked.
Victoria looked at Charles.
Charles said, “Because the allegations were false.”
Ortiz stared at him. “Or because your informant disappeared.”
Charles’s jaw tightened.
Claire asked the question no one wanted to ask. “Did Thomas fake his death?”
Ortiz nodded. “Possible. If he believed someone wanted him dead.”
Ethan rubbed both hands over his face. “And now he takes Lily?”
“Maybe he thinks he’s protecting her,” Claire said.
Victoria gave her a hard look. “By drugging her and carrying her out in a blackout?”
Claire hated that Victoria had a point.
Then an officer brought Ortiz a laptop recovered from the stolen van.
It belonged to Thomas.
There was no password.
That bothered Claire more than a locked screen would have.
The desktop contained one folder labeled FOR LILY.
Inside were photographs of Lily taken over the last three years: outside school, at a playground, leaving a dentist’s office, sitting beside Ethan at Michael’s memorial service.
Ethan looked sick. “He’s been watching her.”
Ortiz opened a text file.
If I fail, the child must never go to Charles.
Another line appeared beneath it.
Claire knows where Anna hid the original ledger.
Everyone looked at Claire.
She took a step back. “I don’t.”
Victoria laughed quietly. “Apparently you do.”
“I swear I don’t.”
Ethan studied her face. “Think. Did Anna ever give you anything?”
Claire remembered the lake house. Anna grabbing her wrist in the upstairs hall. Anna whispering, “If Michael asks, tell him I finally chose Lily.”
At the time, Claire had thought it was about leaving the marriage.
Then she remembered something else.
A children’s book.
Anna had handed Lily a copy of The Secret Garden shortly before her death.
“Lily’s book,” Claire whispered.
“What?”
“Anna gave her a book that night. She made me promise Lily would keep it.”
Ethan’s eyes widened. “Where is it?”
“At my house.”
They left with Ortiz and two officers.
At 1:06 a.m., Ethan unlocked the front door of his home.
The alarm system was disabled.
Claire’s chest tightened.
They rushed upstairs to Lily’s guest room.
The bookshelf was empty except for a single white envelope.
On the front, someone had written Claire’s name.
Inside was one sentence.
May you like
YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD THE TRUTH THREE YEARS AGO.
Then a floorboard creaked behind them.
