Chapter 6 - The Detective Who Arrived Too Fast
Claire looked at Nathan.
He put one finger to his lips.
“Mrs. Moretti?” Pike called again. “We received a report of shots fired.”
There had been no gunshots.
Nathan pointed toward the service stairwell.
Claire shook her head and whispered, “If we run, he knows.”
“He already knows.”
She opened the front door before Nathan could stop her.
Detective Aaron Pike stood there with two uniformed officers.
He was broad-shouldered, silver at the temples, calm in the way experienced cops often were.
His eyes moved past Claire.
“Are you alone?”
Claire forced herself not to glance toward the hallway.
“Yes.”
Pike stepped inside.
“Your building reported a system breach.”
“I heard something on the balcony.”
“Did you see anyone?”
“No.”
Pike looked down.
A thin streak of fire-extinguisher powder crossed the floor.
His gaze sharpened.
Claire’s heart hammered.
Then a glass shattered in the back bedroom.
Pike reached for his weapon.
Nathan had created a distraction.
Pike hurried down the hall.
Claire slipped the Langley key card into her sleeve.
One of the uniformed officers stayed with her.
“You okay, ma’am?”
Claire nodded.
At the end of the hall, Pike shouted, “Clear!”
When he returned, his smile was gone.
“You should stay somewhere else tonight.”
“My brother-in-law has a place.”
Pike’s eyes flickered.
“Yes. Marcus is very concerned about you.”
Claire had not mentioned Marcus calling the police.
She smiled.
“Did he call you?”
Pike hesitated.
“Your family has been cooperative with the department.”
Not an answer.
After they left, Nathan emerged from the service closet.
“You took a stupid risk.”
“It worked.”
He gave her a hard look.
Claire held up the key card.
“So will this.”
They reached The Langley at midnight using the kitchen entrance.
Room 1814 was empty.
No luggage. No clothes.
Only a laptop on the desk and a wall covered in photographs.
Claire moved closer.
Every photograph was of her.
At the cemetery. At the grocery store. Leaving therapy. Sitting alone in a cafe.
Six months of her life.
Nathan stood very still.
Then Claire noticed one photograph that did not belong.
It showed Nathan unconscious in a hospital bed.
May you like
Marcus was standing beside him.
Smiling.
