Chapter 10 - No Body, No Peace
The hospital smelled of disinfectant and overcooked coffee. Evelyn sat in a borrowed wheelchair, wrapped in two heated blankets, while a nurse checked the oxygen tube under Daniel's nose. He had inhaled lake water and needed observation. His fingers were warm again, but his eyes followed every person who entered the room.
"They arrested Vale," Deputy Maya Torres told them. She was Owen's older sister, with the same freckles and a voice that didn't waste words. "Two hired men, too. Grant is missing."
"He knows where we live," Evelyn said.
"We'll have someone posted at the house."
Daniel shook his head. "He won't come for us first."
Maya leaned closer. "What will he come for?"
"A red metal box in my workshop. It contains a second trust, my father's old files, and a drive."
Evelyn held up the brass key. The red plastic tag had snagged on her necklace underwater, and she'd kept it clenched in her hand through the ambulance ride.
"I thought you'd lost it," Daniel said.
"I thought you'd lost your mind," she answered softly. "I owe you an apology."
He looked down. "I should have told you what Grant was doing months ago. I thought I could fix it quietly."
Maya called for a patrol unit to secure the workshop. While she spoke, Mara appeared in the doorway, arm bandaged, her olive coat folded over the other arm. Her face was white with shame.
"I'm not asking you to forgive me," she said. "But you need to know Grant has someone else helping him."
"Who?" Evelyn asked.
"I never got a name. He called him the buyer. Said the house and lake had to be free of claims by Monday."
Daniel's heart monitor accelerated. "The buyer can't be real."
Mara nodded miserably. "There's more. Grant told me someone at the sheriff's office would keep the road clear."
Maya lowered her phone. "What exactly did he say?"
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Before Mara could answer, a nurse wheeled in a vase of white lilies. A card hung from its ribbon.
Evelyn read six printed words: YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED UNDER WATER.
