Chapter 13 - The Little Black Card
Maya entered the pump shed with Ortiz and two evidence technicians. Ben's words guided them to a rusted metal housing beneath the oldest water pump. Four screws held its loose side panel in place.
Maya pointed. “There.”
An evidence technician opened it. Behind the panel sat a dented cookie tin, wrapped in a plastic grocery bag. Inside was a memory card, a spare house key, and a folded note in Ben's shaky handwriting: RACCOONS DON'T WEAR HIGH HEELS.
Maya laughed once, hard and painfully. “That stubborn old man.”
Ortiz had the card copied under supervision. They watched the recording in her car. The angle was distant but clear. Claire sat in the wheelchair beside the pool. Sloane leaned over her. Claire raised a hand, trying to pull away. Then Sloane planted both palms against the handles and pushed.
No stumble. No accident.
The wheelchair rolled straight over the edge.
The camera captured Maya sprinting across the terrace and diving after Claire. It also captured Sloane standing there, watching the splash without moving to help.
Ortiz hit pause. “That's attempted murder. We can establish what happened.”
Maya covered her mouth. She hadn't realized how badly she needed somebody official to believe her.
“Now save my son,” she whispered.
Ortiz called the district attorney's office. The footage alone couldn't explain the missing Cedar Point money, but it was enough to seek Sloane's arrest. The original card went into an evidence envelope, while the team prepared a convincing duplicate for the exchange.
At the hospital, Claire watched the video only once. She could hear herself beg Sloane not to do it. She turned off the screen before the chair reached the water.
“I thought I was going to die,” she said.
Ethan sat next to her. “You didn't.”
“Because Maya jumped. Not because anyone with power showed up.”
He took that without arguing. “You're right.”
Claire touched her stomach. “Then help her get Nico back, and help the police find the rest of the records. That's how you apologize.”
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As Ortiz prepared the rescue plan, her radio crackled. Officers had located Felix's car behind a vacant warehouse. Inside, on the passenger seat, they found a second child's blue hoodie.
There was blood on it.
