Chapter 12 - Level B3
Police flooded the garage.
Maria collapsed into Claire’s arms.
“I’m sorry.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
“He took my phone, but he didn’t know I uploaded the files.”
Claire held her tighter.
“Where?”
Maria whispered, “To your email. Scheduled send. Midnight.”
Claire looked at the clock.
12:01.
Her phone began receiving files.
Rachel approached.
“We have teams on B3.”
Vanessa stood behind an officer.
She looked sick.
Claire turned to her.
“What secret was Daniel talking about?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Rachel said, “Claire, go home.”
“No.”
“This is now an active arrest.”
“He knows things about my family.”
“So does every suspect who wants leverage.”
A radio crackled.
“Unit six, storage room located. Door open.”
Rachel’s expression changed.
Another voice:
“Room is empty. We have blood.”
Claire’s heart stopped.
Maria grabbed her hand.
Rachel spoke into the radio.
“Whose blood?”
“Unknown. Small amount. No victim.”
Claire thought of Daniel’s warning.
Her mother’s secret.
Nathan’s face when the archive was mentioned.
“Rachel.”
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask.”
“Yes, I do. You want to go down there.”
Claire looked toward the stairwell.
Rachel sighed.
“Stay behind me.”
B3 was colder.
Concrete.
Fluorescent lights.
The storage room door stood open.
Inside were filing boxes, two monitors, a folding table, and a wall covered with photographs.
Claire stepped closer.
Her own life stared back at her.
Photos of the house.
Her office.
Owen.
Nathan.
Maria.
Her father.
Her mother.
Some pictures were ten years old.
Claire whispered, “He’s been tracking us.”
The next minutes moved fast, and every answer only exposed a deeper part of Daniel’s plan.
Rachel stopped her.
“Gloves.”
An officer handed her a pair.
Claire opened the envelope.
Inside was a typed statement signed by her mother twelve years ago.
The first paragraph made her vision blur.
I, Evelyn Whitmore, believe my husband Harold and our daughter Claire are in danger from a financial conspiracy operating through the Whitmore Foundation.
Claire kept reading.
Then stopped at the next name.
May you like
Daniel Cole.
The date on the statement was three years before Claire ever met him.
