SHE WAS ATTACKED WITH A GOLF CLUB—THEN ONE RED BUTTON EXPOSED A DEADLY SECRET THEY'D KILL TO HIDE!

"Do what again?" Claire asked.

Ellie struggled against the guard. Pike jerked his radio toward her.

"Move her inside."

"No," Claire said. "You promised I could see her."

Ethan stepped out from behind the containers. Rain ran down his forehead, and both his hands were visible.

"Let her talk, Damon. This is between us."

Claire turned on him. "What did you do?"

Ethan looked at Ellie, then at Claire. "Something I should have confessed before we ever met."

Pike leaned against the gate. He looked delighted. "Go on, son. Your wife deserves the truth."

"Riverbend was supposed to be empty," Ethan said. "My mother said an insurance payout would keep us from losing the building. She told me to start a small fire in a vacant maintenance room. Just enough to set off the sprinklers."

Claire shook her head. "No."

"I thought it would clear the building. I didn't know the exits had been chained. When the fire spread, I called 911."

"You started it." Her voice sounded flat, strange. "My brother died because you started it."

"Yes."

Nine years of birthdays, grocery lists, kitchen dancing, and whispered good nights collapsed into that one word. Claire remembered Ethan holding her as she cried at Tommy's grave. He had stood there knowing what he had done.

"Why marry me?" she asked.

"Because I loved you. I still do."

"You loved keeping me quiet."

"At first, I didn't know who you were. By the time I did—"

"You could've told the police."

"I know. I was a coward."

Margaret raised her chin. "He never meant to kill anyone."

Claire faced her. "Neither did Tommy when he ran back for the little kid. How come he's the one in the ground?"

For once, Margaret had nothing ready to say.

Pike clapped slowly. "Beautiful. Now give me the card."

A mechanical timer beeped inside the warehouse. Red numbers appeared on a panel above the dock door: 04:00.

Ethan stared at them. "Damon, what did you set?"