Chapter 4
I read Daniel’s message three times.
You and the baby may still be in danger.
My father took the phone from my hand.
“What does he mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Caroline immediately called the detective handling the fraud complaint.
Within thirty minutes, two investigators were sitting in Dad’s study.
Detective Marcus Hill looked at the insurance policy.
His expression stayed controlled.
“That doesn’t prove an attempt to harm you.”
“I know.”
“But the forged signature is serious.”
I sat straighter.
“What about Daniel’s message?”
“We’re trying to locate him.”
My stomach tightened.
“He isn’t at the house?”
“No.”
“He left after questioning?”
“At that point, we didn’t have enough to hold him.”
Dad’s jaw clenched.
“And Vanessa?”
“Also missing.”
That frightened me more.
Together?
Separately?
Running?
Planning?
Detective Hill leaned forward.
“Has anyone threatened you directly?”
“No.”
“Any unusual accidents?”
I almost said no.
Then something surfaced.
“My car.”
Everyone looked at me.
“What about it?”
“Two months ago, the brakes failed.”
Dad stood.
“You never told me that.”
“It was repaired.”
Detective Hill’s expression sharpened.
“Where?”
“A dealership.”
“Were you driving when they failed?”
“Yes.”
My hand moved to my stomach.
“I was pregnant.”
Dad went pale.
“What happened?”
“I was leaving a parking garage. I hit a concrete barrier.”
“Were you hurt?”
“No.”
“The baby?”
“She was fine.”
Detective Hill wrote quickly.
“What did the mechanic say?”
“That a brake line had been damaged.”
“Damaged how?”
“I don’t know.”
Caroline was already calling the dealership.
I remembered Daniel arriving after the accident.
He hugged me.
He cried.
He blamed himself for not driving me.
Was that real?
The thought made me nauseous.
“I need air.”
Dad walked me outside.
We stood on the terrace.
“You’re staying here.”
“I know.”
“With security.”
“I know.”
“I should never have let you disappear into that marriage.”
I turned.
“You didn’t let me do anything.”
“I knew Daniel cared too much about appearances.”
“That doesn’t mean you knew this.”
Dad looked older suddenly.
“I didn’t trust him.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You loved him.”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
“No.”
He sighed.
“I was afraid telling you would push you closer to him.”
I stared across the garden.
Maybe everyone had made decisions for me because they thought I was too emotional to make my own.
Daniel.
Dad.
Even my family attorneys.
“I need something from you.”
“Anything.”
“No more hiding information.”
He nodded.
“Agreed.”
“Even if it hurts.”
“Yes.”
Caroline stepped outside.
“We have the dealership report.”
My heart raced.
“And?”
“The damaged line was cut.”
Dad closed his eyes.
I felt dizzy.
“Cut?”
“The mechanic noted it but assumed road debris.”
Detective Hill appeared behind her.
“We’re reopening that incident.”
My phone rang.
Daniel again.
Hill held out his hand.
“Answer on speaker.”
I did.
“Daniel?”
He sounded breathless.
“Emma, listen carefully.”
“Where are you?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to the police.”
Silence.
Then:
“You told them?”
“You sent me a message saying I was in danger.”
“I was trying to warn you.”
“From whom?”
“Vanessa.”
I looked at Hill.
“Why?”
“She knows everything is collapsing.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Because the insurance policy was her idea.”
My stomach clenched.
“You signed it.”
“No.”
“Your signature is on broker communications.”
“She used my account.”
“Daniel.”
“I swear.”
I could hear traffic around him.
“Then come to the police.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“She has something.”
“What?”
Silence.
“Daniel.”
“A recording.”
“Of what?”
His voice lowered.
“Me agreeing to the policy.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“What exactly did you agree to?”
“I thought it was financial protection.”
“For whom?”
“For the company.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
I heard panic.
Real panic.
“Emma, Vanessa said if anything happened to you, the payout could cover company debt.”
My father stepped toward the phone.
I raised a hand.
“What did you say?”
“I told her it was disgusting.”
“But?”
Daniel started crying.
“I didn’t stop it.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
He didn’t plan my death.
Maybe.
But he allowed a policy to exist.
Because my life had a number attached to it.
Ten million dollars.
“Did you know my brakes were cut?”
“No!”
He shouted so loudly I pulled the phone away.
“No. Emma, I swear to God.”
“Where is Vanessa?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are you hiding?”
He stopped.
Detective Hill wrote:
ASK ABOUT THIRD MAN.
I looked at the photograph.
“Who was the man in the parking garage?”
Daniel went silent.
“Daniel?”
“His name is Victor Lane.”
“The broker?”
“Yes.”
“What did you meet about?”
“The policy.”
“Where is Victor now?”
“I don’t know.”
Then I heard a car door slam near Daniel.
His breathing changed.
“Daniel?”
“Someone found me.”
The call disconnected.
I stood.
Detective Hill started issuing instructions.
“Trace that call.”
Caroline pulled me toward the interior.
“We need to move you away from windows.”
I hated how helpless I felt.
Minutes passed.
Then twenty.
Then forty.
Finally, Hill received a call.
His face hardened.
“What?”
He listened.
“Understood.”
He lowered the phone.
“They found Daniel’s car.”
My stomach dropped.
“Where?”
“Abandoned near an industrial district.”
“And Daniel?”
“Gone.”
Dad stepped beside me.
“Any blood?”
“No.”
That should have relieved me.
It didn’t.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Daniel sat tied to a chair.
His lip was bleeding.
Beside him stood Vanessa.
She was holding up a handwritten note.
TRANSFER YOUR BENNETT SHARES TO DANIEL.
I stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
OR YOUR HUSBAND DOESN’T COME HOME.
I almost laughed.
Vanessa had kidnapped Daniel.
And somehow, she still thought I would sacrifice everything for the man who had thrown me into the rain.
Detective Hill looked at me.
“Do not respond.”
I looked at Daniel’s frightened face.
Then at Vanessa.
A strange calm came over me.
“She thinks she knows me.”
Hill frowned.
“What?”
“She thinks I still love him enough to surrender.”
Dad studied me.
“Do you?”
I placed one hand over my unborn daughter.
“I don’t know what I feel.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“But I know I’m not giving Vanessa anything.”
Another message arrived.
You have two hours.
May you like
I handed the phone to Hill.
“Then we have two hours to find them.”
