Chapter 6 - BEFORE WE MET
Emma’s recording lasted eleven minutes.
I listened to every second.
She had discovered false vendors, altered board reports, and private transfers routed through companies tied to Grant’s brother. Claire had been working as a consultant for one of those vendors.
Emma confronted Grant.
He denied everything.
Two days later, her brakes failed on a rain-slick highway outside Wellesley.
The crash had been ruled mechanical failure.
I had believed it.
I had needed to believe it.
Then, six months later, Grant introduced me to Claire at a fundraiser.
I remembered him smiling as he said, “You two should talk.”
Detective Ortiz shut off the recording.
“Daniel, this doesn’t prove murder.”
“No. It proves I let the people she feared into my home.”
Maria put a hand over mine. “You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
My phone buzzed.
Grant.
I answered on speaker.
“Hey,” he said casually. “I heard something happened with Lily. You okay?”
Detective Ortiz shook her head, warning me not to reveal anything.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“Office.”
“Stay there.”
A pause.
“Why?”
“I need to talk to you.”
Another pause, longer this time.
Then Grant laughed softly.
“You found Emma’s box.”
Maria gasped.
I felt the room tilt.
Grant continued before I could speak.
“You always were slow when it came to the people you loved.”
The call ended.
Detective Ortiz was already moving.
Within twenty minutes, police reached Bennett Medical Systems.
Grant’s office was empty.
His computer had been wiped.
His company phone was in a desk drawer.
But he had left one thing behind.
A photograph of Lily asleep in her crib.
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Across the bottom, written in black marker, were five words.
SHE WAS NEVER THE REAL TARGET.
