Chapter 9 - The Partner at the Door
Grant had been at Emma's funeral. He had carried Noah beside the grave and told Nathan, "Whatever you need, brother."
Nathan nearly threw the phone through the wall. Instead, he called Ruiz.
"I know the man. Grant Keller. Fifty percent owner of Hale-Keller Construction."
Ruiz swore quietly. "Do not contact him."
"He was in my house the night my wife died."
"Which is exactly why you do not contact him."
A knock sounded at Megan's door.
Nathan looked toward the entryway.
Another knock.
Then Grant's voice.
"Nate? I know you're in there."
Nathan's blood turned to ice.
Megan whispered, "How did he know?"
Nathan moved the children into the back bedroom and locked the door.
"Call 911."
Grant knocked again.
"Victoria told me everything is getting twisted. Open the door before you make this worse."
Nathan stood on the other side.
"You were in my house the night Emma died."
Silence.
Then Grant sighed.
"She told you that?"
"A video did."
The hallway outside went quiet.
Too quiet.
Nathan looked through the peephole.
Grant was gone.
The elevator doors were closing.
Police missed him by less than two minutes.
Ruiz arrived shortly after and watched the video again.
"Listen after Grant speaks," she said.
Nathan turned up the volume.
Emma shouted, "Get out! Both of you!"
Glass shattered.
Lily's younger voice cried somewhere upstairs.
Then Emma said something Nathan had missed.
"If you touch my children, I'll bury both of you."
Victoria answered, "Then stop forcing me to choose."
The video jumped as the hidden phone shifted.
For one second, the camera caught a reflection in the oven door.
Grant near the kitchen island.
Victoria by the garage entrance.
And Lily, age seven, standing halfway down the stairs.
Watching everything.
Nathan closed his eyes.
Lily had not been confused.
She had been a witness all along.
May you like
Then Ruiz zoomed in on the reflection.
Victoria was holding Emma's car keys.
