Chapter 5 - Room 814
By noon, Lily was cleared to go home, but home no longer felt safe.
We moved into a guarded suite at a hotel across from police headquarters. Michael's first instinct was to lock me and Lily inside.
My first instinct was to find Mara.
His voice broke. "Emma, I watched Lily fall."
That stopped me.
Michael pressed his fist to his mouth, fighting for control.
"I can't watch something happen to you too."
I stepped closer. "Then don't shut me out. Stand next to me."
He nodded.
Detective Martinez took us to Room 814 at the Harbor Hotel. The carpet smelled like bleach. A lamp was broken. Mara's suitcase was still open on the bed.
"Nothing valuable was taken," Martinez said. "Whoever came here wanted information."
I noticed a room-service menu on the desk. One item was circled: black coffee. Under it, someone had pressed hard enough with a pen to leave marks on the paper beneath.
Michael held the page sideways.
"Storage 417. East River."
Martinez frowned. "Could be a message."
Inside Unit 417 we found six banker's boxes, three hard drives, and thirty years of Bennett Group records.
Michael opened the first box.
Invoices. Wire transfers. Handwritten notes.
Then he found a black leather ledger dated the year Andrew died.
One payment had been made two days before the crash.
$18,000 - SLOAN AUTO SERVICE - SPECIAL REPAIR.
Another payment, the morning after Andrew died:
$75,000 - V. HALE - DISCRETION.
Victor had been twenty-six and working in Bennett Group's controller department.
Martinez photographed every page.
My phone rang from a blocked number.
I answered.
A frightened male voice said, "You don't know me. My father owned Sloan Auto."
I looked at Michael.
The caller inhaled sharply.
"My father cut Andrew Bennett's brake line."
Then he added, "But Victor Hale didn't order it."
I tightened my grip on the phone.
May you like
"Who did?"
The man whispered, "Diane Bennett was standing right beside my father when he took the money."
