Chapter 4 - The Offer
Hannah had received the envelope two weeks earlier.
Ten thousand dollars in cash had appeared beneath her windshield wiper outside Ethan's cardiology appointment. She had assumed someone wanted her to quit. Now Claire's slip confirmed it.
"You sent that money," Hannah said.
Claire's silence was enough.
Nicholas looked between them.
"What money?"
Hannah told him.
The room changed.
Walter's expression hardened first.
"Why wasn't I informed?"
"Because if somebody was trying to buy me, I wanted them to believe I hadn't noticed."
Nicholas looked almost offended.
"You are terrible at following orders."
"You never ordered me to report bribes."
For the first time that night, the corner of his mouth moved.
Then the smile vanished.
"Ethan's appointment. How did Claire know where you were?"
Hannah turned toward Claire.
Claire looked away.
Nicholas asked Vincent to check the household vehicle logs.
Within ten minutes they found a black sedan assigned to the estate had followed Hannah into Berwyn on the same afternoon.
Driver: Martin Kessler, one of Walter's security contractors.
Walter stared at the screen.
"Kessler reports to me."
"Apparently not only to you," Nicholas said.
Vincent tried calling him.
No answer.
A guard was sent to Kessler's quarters above the garage.
The room was empty.
His clothes were gone.
So was his passport.
On the desk sat one thing he had left behind.
A photograph.
Walter brought it into the foyer.
Nicholas took it with a shaking hand.
The image showed Claire and Nicholas's neurologist, Dr. Adrian Feldman, outside a private rehabilitation facility. Between them sat a woman in a wheelchair wearing the silver cross Nicholas had given Rebecca at sixteen.
"Where was this taken?" he asked.
Vincent zoomed in on the sign behind them.
Lake Briar Recovery Center.
Hannah had never heard of it.
Walter had.
May you like
His face went pale.
"Nicholas," he said quietly. "That place does not officially exist.
