Chapter 9 - THE NIGHT SARAH DIED
Daniel chased the man barefoot into the street.
The stranger reached a dark sedan and disappeared around the corner before Daniel could catch him.
Mark came running from next door.
“What happened?”
“Stay with Lily.”
Daniel called the police.
Then he called Claire again.
She did not answer.
He tried seven times.
Nothing.
At midnight, Detective Nina Alvarez arrived.
She had taken the burglary report at Reed’s office.
This time, she listened differently.
“Your wife told you someone killed Sarah?”
“My wife is Claire.”
Daniel hated how wrong the word sounded now.
“My late wife was Sarah.”
Alvarez nodded.
“Sarah died in a car accident.”
“That’s what I was told.”
Alvarez asked for the old case number.
By morning, she had the original crash report.
One page had a handwritten note in the margin.
Possible brake fluid leak.
No follow-up test was listed.
Daniel stared at it.
“Why wasn’t this investigated?”
“The mechanic listed on the report died eight months later.”
“Who signed off on closing the case?”
Alvarez turned the folder around.
Daniel recognized the name.
Peter Reed.
His attorney.
Sarah’s attorney.
The man who claimed he never knew who was behind North Bridge.
Daniel drove to Reed’s house.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, furniture had been overturned.
A lamp was broken.
Blood marked the kitchen floor.
“Peter?”
No answer.
Daniel heard a weak sound from the pantry.
Reed was inside, wrists tied, his face bruised.
Daniel cut him loose.
“Who did this?”
Reed coughed.
“You need to take Lily and leave town.”
“Who killed Sarah?”
Reed looked terrified.
Then he whispered a name.
“Grant Holloway.”
Daniel knew the name immediately.
Grant was Sarah’s older brother.
May you like
Lily’s uncle.
And the man Daniel had trusted to manage the family foundation after Sarah died.
