Chapter 2 - The Woman at Rice Village
I did not tell Clara what Marcus had said.
Not immediately.
There are truths so large that saying them aloud changes the shape of the room.
For two years, I had believed Madeline's death was an accident.
A red light.
A delivery truck.
Bad timing.
Bad luck.
The kind of meaningless tragedy that made powerful men furious because there was nobody to punish.
Now there was a name.
Patricia.
Clara watched me from across the study.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
She gave me a look that would have gotten most employees fired.
"That was a terrible lie."
"I need you to take Avery and Sophie upstairs."
Her face tightened.
"Why?"
"Clara."
"No."
I stared at her.
She crossed her arms.
"If you are frightened enough to send them upstairs, I need to know what I'm protecting them from."
The word protecting stopped me.
I looked toward the door.
My daughters were somewhere down the hall laughing with Nancy.
I lowered my voice.
"Patricia may be connected to Madeline's death."
Clara went completely still.
"What?"
"We don't know enough yet."
"You just said connected."
"Marcus found a shell company."
Clara's hand went to her mouth.
I saw something in her face.
Not surprise exactly.
"What?"
She looked away.
"Clara."
"I don't know anything."
"You reacted."
"I reacted because you said your girlfriend may be tied to your wife's death."
"That's not all."
She hesitated.
Then whispered, "Patricia asked me questions."
"What kind?"
"About the girls."
My blood cooled.
"When?"
"Over the last few months."
"What questions?"
"What time they sleep. Which hallway they use. Whether Sophie still wakes during storms. Whether Avery ever tries to leave her room."
I stood.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought she was trying to be involved."
"Did she ask about security?"
Clara's eyes dropped.
"Once."
My chest tightened.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing useful. She asked whether the side staircase alarmed after midnight. I told her I didn't know."
"Did you?"
"Yes."
I almost smiled.
"Good."
"That's not the point."
"No. The point is she was studying my house."
Clara went pale.
"And your daughters."
I called Marcus.
"Lock down the estate."
He did not ask why.
"Patricia's access?"
"Revoked."
"Already doing it."
"Nobody in or out without you."
"Understood."
I ended the call.
Clara looked toward the ceiling.
"I need to see the girls."
I nodded.
We found Avery and Sophie in the playroom building a tower from wooden blocks.
They looked up when I entered.
Avery smiled.
"Daddy!"
The sound hit me differently now.
She ran to me.
I dropped to one knee.
She wrapped her arms around my neck.
Sophie followed more slowly.
"You're not in Chicago."
"No."
"Did you forget something?"
I looked at her.
"Yes."
"What?"
I swallowed.
"You."
Sophie stared at me.
Then she hugged me too.
I held both girls tighter than necessary.
Over their heads, Clara looked away.
That evening, I canceled every meeting.
I ate dinner at the kitchen table.
Avery asked why.
"Because I live here."
She considered that.
"Usually you live in your office."
Clara choked on water.
I looked at her.
She looked down quickly.
Sophie giggled.
For the first time in months, dinner felt like a family meal.
Then Patricia called.
Her name appeared on my phone.
Everyone at the table went quiet.
I answered.
"Ethan."
Her voice was warm.
"How is Chicago?"
I looked directly at Clara.
"Cold."
Patricia laughed.
"You hate cold."
"Yes."
"How did the meeting go?"
"Still going."
A pause.
Then, "Really?"
Something in her voice changed.
"Why?"
"No reason."
I leaned back.
"Where are you?"
"Home."
"Your home?"
Another pause.
"Of course."
I smiled without humor.
"Good."
"Why do you sound strange?"
"Tired."
"You work too much."
Across the table, Sophie looked at me.
Clara had told her the same thing earlier.
But from Patricia, it sounded different.
Not concern.
Measurement.
I ended the call quickly.
Marcus texted thirty seconds later.
PATRICIA'S VEHICLE JUST LEFT HER HOUSE.
Another message.
HEADING TOWARD RIVER OAKS.
I looked at Clara.
"Take the girls upstairs."
This time she did not argue.
Twenty minutes later, Patricia arrived at my front gate.
Security refused entry.
She called again.
I answered.
"Why won't your guards let me in?"
"Because I'm in Chicago."
Silence.
Then: "Ethan."
I walked into the foyer and looked through the glass toward the gate camera monitor.
Patricia sat in her white Mercedes, face tight.
"Where are you?"
"Home."
Another silence.
Longer this time.
"Why?"
"I forgot something."
"What?"
I thought of Avery’s arms around my neck.
Sophie’s trembling hand.
Clara moving the orange juice.
"My family."
Patricia's voice changed completely.
"Have you been spying on me?"
Interesting choice of words.
"Should I have been?"
"Ethan, don't play games."
"You've been asking questions about my security."
"Because I care about you."
"You've been asking Clara about my daughters."
"Because she's too involved."
"And you were at Rice Village the day Madeline died."
Silence.
I heard Patricia breathe.
Then she said, very carefully, "Who told you that?"
That was enough.
Not, What are you talking about?
Not, That's impossible.
Who told you.
I closed my eyes.
"Marcus found the records."
Patricia laughed softly.
"Then Marcus is becoming a problem."
My blood froze.
"What did you just say?"
She hung up.
The gate camera showed her car speeding away.
Marcus called instantly.
"We're tracking her."
"Don't lose her."
"We won't."
Then the lights in my foyer went out.
The entire estate dropped into darkness.
Somewhere upstairs, Sophie screamed.
I ran.
By the time I reached the second floor, backup lights had turned red along the hallway.
Clara was already kneeling beside Sophie.
"I'm right here," she whispered.
Blue lamp on.
Door cracked.
Bunny on her left.
Everything exactly as promised.
Avery clung to Clara’s waist.
I stopped in the doorway.
The scene looked too much like the kitchen earlier.
Clara protecting what I had failed to see.
I crouched beside Sophie.
"Sweetheart."
She looked at me through tears.
"The lights."
"I know."
"Clara said you'd come."
I looked at Clara.
She said nothing.
Sophie reached for my hand.
I took it.
Then Marcus’s voice came through my earpiece.
"Boss."
"What?"
"The outage wasn't weather."
"Then what?"
"Someone cut power at the external box."
My grip tightened around Sophie's hand.
"Who?"
"We caught him."
"Name."
Marcus hesitated.
"Daniel Hale."
Patricia's brother.
May you like
And just like that, the accident that killed my wife stopped looking like the worst thing Patricia had ever planned.
It started looking like the first.
