Chapter 3 - The Assistant Who Vanished
Rain had begun falling over Boston by the time Caroline and Ethan reached Harbor Point.
Blue police lights reflected across wet pavement.
Grant’s assistant, Maya Torres, had left her car beside an abandoned warehouse.
The driver’s door was unlocked.
Her purse remained inside.
Her phone was gone.
Caroline stared through the rain.
“She wouldn’t leave her purse.”
“You know her well?”
“Not socially.”
“But?”
“She’s careful.”
“How careful?”
“She once called me because Grant accidentally left his passport in the office before a six-a.m. flight. She drove twenty minutes out of her way to bring it to our house.”
Ethan studied the car.
A detective approached him.
They spoke quietly.
Caroline could not hear everything.
She caught only three words.
No sign of struggle.
The detective left.
“What did he say?”
“Traffic cameras caught Maya’s car entering this street at 9:42.”
“And leaving?”
“It didn’t.”
“So she’s here somewhere.”
“Or someone else picked her up.”
Caroline looked toward the dark warehouses.
Her phone rang.
Grant.
This time she answered.
“Where are you?”
His tone was sharp.
Caroline almost smiled.
Not Are you all right?
Not How is your shoulder?
Where are you?
“Why?”
“You left the hotel.”
“That generally happens after someone is thrown into a swimming pool.”
“Sloane is hysterical.”
“I’m devastated.”
“Caroline, enough.”
She looked at Ethan.
“Grant, where is Maya?”
Silence.
One second.
Two.
Then Grant said, “What?”
“Your assistant.”
“I know who Maya is.”
“Where is she?”
“How would I know?”
“You work together.”
“Not at midnight.”
Caroline listened carefully.
Grant sounded annoyed.
Not surprised.
“You haven’t heard from her tonight?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Ethan held out his hand.
Caroline switched to speaker.
Grant continued.
“I need you home.”
“I’m not coming home.”
“Then tell me where you are.”
“No.”
“Caroline.”
“Good night, Grant.”
“Wait.”
She almost ended the call.
His voice changed.
“Did someone contact you?”
Caroline and Ethan exchanged a glance.
“Why would you ask that?”
“I’m asking a simple question.”
“So am I. Who do you think might contact me?”
Grant was silent.
Then he said, “You’re emotional. You’ve had a difficult evening.”
Caroline laughed.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The unstable wife.”
“For God’s sake.”
“Good night.”
She hung up.
Ethan exhaled.
“He knows.”
“Yes.”
“Not necessarily about Maya disappearing. But he knows someone might talk.”
Caroline walked toward the car.
Inside, the passenger seat contained several folders.
Police had already photographed them.
One had Maya’s handwriting across the front.
KINGSTON.
Caroline pointed.
“What’s Kingston?”
Ethan’s expression tightened.
“Kingston Advisory.”
“The consulting company my auditors found?”
“Yes.”
Caroline looked at him sharply.
“You already knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“I’m telling you now.”
“No. I found it myself.”
He accepted that.
“Fair.”
A young officer approached.
“Mrs. Vale?”
“Yes?”
“We found something under the driver’s seat.”
He held up a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a small brass key.
A number had been engraved into it.
Caroline stared.
“I recognize that.”
Ethan looked at her.
“From where?”
“Union Trust Bank.”
“How?”
“My father kept a safe-deposit box there.”
“Number 317?”
“I don’t know.”
Caroline’s father, Robert Whitmore, had died two years earlier.
A heart attack.
Sudden.
Devastating.
Afterward, Caroline became trustee of the family foundation because Robert’s will had specifically named her.
Nathan had been furious.
Grant had comforted her.
At least she had believed he was comforting her.
Caroline looked again at the key.
“Why would Maya have something connected to my father?”
Ethan answered softly.
“Maybe because this started before Grant.”
The thought made her chest tighten.
They left Harbor Point at nearly one in the morning.
Ethan drove.
Caroline sat beside him, staring at the city through rain-streaked glass.
“Was my father investigating something?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you know him?”
“No.”
“Darius Cole?”
“Yes.”
Caroline turned.
“How?”
“They were business adversaries twenty years ago.”
“My father never mentioned him.”
“Maybe he had a reason.”
Caroline’s phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
She opened it.
One sentence.
IF YOU WANT MAYA ALIVE, STOP THE AUDIT.
Caroline’s hands went cold.
Ethan glanced over.
“What?”
She showed him.
He immediately pulled to the curb.
“Don’t answer.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
He photographed the screen and forwarded the number to someone.
Caroline stared ahead.
“This is because of me.”
“No.”
“I authorized the audit.”
“They made their choices.”
“If Maya warned me—”
“She knew the risk.”
“That doesn’t mean I get to ignore it.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Then don’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we find her.”
Caroline turned toward him.
“You say that like it’s easy.”
“It isn’t.”
“Then why are you so calm?”
Ethan’s eyes returned to the road.
“Because panic doesn’t make anyone safer.”
Caroline recognized her own philosophy reflected back at her.
For the first time that night, she wondered exactly what had happened in Ethan Cross’s past.
But before she could ask, her phone rang again.
Nathan.
She answered.
“Hello?”
“Caroline.”
Her brother sounded breathless.
“Where are you?”
“Why does everyone suddenly care where I am?”
“Because Grant called me.”
Of course he had.
“What did he tell you?”
“That you embarrassed him in front of half the city.”
Caroline laughed.
“Nathan, Sloane pushed me into a pool.”
“He said you’ve been harassing her.”
“Do you believe him?”
Silence.
That hurt more than Caroline expected.
“Nathan?”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
“Were you with Darius Cole tonight?”
Another silence.
Ethan looked at her.
Nathan finally said, “Who told you that?”
“So you were.”
“Caroline, it’s not what you think.”
“What do I think?”
“I can’t explain this over the phone.”
“Try.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“Dad left something behind.”
Caroline’s breath caught.
“What?”
“I found out six months ago.”
“What did he leave?”
“Information.”
“About Cole?”
“Yes.”
“About Grant?”
Silence again.
Caroline closed her eyes.
“Nathan.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For not telling you sooner.”
“What does Dad’s information say?”
Nathan’s next words came barely above a whisper.
“It says Grant was involved before you ever married him.”
Caroline could not speak.
Ethan turned fully toward her.
Nathan continued.
“I think Grant met you on purpose.”
The city outside seemed to disappear.
Eleven years.
Their first dinner.
Their wedding.
The house.
The plans.
Every memory suddenly felt contaminated.
“Nathan,” Caroline whispered, “where are you?”
“Don’t come looking for me.”
“What?”
“I think they know I found Dad’s files.”
“Nathan—”
A loud crash sounded through the phone.
Then static.
“Nathan?”
Nothing.
“Nathan!”
The call ended.
Caroline immediately called back.
Voicemail.
Again.
Voicemail.
Ethan started the engine.
“Where does your brother live?”
“Beacon Hill.”
“Give me the address.”
The car shot into traffic.
Caroline gripped her phone.
First Maya.
Now Nathan.
The affair had destroyed her marriage.
May you like
But the secrets underneath it might destroy her entire family.
And for the first time since Sloane pushed her into the water, Caroline was afraid she had started a fight against people who had been preparing for it far longer than she had.
