Chapter 2 - The Statement Written Before the Crash
Dean moved first.
His hand went toward the inside of his jacket.
Victor Crane was faster.
He came through the office doorway like he had been waiting for exactly that mistake.
“Don’t.”
Dean froze.
Victor held a pistol low at his side.
Roman didn’t even flinch.
“Take the weapon.”
Victor removed Dean’s gun.
Marcus backed toward the wall.
“I didn’t know about this.”
Roman looked at him.
“I’ll decide what you knew.”
Dean laughed once.
“You’re going to believe a toddler?”
Roman glanced at Lily.
“She has a better survival record than you today.”
“Roman.”
It was the first time Dean had used his first name.
Not boss.
Not Mr. Hail.
Roman’s expression hardened.
“Claire.”
I immediately lifted Lily.
“Come on.”
Lily resisted.
“But my car.”
Roman picked up the little red toy car and handed it to her.
“Keep this somewhere safe.”
Lily hugged it.
“You keep yourself safe.”
Something about that nearly broke my heart.
Roman nodded.
“I will.”
Victor escorted us upstairs.
At the end of the hallway, I stopped.
“What’s happening?”
Victor stared toward the office.
“Something that should’ve happened years ago.”
“What does that mean?”
He looked at Lily.
“Not around her.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“I know.”
“Those men knew where I lived.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
“Dean.”
“What exactly did he say?”
I told him.
Victor’s entire posture changed.
“Stay in your room.”
“I’m not staying anywhere until somebody explains why my daughter’s name was on a fake statement before Roman’s car was hit.”
Victor lowered his voice.
“Because whoever planned the crash needed a believable accident.”
“And Lily?”
“She was supposed to become the explanation.”
My stomach turned.
“She’s three.”
“Exactly. Nobody would question a frightened child running into a driveway.”
I held her tighter.
Victor continued.
“The problem for them is she saw too much.”
I stared at him.
“You mean we’re in danger.”
“Yes.”
No reassurance.
No softening.
Oddly, I appreciated that.
“From Dean?”
Victor looked down the hallway.
“Maybe from more than Dean.”
Then his radio crackled.
“Victor, south gate.”
He answered.
“Go.”
“We found something in Mercer’s vehicle.”
“What?”
“Better come see it.”
Victor looked at me.
“Lock your door.”
I grabbed his sleeve.
“Tell Roman I want to leave.”
Victor’s expression said no before his mouth did.
“You can’t.”
“You said we’re in danger.”
“You’re safer inside these walls right now.”
“Roman’s own security team tried to kill him inside these walls.”
Victor had no answer.
I took Lily to the guest room assigned to us.
The moment the lock clicked, I called Mrs. Dalton.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Lily climbed onto the bed.
“Mommy, are we sleeping here?”
“For a little while.”
“Roman has a big house.”
“Yes.”
“Bigger than our house.”
“Much bigger.”
“Does he have snacks?”
I almost laughed.
Children could stand in the middle of a nightmare and still prioritize crackers.
“I’ll find some.”
A knock came twenty minutes later.
Three slow taps.
“Who is it?”
“Roman.”
I opened the door.
He had changed into a black shirt, but the sling remained.
He looked tired now that there were no men around to watch him.
Lily ran to him.
“Your head has stitches.”
“So I’m told.”
“Does it hurt?”
“A little.”
She considered that.
“I got three stitches when I fell off the swing.”
Roman crouched.
“Were you brave?”
“No. I screamed.”
He smiled faintly.
“That’s allowed.”
I crossed my arms.
“We need to leave.”
Roman stood.
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
“My daughter is not a prisoner.”
“Neither are you.”
“Then open the gates.”
“I can’t.”
“Won’t.”
“Claire.”
“You don’t get to decide where my daughter sleeps because somebody inside your criminal empire tried to murder you.”
His face went still.
I had probably just said more than any employee at Blackridge had ever dared.
Lily whispered, “Mommy’s mad.”
Roman looked at her.
“I noticed.”
Then back at me.
“You’re right.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“You’re right to be angry.”
That was not what I expected.
“But if you walk out now,” he continued, “the people who prepared that statement know you can identify Dean. They know Lily heard something. And they know she saved me.”
“You’re saying someone might come after a three-year-old?”
His silence answered.
I looked at Lily.
She was lining her red toy car up with the edge of a dresser.
“What did you find in Dean’s vehicle?”
Roman stared at me.
“How do you know we found something?”
“Victor isn’t subtle.”
Roman almost smiled.
Then he reached into his pocket and produced a folded photograph.
He handed it to me.
It showed Lily and me leaving Mrs. Dalton’s bakery.
Taken from across the street.
My knees weakened.
“When?”
“Tuesday.”
Two days before the crash.
Another photograph.
Me collecting Lily from preschool.
Another.
Lily asleep in the back seat of my old Honda.
I looked up.
“Why were they watching us?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re Roman Hail.”
“That doesn’t mean I know everything.”
“People act like you do.”
“They’re usually trying to sell me something.”
I looked at the photographs again.
“Were these in Dean’s car?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
Roman hesitated.
“That means yes.”
He handed me a small envelope.
Inside was a photocopy of my driver’s license.
A copy of Lily’s birth certificate.
And one document I didn’t recognize.
Roman pointed to the signature.
“Your former husband.”
My breath caught.
“Ethan?”
“You were married?”
“For eighteen months.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
That was technically true.
Ethan Bennett had disappeared before Lily was born.
He had emptied our checking account, left a note saying he wasn’t ready to be a father, and vanished.
Roman studied my face.
“This document says Ethan transferred an ownership interest in a company called Harbor Nine Logistics.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“I have.”
His tone changed.
“What is it?”
“A shell corporation that once controlled three warehouses on my docks.”
“When?”
“Until someone stole twenty-eight million dollars from me four years ago.”
I stared at him.
“Ethan stole from you?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But you think it.”
“I think Dean had photographs of you, Lily, and a document connecting your ex-husband to a company that betrayed me.”
My stomach twisted.
“You hired me without knowing any of this?”
“Yes.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Unless somebody wanted you inside Blackridge.”
We both looked at Lily.
She drove her toy car across the blanket.
Then stopped.
“Oh.”
“What?” I asked.
She pointed toward the photograph of Dean.
“The silver-watch man came to our house.”
Roman’s head snapped toward her.
“When?”
Lily thought.
“When Mommy was sleeping.”
Every part of me went cold.
“What are you talking about?”
“He talked to Daddy.”
I couldn’t breathe.
Roman looked at me.
“You said Ethan disappeared before she was born.”
“He did.”
Lily frowned.
“No, Mommy.”
She reached for my hand.
“Daddy came when you were sick.”
Roman and I stared at each other.
“How long ago?” he asked gently.
Lily held up three fingers.
“Three sleeps.”
Three nights earlier.
The night I had taken cold medicine and fallen asleep before nine.
I sank onto the edge of the bed.
Ethan had been inside my apartment.
With Dean.
While Lily watched.
Roman stepped toward the door.
“Victor.”
I grabbed his wrist.
“Where are you going?”
“To find your husband.”
“My ex-husband.”
Roman looked back at me.
“Claire, if Ethan Bennett is alive and meeting Dean Mercer in your apartment three days before somebody tries to assassinate me…”
He paused.
“…then your family isn’t collateral damage anymore.”
“What are we?”
May you like
His expression darkened.
“The center of it.”
