Chapter 4: The Bargain at My Front Door
“Your daughter isn't the only one who knows where your husband is.””
Detective Mark Sullivan stood on my porch with Daniel's wedding ring tucked between two fingers, turning it slowly as if he were examining a coin.
I could hear Elena Cross breathing through my phone.
“Renee,” she whispered, “do not open that door. Step away from him.””
Sullivan tilted his head.
“Who are you talking to?””
I ended the call.
It was the first lie I told that day, and I prayed it wouldn't be the last.
I moved toward the kitchen, keeping my eyes on the front door. Sullivan followed my movements through the glass, his expression patient, almost fatherly.
That expression made me angrier than a threat would have.
Two years earlier, I had thanked this man for helping me identify my husband's remains. I had offered him coffee while he explained the crash. I had cried in front of him, and he had handed me tissues.
Now he was using my daughter as leverage.
I opened the door but kept the security chain fastened.
“What do you want?””
“An honest conversation.””
“You broke into my daughter's bedroom.””
“That's a serious accusation.””
“I watched you.””
For the first time, his smile faltered.
Only slightly.
Then he slipped his hands into his coat pockets.
“You watched me from under the bed, Mrs. Holloway? That sounds uncomfortable.””
My stomach dropped.
He knew.
Sullivan leaned closer to the narrow opening.
“Your daughter told me you were becoming suspicious. I hoped you'd remain sensible, but apparently motherhood has made you reckless.””
“Where is Maya?””
“Safe.””
“Let me speak to her.””
“Not until you give me what she took.””
“I don't know what you're talking about.””
He sighed, then pulled a photograph from his pocket and pressed it against the glass.
It showed Maya standing outside a convenience store, her face turned toward the camera. Someone had circled her wrist in red ink.
She was wearing the thin silver bracelet I'd bought her for her thirteenth birthday.
On the back of the photograph, in black marker, were five words.
*SHE WON'T GET ANOTHER WARNING.*
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Sullivan watched me absorb the message.
“Your daughter is a clever girl,” he said.
“Cleverer than either of us realized. She found something that doesn't belong to her.””
“What did she find?””
“Evidence.””
“Evidence of what?””
His jaw tightened.
“Don't play games with me, Renee.””
“I'm not playing anything. You show up in my home, threaten my daughter, and expect me to cooperate without telling me why?””
“Because the people involved don't negotiate with mothers.””
He said it so casually that for a moment I couldn't process the words.
Then I understood.
Sullivan wasn't acting alone.
“Who are they?”” I asked.
He looked past me into the house.
“People your husband stole from.””
“Daniel didn't steal anything.””
“Your husband took records worth millions of dollars. He copied confidential files, hid them, and then disappeared before he could explain himself.””
“Because someone tried to kill him?””
Sullivan's expression hardened.
“Your husband was a liar. He manipulated everyone around him, including you.””
I wanted to slap him.
Instead, I gripped the doorframe.
“If Daniel is alive, why hasn't he contacted us?””
“Ask him.””
“Where is he?””
Sullivan smiled again.
“That's what I'm trying to find out.””
He took a step backward.
“You have until six o'clock tonight. Bring me the original records, and Maya comes home. Refuse, and I'll have no control over what happens next.””
He started down the porch steps.
“Detective!””
He turned.
“If you hurt my daughter, I'll make sure everyone knows what you did.””
He looked genuinely amused.
“Renee, nobody believes a grieving woman who can't accept her husband's death. Especially when her husband was involved in criminal activity.””
Then he walked away.
I locked the door and stumbled into the kitchen.
My hands shook so violently that I nearly dropped my phone when I called Elena back.
She answered immediately.
“Did he leave?””
“Yes.””
“Did you open the door?””
“Only the chain. Elena, he has Maya. He threatened to hurt her unless I give him some records.””
“I heard enough before you disconnected. I'm arranging for you to meet an agent.””
“How long?””
“Twenty minutes.””
“I don't have twenty minutes. He gave me until six.””
“Then we'll use the time we have.””
I looked at the clock.
12:18 p.m.
“What records does he want?””
“I believe Daniel copied financial records from Northstar Logistics. Some of those records may connect Sullivan to a network that has been laundering money through government contracts.””
“Why would Daniel have them?””
“He was investigating fraudulent insurance claims. He discovered payments to companies that didn't appear to exist.””
I sank into a chair.
“Was that why the crash happened?””
“We suspect the crash was staged to look like an accident. But there are gaps in the evidence.””
“And Maya found the missing pieces?””
“Possibly.””
I remembered her notebook.
If anything happens to me, look inside the blue lunchbox.
I'd found the phone number. But perhaps the lunchbox held something else.
I hurried back to the closet and examined it again.
The plastic lid had a small crack near one corner. I pressed it, and a thin compartment sprang open.
Inside was a memory card.
My breath caught.
I held it up to the light.
“There's something here,” I told Elena.
“Don't put it into a computer. Don't connect it to the internet. Bring it to our meeting.””
“Can it prove Sullivan was involved?””
“If it's what I think it is, it might.””
I wrapped the card in a tissue and placed it inside my purse.
Then I went upstairs to change.
As I passed Maya's room, I noticed something I hadn't seen before: a small white envelope taped beneath the windowsill.
Inside was a note.
Mom, if you're reading this, I couldn't get everything to you in person.
Dad says Sullivan isn't the only dangerous person. There's someone above him, someone who can make evidence disappear.
I wanted to tell you the truth, but I was afraid you'd hate Dad for what he did.
The last sentence was written so faintly that I had to hold it close to the window.
Please don't let them take him away again.
I pressed the paper to my chest.
Whatever Daniel had done, Maya still loved him.
And she had been carrying his secrets alone.
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
*UNKNOWN: Don't trust Elena Cross. She was there the night Daniel disappeared.*
I read the message twice.
Then a second one appeared.
*UNKNOWN: Ask her why she signed the order to erase his identity.*
I stood frozen in the hallway.
A minute earlier, Elena had sounded like the only person who might help me.
Now someone was telling me she had been part of the cover-up.
I called her.
“Renee?”” she answered.
“I'm ten minutes away from arranging the meeting.””
“Before I come, I need an answer.””
“About what?””
“Were you involved in Daniel's disappearance?””
Silence.
Not the brief pause of someone confused by a question.
The silence of someone choosing which truth to reveal.
Finally, Elena said, “Yes.””
My knees nearly buckled.
“What?””
“I helped Daniel disappear.””
I closed my eyes.
“You expect me to trust you after that?””
“No. I expect you to understand that I may be the only reason your husband is still alive.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because the moment you knew, you became a target.””
A car engine sounded outside.
I looked through the window.
A black SUV had pulled up beside my mailbox.
Its rear passenger door opened.
A man stepped out holding a photograph.
Even from across the street, I recognized the face.
Daniel.
May you like
Alive.
And he was looking directly at my house.
