Chapter 6 - THE DETECTIVE WHO LIED
Hayes stood just inside the hospital room.
His eyes remained fixed on Emma’s phone.
Nathan did not move.
Neither did Emma.
For several long seconds, the only sound in the room was the steady beeping of the fetal monitor.
Hayes finally spoke.
“Where did you hear that phrase?”
Emma kept her voice calm.
“What phrase?”
His jaw tightened.
“The original ledger.”
Nathan immediately noticed.
Hayes had not asked what it was.
He had asked where she heard it.
That told them everything.
Emma slowly set her phone beside her leg.
“My mother.”
Hayes’s expression barely changed.
But his breathing did.
Nathan stepped closer.
“You told us Rebecca Bennett was dead.”
Hayes looked at him.
“I never told you that.”
“No.”
Nathan’s voice hardened.
“You let us believe it.”
Hayes glanced toward Emma.
“Rebecca is complicated.”
Emma almost laughed.
“My mother disappearing for six years is complicated?”
“Emma—”
“No.”
She pushed herself higher against the hospital pillows.
Pain shot through her side.
She ignored it.
“You knew she was alive.”
Hayes did not answer.
Emma’s eyes filled with rage.
“You knew.”
Hayes looked toward the door.
Nathan immediately moved in front of it.
“You’re not leaving.”
Hayes stared at him.
“Move.”
“No.”
“This is not your investigation.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“It became mine when my wife was thrown down a staircase.”
Hayes’s hand lowered slightly toward his jacket.
Nathan saw it.
So did Emma.
“Nathan.”
Her voice was sharp.
He glanced at her.
“Don’t.”
Nathan understood.
Hayes was armed.
And whatever trust had existed ten minutes earlier was gone.
Hayes looked at Emma again.
“You need to listen to me.”
Emma said nothing.
“Rebecca was not telling you the whole truth.”
Emma’s face hardened.
“That sounds familiar.”
“I protected her.”
“From whom?”
“People far more dangerous than the Whitmores.”
Nathan frowned.
“What people?”
Hayes ignored him.
Emma asked again.
“From whom?”
Hayes walked toward the window.
He checked the blinds.
Then turned back.
“The Bennett case was never just about stolen land.”
Emma stared.
“What was it about?”
Hayes hesitated.
“Political money.”
Nathan looked confused.
“What?”
Hayes spoke carefully.
“Samuel Bennett knew where major infrastructure projects were going before anyone else.”
“We know that.”
“No.”
Hayes shook his head.
“You know the version Charles told you.”
Emma watched him.
“There’s another version?”
“Yes.”
Hayes pulled a chair toward the bed.
Nathan remained standing.
Hayes sat.
“Samuel wasn’t just receiving inside information.”
“He was documenting who was selling it.”
Emma frowned.
“Government officials?”
“Judges.”
“City planners.”
“State contractors.”
“Members of Congress.”
Nathan’s face changed.
Hayes continued.
“Samuel kept records.”
“Names.”
“Payments.”
“Dates.”
“Account numbers.”
Emma understood.
“The ledger.”
Hayes nodded.
“The original ledger.”
Nathan looked at Emma.
Then back to Hayes.
“Why would Rebecca have it?”
“Because Samuel trusted his daughter.”
Hayes leaned forward.
“Before he died, he gave her the ledger and told her never to surrender it.”
Emma’s breathing slowed.
“So my mother had proof.”
“Yes.”
“Proof of everything.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t she expose it?”
Hayes looked down.
“Because exposure would have gotten her killed.”
Nathan folded his arms.
“You keep saying you protected her.”
Hayes looked at him.
“I did.”
“Then why did she warn Emma not to trust you?”
Hayes remained silent.
Nathan stepped closer.
“Answer.”
Hayes’s eyes shifted toward Emma.
“She misunderstood what happened.”
Emma’s expression turned cold.
“My mother didn’t sound confused.”
“She was afraid.”
“Of you.”
“Because I made a decision she hated.”
Emma waited.
Hayes exhaled.
“Six years ago, Rebecca was preparing to deliver the ledger to federal investigators.”
Emma’s eyes narrowed.
“You stopped her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the team she was going to meet had been compromised.”
Emma said nothing.
Hayes continued.
“Someone inside federal law enforcement had been selling information.”
“Rebecca’s location.”
“Witness schedules.”
“Safe houses.”
“Everything.”
Nathan frowned.
“And you knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Who?”
“I didn’t know then.”
“And now?”
Hayes looked away.
“That is the problem.”
Emma watched him carefully.
“You still don’t know.”
“No.”
Nathan shook his head.
“So you kidnapped Rebecca?”
Hayes looked at him sharply.
“I moved her.”
“Without telling Emma.”
“Yes.”
“Without telling anyone.”
“Yes.”
“Then faked her death.”
Hayes was silent.
Emma felt something twist inside her.
“You helped fake my mother’s funeral?”
“Yes.”
Emma stared at him.
Hayes’s voice softened.
“She begged me to make it believable.”
Emma looked toward the window.
“She let me grieve her.”
Hayes did not answer.
“She let me stand over an empty casket.”
“It wasn’t empty.”
Emma looked back.
“What?”
Hayes immediately regretted saying it.
Nathan noticed.
“Whose body was in there?”
Hayes did not respond.
Emma’s face turned pale.
“Whose body?”
Hayes rubbed his forehead.
“A Jane Doe.”
Nathan stared.
“You buried an unidentified woman under Rebecca’s name?”
“She had no family.”
Emma’s voice broke.
“You don’t know that.”
Hayes looked at her.
“You don’t know that she had no family.”
Silence.
Emma shook her head.
“You stole someone else’s daughter so my mother could disappear.”
Hayes said nothing.
Nathan looked disgusted.
“You call that protection?”
“I call it survival.”
Emma suddenly pushed the blanket away.
Nathan moved toward her.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m leaving.”
Hayes stood.
“No.”
Emma glared at him.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore.”
“You cannot leave this hospital.”
“Watch me.”
“You have internal injuries.”
“I’ll take that up with my doctor.”
Hayes stepped toward her.
“Emma, if Margaret knows the ledger exists—”
“She does.”
Hayes stopped.
Nathan looked at Emma.
“How do you know?”
Emma’s expression changed.
“Because that was why Evelyn attacked me.”
Nathan frowned.
Emma continued.
“Before the recording started, Evelyn said something.”
Hayes leaned closer.
“What?”
“She asked where I hid ‘the book.’”
Hayes’s face went pale.
Nathan saw it.
“What book?”
Emma looked at Hayes.
“The ledger.”
Hayes stared at her.
“Did you tell her?”
“No.”
“Does she know where it is?”
“No.”
“Do you?”
Emma did not answer.
Hayes’s eyes sharpened.
Nathan stepped between them.
“Back off.”
Hayes looked at Nathan.
“This is bigger than your marriage.”
Nathan did not move.
“Nothing is bigger than her safety right now.”
Hayes’s voice rose.
“If that ledger resurfaces, people are going to die.”
Emma stared at him.
“People already have.”
Hayes went silent.
Emma continued.
“My grandfather died.”
“My mother spent half her life hiding.”
“Someone pushed me down a staircase.”
“Evelyn is missing.”
“And there’s blood in Margaret’s car.”
She leaned forward.
“Stop telling me what might happen.”
“It already happened.”
A phone began ringing.
Hayes checked his.
Not his.
Nathan checked his.
Not his.
Emma looked toward the small cabinet beside the bed.
Her hospital belongings bag was vibrating.
Nathan reached inside.
There was another phone.
Not Emma’s.
A small black burner phone.
Nathan stared at it.
“Was this yours?”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
Hayes immediately stepped forward.
“Don’t answer.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because whoever put it there knows this room.”
Emma stared at the phone.
It kept ringing.
Nathan held it out.
Hayes reached for it.
Emma spoke.
“Answer it.”
Hayes turned.
“Emma.”
“Put it on speaker.”
Nathan answered.
No one spoke.
Then a woman began crying.
Softly.
Nathan’s face changed.
Emma leaned forward.
“Hello?”
The crying stopped.
A whisper came through.
“Emma?”
Emma froze.
She knew that voice too.
Not her mother.
Evelyn.
“Evelyn?”
Nathan stepped closer.
“Where are you?”
Evelyn gasped.
“Nathan?”
“Yes.”
“Oh God.”
Her voice shook violently.
“He lied.”
Hayes went still.
Emma noticed.
“Who lied?”
Evelyn whispered.
“The detective.”
Hayes grabbed the phone.
Nathan pulled it away.
“Don’t.”
Hayes’s expression changed.
“Give me the phone.”
Nathan stared at him.
“No.”
Evelyn continued.
“Emma, listen to me.”
Emma’s heart pounded.
“I’m listening.”
“I didn’t leave the house with Mom.”
Nathan frowned.
“What?”
“She took my phone.”
“She told me we were going to the garage.”
“She said we needed to get away before the police found the files.”
Emma looked at Hayes.
Evelyn continued.
“When we reached the SUV, someone was already inside.”
Hayes’s face became unreadable.
“Who?”
Emma asked.
Evelyn’s breathing became fast.
“I couldn’t see him.”
“He had a hood.”
“He hit me.”
Nathan gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Look around.”
“It’s dark.”
“Are you alone?”
A long pause.
Then Evelyn whispered.
“No.”
Everyone in the room froze.
Nathan lowered his voice.
“Who is there?”
Evelyn began crying again.
“She is.”
Emma’s skin went cold.
“Who?”
Evelyn whispered one name.
“Rebecca.”
Emma stopped breathing.
Hayes lunged for the phone.
Nathan shoved him back.
The call ended.
Emma stared at the burner.
Nathan looked at Hayes.
“What the hell was that?”
Hayes immediately reached for his own phone.
Emma spoke.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
“You knew.”
Hayes looked at her.
“You knew where my mother was.”
“No.”
“You reacted when Evelyn said her name.”
“Because Rebecca should not be anywhere near Evelyn.”
Emma’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Hayes shook his head.
“We need to move you.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“Move her where?”
“A secure location.”
Emma stared at him.
“Like the place you moved my mother?”
Hayes did not answer.
Nathan took the burner phone.
“I’m calling the police.”
Hayes grabbed his wrist.
“No.”
Nathan jerked away.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know who is compromised.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Maybe you.”
Hayes stepped closer.
“If I wanted Emma hurt, she would never have had four months to investigate.”
Emma’s face hardened.
“That is not reassuring.”
Hayes looked toward the hallway.
“We have to leave.”
Emma shook her head.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Then go with Nathan.”
Nathan looked surprised.
Hayes continued.
“But do not use either of your cars.”
“Do not go to your house.”
“Do not go to a hotel.”
“Do not call anyone in the Whitmore family.”
Nathan frowned.
“Why?”
Hayes looked at him.
“Because someone knew Emma’s hospital room number less than an hour after she arrived.”
Everyone became silent.
Hayes pointed at the burner phone.
“And they planted that in her belongings.”
Nathan looked toward the hallway.
Emma suddenly felt vulnerable in a way she had not before.
The hospital no longer felt safe.
Hayes spoke again.
“I can get you out through the service wing.”
Emma stared at him.
“And where do we go?”
Hayes hesitated.
Nathan saw it.
“You have somewhere.”
Hayes looked at Emma.
“One place.”
“Where?”
He answered carefully.
“The house where Rebecca lived before she disappeared.”
Emma frowned.
“The Arizona house?”
Hayes shook his head.
“No.”
“The one nobody knew existed.”
Emma’s breath caught.
“Where?”
Hayes looked toward the cracked hospital window.
May you like
Then at Emma.
“Three miles from the Whitmore mansion.”
