Chapter 4 - THE EMPTY CAR
Police found Ethan’s car near Lake Michigan.
The driver’s door was open.
His phone lay smashed beside the road.
There was blood on the steering wheel.
But Ethan was gone.
Detective Reed immediately treated it as a possible abduction.
Daniel blamed himself.
He had spent years believing money could protect his family.
Now his wife was hospitalized.
His brother was missing.
And someone had stolen nearly two million dollars from a charity bearing his family name.
Then another problem appeared.
The black flash drive was still missing.
Vanessa had vanished.
Her apartment had been emptied.
Her bank accounts showed no recent activity.
She had planned her disappearance.
But Claire remembered something.
“There’s another copy.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
“I backed everything up.”
“Where?”
Claire hesitated.
“At home.”
Daniel stared.
“Where at home?”
“Your father’s study.”
The study had belonged to Daniel’s father, Charles Whitmore, before his death four years earlier.
Nobody used it anymore.
Daniel drove home with Marcus.
Behind an old photograph of Charles was a small wall safe.
Claire had hidden a second drive inside.
Daniel entered the combination.
The safe opened.
Empty.
Daniel stared at it.
“That’s not possible.”
Marcus examined the lock.
“No forced entry.”
“Then someone knew the combination.”
“Who knew it?”
“Claire.”
“And?”
Daniel hesitated.
“My mother.”
Eleanor Whitmore.
The family matriarch.
Seventy-one years old.
Elegant.
Cold.
And fiercely protective of the Whitmore name.
Daniel immediately called her.
She answered after two rings.
“Daniel.”
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“We need to talk.”
A pause.
“I suppose we do.”
Something about her tone made his skin crawl.
Daniel drove to Eleanor’s estate.
She was waiting in the garden.
Tea sat between two porcelain cups.
“You look terrible.”
“My wife was nearly killed.”
“Yes.”
“My brother is missing.”
“I heard.”
Daniel remained standing.
“Did you take something from Dad’s study?”
Eleanor calmly lifted her tea.
“What would I take?”
“A flash drive.”
She looked at him.
For half a second, her expression changed.
Daniel saw it.
“You know about it.”
Eleanor placed the cup down.
“You should stop asking questions.”
Daniel stared at his mother.
“What did you say?”
“You have Claire alive.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“You have your company.”
“Mother.”
“You have your reputation.”
Her voice became harder.
“Take what you still have and stop digging.”
Daniel felt as if the ground had shifted beneath him.
“Where is Ethan?”
Eleanor looked away.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Where is my brother?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
Eleanor stood.
“I am trying to protect you.”
“From who?”
She looked toward the house.
Then toward the trees.
As though someone might be listening.
“Your father.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“My father is dead.”
Eleanor’s eyes returned to his.
“No, Daniel.”
May you like
Her voice was barely audible.
“He isn’t.”
