Chapter 2 - THE BLUE FILES
The ambulance took me to Greenwich Hospital.
Chloe rode behind us.
Doctors treated the burn while an officer photographed my injuries and documented every mark that had not yet faded.
There were more than I wanted to admit.
A bruise near my ribs.
Finger-shaped discoloration above my elbow.
A healing cut near my shoulder.
Each one suddenly became a date, a photograph, and a question.
When the doctor left, Chloe sat beside my bed.
“Dominic is being processed.”
“What about Victoria?”
“Not arrested tonight.”
I looked at her.
“She watched him do it.”
“I know.”
“She encouraged him.”
“I know that too.”
Chloe leaned closer.
“But I need enough to prove whether tonight was one horrible act or part of something larger.”
I thought about the message.
“The blue files.”
She nodded.
“Dominic sent it twenty-three seconds after you activated the camera.”
“To whom?”
“A prepaid number.”
“Victoria?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
“Arthur?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Chloe placed a clear evidence bag on the table.
Inside was Dominic’s second phone.
I had never seen it before.
“We found this in his coat.”
My throat tightened.
Chloe continued.
“There are messages about you going back almost two years.”
“What kind of messages?”
“Your schedule.”
“My schedule?”
“Where you went.”
“Who you saw.”
“What you spent.”
“Which friends you spoke to.”
I felt cold despite the blanket.
Dominic had always seemed to know when I had talked to someone he disliked.
I had blamed myself for being careless.
Maybe I had left a message open.
Maybe somebody mentioned something.
Maybe he guessed.
He hadn’t guessed.
“What else?”
Chloe hesitated.
“There are references to something called Phase Three.”
I stared at her.
“What’s Phase Three?”
“We don’t know.”
A nurse entered and adjusted the dressing around my hand.
When she left, Chloe asked whether Dominic kept documents anywhere unusual.
I remembered the locked cabinet in his study.
The safe behind the wine racks.
The desk Victoria told me never to touch.
Then another memory surfaced.
Two months earlier, I had walked into the garage while Arthur and Dominic were arguing.
Arthur had been holding a blue folder.
The moment they saw me, they stopped talking.
Dominic took the folder.
Arthur said something strange.
She cannot find out what her name is attached to.
At the time, Dominic told me they were discussing insurance paperwork.
Now my heart began pounding.
“Chloe.”
She looked up.
“There’s a safe behind the wine cellar.”
Her expression sharpened.
“Does Dominic know you know about it?”
“I don’t think so.”
Chloe stood.
“We’ll request a warrant.”
My phone buzzed.
I looked at the screen.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
A photograph appeared.
It showed me entering the hospital less than an hour earlier.
May you like
Below it were six words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED ON THE FLOOR.
