Chapter 4 - THE LIST OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
The flash drive was taken to a secure forensic laboratory before sunset.
Detective Mara Quinn stayed at the hospital.
She had learned enough about Richard Hale to understand that ordinary precautions were no longer sufficient.
Two uniformed officers stood outside Claire’s room.
A third covered the elevator.
Ethan sat beside his mother, refusing to move farther than an arm’s length away.
Claire did not ask him to.
She kept one hand resting on his shoulder as if she needed to feel that he was physically there.
Mara stood by the window.
“Your house is being searched.”
Claire nodded.
“So is Richard’s office.”
“He will have cleared both.”
“You’re sure?”
“He was planning this for months.”
“How long did you suspect him?”
Claire looked toward Ethan.
Mara understood.
“Ethan can wait outside.”
“No.”
Ethan spoke before his mother could.
“I’m not leaving.”
Claire sighed.
“Some of what we discuss may be difficult.”
“My stepdad put you in a coffin.”
His voice was quiet.
“I think we’re past difficult.”
Claire looked at him for several seconds.
Then she nodded.
“Okay.”
Mara opened her notebook.
“When did you first become suspicious?”
“Last October.”
“What happened?”
“I found a transfer.”
“From Richard?”
“No.”
“From Ethan’s trust.”
Ethan looked at her.
“My trust?”
Claire squeezed his shoulder.
“I never wanted you thinking about that money while you were growing up.”
“Richard stole from it?”
“He tried.”
Mara leaned forward.
“How?”
“Richard convinced one of the trustees that Parker Meridian needed a restructuring.”
“Who was the trustee?”
“Samuel Trent.”
Mara wrote the name.
“Still alive?”
Claire’s face became grim.
“No.”
“How did he die?”
“Car accident.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Mara stopped writing.
“Any reason to believe that wasn’t an accident?”
“I didn’t then.”
“You do now.”
“Yes.”
Ethan felt cold.
Claire continued.
“Samuel rejected Richard’s proposal.”
“Three weeks later, his brakes failed on a mountain road.”
“Who replaced him as trustee?”
“A lawyer named Howard Bell.”
“And did Bell approve Richard’s proposal?”
“Immediately.”
Mara wrote faster.
“How much did Richard gain access to?”
“Almost twelve million before I stopped the transfer.”
“How?”
“I obtained an emergency injunction.”
“That would have made Richard angry.”
“It made him terrified.”
“Why terrified?”
“Because the injunction required a forensic review.”
Mara looked up.
“And the review would expose more than the attempted theft.”
Claire nodded.
“It would expose years of fraudulent transactions.”
Ethan stared at his mother.
“You knew all this?”
“I knew pieces.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Ethan pulled his hand away.
“Protect me?”
Claire flinched.
“You almost got buried alive.”
“Ethan.”
“You should have told somebody.”
“I told Laura.”
“One person.”
“She had evidence.”
“And Richard found out.”
Claire lowered her eyes.
Ethan immediately regretted the harshness in his voice.
But fear had turned into anger.
Four days believing his mother was dead had carved something into him.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire reached for his hand.
“No.”
“You’re allowed to be angry.”
Mara’s phone vibrated.
She checked the screen.
Her expression changed.
“They opened the drive.”
Claire straightened.
“And?”
Mara listened.
Her face became increasingly tense.
Ethan watched her.
“What is it?”
Mara raised one hand.
The voice on the other end continued for almost a minute.
Then Mara said, “Do not send anything electronically.”
She listened again.
“No network connection.”
Another pause.
“Print it locally and put everything in sealed evidence.”
She ended the call.
Claire looked at her.
“What was on it?”
Mara seemed reluctant to answer in front of Ethan.
Claire noticed.
“He stays.”
Mara exhaled.
“There are forty-three names.”
Claire went pale.
“Forty-three?”
“Each has a payment amount beside it.”
“Names of who?”
“Doctors.”
“Lawyers.”
“Contractors.”
“County employees.”
“Two judges.”
Claire stared.
“And?”
Mara’s voice dropped.
“Six names have the word completed beside them.”
Nobody spoke.
Ethan felt his mother’s hand tighten around his.
“What does completed mean?”
Mara did not answer immediately.
Then she said, “We don’t know yet.”
Claire did.
Ethan could see it in her face.
“Dead people.”
Claire whispered.
“Probably.”
Mara nodded reluctantly.
“The first name is Samuel Trent.”
Ethan’s stomach turned.
“The trustee.”
“Yes.”
“The second is a journalist named Peter Walsh.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“I know that name.”
“How?”
“He contacted Laura.”
“When?”
“Five months ago.”
“What happened to him?”
Claire looked toward the detective.
“He drowned.”
Mara checked her notes.
“Officially, yes.”
Ethan stared at the floor.
Six completed names.
Six possible murders disguised as accidents.
Then Mara continued.
“Your name is on the list too.”
Claire looked at her.
“What does it say?”
“Pending.”
Claire’s eyes filled with fury rather than fear.
“And Ethan?”
Mara hesitated.
Claire stood despite the IV line.
“Is Ethan on the list?”
“Yes.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Ethan’s mouth went dry.
“What does mine say?”
Mara stepped closer.
“Ethan.”
“What does it say?”
The detective looked at Claire.
Claire nodded.
Mara answered.
“Transfer.”
Ethan frowned.
“Transfer where?”
“We don’t know.”
Claire did.
“No.”
Her voice was barely audible.
Mara watched her.
“What?”
Claire looked toward her son.
“Richard never intended to keep Ethan after he got control of the trust.”
Ethan stared.
“What do you mean?”
“He needed you for the guardianship.”
“For how long?”
“Until the court accepted him.”
Mara understood first.
“Then he planned to make Ethan disappear too.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Ethan felt numb.
Richard had tucked him into bed.
Richard had taught him to drive a lawn mower.
Richard had attended school plays.
Richard had once sat beside him in an emergency room for six hours after he broke his wrist.
And somewhere along the way, Richard had written the word transfer beside his name.
Mara’s phone rang again.
This time she answered immediately.
“Yes.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“When?”
She looked toward the door.
“Lock down this floor.”
Claire stood.
“What happened?”
Mara ended the call.
“One of our officers found something in the parking garage.”
“What?”
“A car registered to Richard.”
Claire’s face changed.
“He’s here.”
“We don’t know that.”
“He’s here.”
Mara moved toward the door.
“Stay inside.”
Claire grabbed her wrist.
“Mara.”
The detective looked back.
“Richard doesn’t come back for things.”
“What does he come back for?”
“People.”
A fire alarm suddenly began screaming.
Red lights flashed.
The hospital corridor erupted with voices.
Nurses called for patients to remain calm.
An automated announcement ordered evacuation from the western wing.
Mara pulled out her weapon.
“Stay inside.”
Ethan moved closer to Claire.
Smoke began creeping beneath the door.
One of the officers outside shouted.
Then came a heavy crash.
Silence followed.
Claire’s face went white.
Mara reached for the handle.
Before she touched it, somebody knocked.
Three times.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Ethan stared at the door.
Claire did too.
Mara whispered, “Who is it?”
A woman answered from the other side.
“Laura.”
Claire stopped breathing.
May you like
“Open the door before Richard finds us.”
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