Chapter 5 - The Blue Sedan
Ruiz told me not to contact Marcus Hale.
So I called him before we even left the storage facility.
He answered on the second ring.
"Daniel. I heard there was trouble at your house."
"Claire is dead."
Silence.
Not surprise. Silence.
"Who told you that?" he asked.
"You did. Your name is on the certificate."
He exhaled slowly. "Come to my clinic tomorrow. Alone."
"Why alone?"
The call ended.
Ruiz swore when I told her.
On the way home, a blue sedan appeared three cars behind us.
I noticed it because Noah did.
"Same cracked headlight," he said.
The sedan accelerated.
Ruiz's unmarked SUV swerved across two lanes. The blue car stayed with us, close enough that I could see the driver wearing a baseball cap.
"Down!" Ruiz shouted.
The sedan rammed our rear quarter panel.
Metal screamed.
Noah ducked as I threw an arm across him.
Ruiz hit the brakes, spun behind the sedan, and tried to box it toward the median. The driver cut through a gas station lot, clipped a trash can, and disappeared down an access road.
We found the car twenty minutes later behind an abandoned pharmacy.
Stolen plates. Wiped interior.
One thing had been left in the cup holder.
A hospital visitor badge.
MARCUS HALE MEDICAL CENTER.
"That's too obvious," Ruiz said.
"Maybe it's a warning."
"Or bait."
At home, Noah refused to sleep.
He sat at the kitchen table turning Claire's compass necklace over in his fingers.
"Mom never took this off."
I looked at the tiny silver compass.
The back had always been smooth.
Now I noticed a hairline seam.
I used a butter knife to pry it open.
Inside was a microSD card no bigger than my fingernail.
Noah stared at it.
"The recorder wasn't empty," he whispered. "Mom moved the card."
I slid it into my laptop.
There was one audio file.
June 14. 9:47 p.m.
Claire's voice filled the kitchen.
"Vanessa, get away from me."
Then came Vanessa's voice, sharp and close.
"Give me the drive, Claire."
A third voice entered the room.
May you like
Marcus Hale.
"Lock the door," he said.
