Chapter 2 - Under the Floor
Daniel caught Claire before she reached the stairs.
“Move,” she screamed, clawing at his arm.
“No.” He shoved the bedroom door open with his shoulder. “Maria, take Lily downstairs and call 911.”
Claire stopped fighting.
That scared Maria more than the screaming.
“I already called,” Maria said. She had hit emergency on her phone the moment Lily was safe. “Police are coming.”
Claire’s expression changed. The panic vanished. In its place came a cold smile.
“Good,” she said. “Then they can arrest the right person.”
Daniel stared at her. “What does that mean?”
“You’ll see.”
Maria led Lily into the hall but did not go far. She heard Daniel tearing through the bedroom. Drawers opened. A lamp hit the floor. Claire kept repeating that Lily was confused.
Then Daniel found a loose plank beneath the window seat.
He lifted it.
A small red leather notebook sat inside beside a second phone and three bundles of cash.
Claire lunged.
Daniel grabbed the notebook first.
“Give me that!”
He opened it.
Maria watched the color drain from his face.
“What is it?”
Daniel turned one page, then another. “Bank account numbers. Dates. Transfers.”
Claire’s voice became soft. “Put it down, Daniel.”
“Two hundred thousand dollars,” he said. “Then fifty. Then ninety.” He looked at her. “These are company accounts.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Whose initials are these? R.M.?”
Claire said nothing.
Lily whispered, “The man from the car.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What man?” Daniel asked.
“The one Mommy Claire meets when you’re gone. He has a snake tattoo.”
Claire moved so fast Maria barely saw it. She snatched a heavy perfume bottle from the dresser and hurled it toward Lily.
Daniel knocked it aside. The bottle shattered against the wall.
Police sirens rose outside.
Claire backed toward the open balcony doors, breathing hard.
Then the second phone hidden under the floor began to ring.
Its screen lit up with one name.
RAY.
May you like
Daniel reached for it.
Claire whispered, “If you answer that, you’re going to wish Lily had fallen.”
