Chapter 8 - Two Days Before the Crash
The service request came from a private garage Morgan Holdings used for executive vehicles.
Daniel called the retired manager, Arthur Bell, and met him at a diner outside the city.
Arthur remembered Hannah’s SUV.
“I remember because your wife was furious,” he said. “She said nobody had permission to touch her car.”
Daniel’s throat tightened. “Who picked it up?”
“A woman. Dark hair. Expensive coat. Said she worked with your family office.”
“Victoria?”
Daniel showed him a photograph.
Arthur’s face changed.
“That’s her.”
Rebecca asked, “What work was done?”
“Routine inspection. At least on paper.”
“On paper?”
Arthur stirred his coffee without drinking it.
“One of my mechanics quit suddenly after the crash. Eddie Sloan. He handled the vehicle that day.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He left town.”
Arthur looked at Daniel.
“Your insurance investigator asked questions about the brake line. I gave him Eddie’s file. Two days later, a lawyer came in and told me the matter was closed.”
“What lawyer?”
Arthur did not need the photograph.
“Mason Reed.”
Daniel’s vision sharpened.
On the drive back, Rebecca warned him again.
“Presence is not murder. Access is not murder.”
“But every road leads to them.”
“Then we keep walking until we have something a prosecutor can use.”
Daniel’s mother, Evelyn, called before they reached the city.
Her voice sounded wrong.
“Daniel, I heard about Victoria.”
“Who told you?”
“She did.”
“Of course she did.”
Evelyn was silent.
Then she said, “There’s something I should have given you years ago.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“What?”
“A letter from Hannah.”
He sat upright.
“You had a letter?”
“She gave it to me a week before she died. She told me to keep it somewhere safe.”
“And you never told me?”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
Daniel laughed once, bitterly.
“Everybody keeps protecting me by lying.”
Evelyn began to cry.
“Come to the house.”
“Why now?”
“Because the letter mentions Victoria.”
May you like
Daniel gripped the phone.
“And because there’s a key taped inside it.”
