Chapter 5 - THE ARREST THAT CAME TOO FAST
The handcuffs clicked around Richard's wrists.
Claire grabbed the captain's arm. "This is wrong. My father didn't kill anyone."
"We received new evidence tonight," the captain said.
Daniel held up his phone. "Anonymous evidence?"
The captain nodded.
Richard looked at Daniel. "Not anonymous. Convenient."
Claire stepped between her father and the officers. "What evidence?"
The captain showed her a photograph of Richard standing beside Thomas Cole's boat the night it exploded. A timestamp glowed in the corner.
Claire recognized the picture.
It came from her mother's ledger packet.
"Where did you get this?"
"It was delivered to the station an hour ago."
Only Daniel, Vanessa, and Evelyn knew the bank key existed. Yet the photo had been taken from a sealed box no one should have opened.
Unless the box had already been compromised.
Richard leaned toward Claire. "Go to the bank. Do not trust Daniel. Do not trust the police until you know who sent that photograph."
"Dad—"
"Go."
The officers led him away.
Daniel approached Claire with false concern. "Come home with me. We'll handle this privately."
Claire laughed once. It sounded broken. "You drugged me."
"I made a mistake."
"No. You made a plan."
Vanessa tried to slip toward the service corridor.
Claire caught her arm. "Where are you going?"
Vanessa jerked free. "To call my attorney."
A small silver object fell from her clutch and struck the floor.
A bank access token.
First Lakeshore Bank.
Claire picked it up.
Vanessa ran.
Claire followed through the service hall, past shocked waiters and rolling carts. Vanessa shoved open a fire door and raced down the stairs.
At the parking garage level, a black SUV waited with its engine running.
Daniel's mother sat behind the wheel.
Vanessa jumped inside.
Before the door closed, Claire saw a familiar leather folder on the back seat.
Her mother's name was written across it.
The SUV roared away before Claire could reach it. She stood beneath the garage lights, breathless, holding the stolen access token. Marcus came beside her and studied the tire marks.
"They planned an exit route," he said.
Claire looked toward the ramp. "Then we stop following their plan."
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Her phone buzzed with a voicemail from Richard, recorded before his arrest.
"Claire, if they reach the ledger first, find the page marked Blackwater. And whatever you learn about me, remember this: I never stopped looking for the truth.
