Chapter 3 - THE MAN IN THE KITCHEN
I pushed Hannah behind me.
A shadow moved near the freezer.
“Come out,” I said.
No answer.
I picked up a cast:iron skillet from the stove.
The shadow stepped forward.
It was a man in a dark jacket, maybe forty, broad:shouldered, with a cut above one eyebrow.
Hannah gasped.
“Daniel?”
He raised both hands.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Who is he?” I asked.
“Grant’s driver.”
“Former driver,” Daniel corrected. “He fired me an hour ago.”
I kept the skillet raised.
“Why are you in my kitchen?”
“Because the front door is being watched, and because you need to know what Grant is doing.”
He placed a folder on the prep table.
Inside were photographs of Hannah entering banks, signing documents, and meeting men she had never seen before.
The images were convincing.
Too convincing.
“They’re fake,” Hannah whispered.
“Some are edited,” Daniel said. “Some were staged using your signature and copies of your identification.”
My anger became cold.
“What does Grant want?”
“He wants Hannah to return voluntarily. He needs her inside the house before the company’s annual board meeting on Friday.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked toward the dark windows.
“Because Margaret and Grant have been moving money through shell companies. Nearly fourteen million dollars.”
Hannah staggered backward.
“They put it in my name.”
Daniel nodded.
“If the audit reaches the board, you become the thief.”
“And Grant?”
“The betrayed husband who discovered his wife’s crimes.”
I looked at the memory card.
“Is the evidence on this?”
“Possibly. Grant keeps duplicate ledgers and private recordings.”
A car door slammed outside.
Daniel’s expression changed.
“They found me.”
Headlights swept across the kitchen wall.
Three black vehicles stopped behind the diner.
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“There’s a service tunnel under the basement. Your husband built it during the investigation.”
I stared at him.
“How do you know about that?”
“Because David Carter saved my father’s life.”
Heavy fists struck the back door.
A man shouted, “Open up!”
Daniel looked me straight in the eyes.
“If you want to save Hannah, you have to trust me.”
May you like
Then the lock began to break.
:::
