Chapter 11 - IT WAS NEVER AN ACCIDENT
Nobody moved.
The recording continued.
Daniel’s car sped up.
Harris’s truck followed.
Rain hammered the windshield.
Preston’s voice came from somewhere inside Harris’s cab.
“Closer.”
Harris shouted, “He’s going too fast!”
“He’ll pull over.”
But Daniel didn’t.
Maybe he knew who was behind him.
Maybe he was terrified.
Maybe he was trying to reach the police station twelve miles ahead.
The video shook.
Headlights flashed.
Then Harris swerved.
Daniel’s car jerked.
Crossed the center line.
Corrected.
Preston shouted, “Again!”
My father made a choking sound behind me.
I couldn’t cry.
Not yet.
The next thirty seconds were the longest of my life.
Harris moved closer.
Daniel swerved around a bend.
An oncoming vehicle appeared.
He tried to avoid it.
His car hit the guardrail.
Spun.
Then vanished down an embankment.
Harris slammed the brakes.
“Oh, God.”
Preston’s breathing filled the recording.
Harris whispered, “You said scare him.”
Preston said nothing.
“You said scare him!”
Then Preston finally answered.
“Drive.”
The video ended.
I stared at the black screen.
Three years of grief rearranged itself inside me.
Daniel hadn’t been unlucky.
He hadn’t been in the wrong place.
He had been hunted.
Because my brother was afraid of losing money.
Ruiz paused the video.
“We need this copied immediately.”
Dad sat against the wall.
“I’m sorry.”
I turned.
He looked wrecked.
“You knew enough.”
“I didn’t know this existed.”
“You knew enough.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was Daniel.”
That shut him up.
Vanessa stared at her wedding ring.
Then slowly removed it.
She placed it on the desk.
“I married a murderer.”
Ruiz said carefully, “We still have to establish legal responsibility.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“I heard what I heard.”
So had I.
Downstairs, police began clearing guests.
The wedding was over.
No first dance.
No cake cutting.
No happy ending.
At least not for Preston.
Then Ruiz’s phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her eyes moved toward me.
“What?”
She ended the call.
“Harris has been located.”
“Where?”
“Two miles from here.”
My skin went cold.
“Was he in the SUV?”
Ruiz nodded.
“And there’s something else.”
She hesitated.
May you like
“He had a photograph of Sophie in his car.”
For the first time that night, fear became bigger than grief.
