Chapter 8 - THE OLD PLACE
The building had been rebuilt, sold twice, and left vacant after the last owner went bankrupt. Its windows were boarded over. A chain hung loose across the front gate.
Ortiz stopped Victoria before she could get out of the car.
“You stay behind me.”
“That’s my sister in there.”
“And I intend to bring her out.”
Inside, the air smelled of dust and damp wood. Light from the officers’ flashlights swept across bare floors and peeling walls.
On the second floor, they found a chair, a length of rope, and Caroline’s blue coat.
No Caroline.
An officer called from the rear exit. Tire marks cut through the alley’s gravel, still sharp in the rain.
Daniel had used the building to make them lose time.
Victoria stood in the room where her father had once ordered a fire. She remembered coming here as a teenager, waiting while Richard finished work. Caroline would spin in his office chair and make faces through the glass. Victoria could almost hear her laughing.
Ortiz’s phone rang. She listened, then said, “We found the woman from the care home. Her name’s Alice Reed. She works for Daniel.”
“Does she know where he went?”
“She says Daniel’s taking Caroline to a boat.”
Victoria looked up. “My father kept a boat at a marina in Jersey City. Daniel still has access. I let him handle its sale.”
Ortiz radioed the address. As they headed downstairs, Victoria’s phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number.
It was a voice recording.
Caroline’s voice sounded faint but clear: “Victoria, listen carefully. Daniel thinks Peter has the last account ledger. Peter never had it.”
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A sharp noise cut through the audio. Then Caroline whispered one final sentence:
“I gave it to Emma.”
