Chapter 10 - WHAT THEY BUILT FROM A LIE
“The construction schedule proves it,” Marcus said. “That platform was installed six weeks after the email was supposedly sent.”
I repeated it to David. He leaned toward Owen.
“Where did you get the file?”
Owen looked at Victoria. “She sent it.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed. “I sent you what Graham gave me.”
“Then Graham forged it,” David said. “We’ll give the original records to the police.”
Owen rubbed both hands over his face. “Graham said he had evidence that would ruin Sterling. I believed him.”
“You wanted me scared enough to cover your loan,” I said.
“I wanted the project saved.”
“And Leo was the price?”
“No.” Owen’s voice cracked. “I would never agree to that.”
I believed he was frightened. I didn’t yet know what he had agreed to.
My phone rang from an unknown number. Graham’s voice came through this time without video.
“You sent police to the marina.”
“You showed me a sign.”
“A test. And you failed it.”
“Where’s Leo?”
“Somewhere safe until you learn to listen.”
A muffled sound came through the call: a horn, then a recorded announcement about a bridge opening for marine traffic. I knew that warning. It played near an old storage yard west of the marina.
Graham continued. “Bring Owen and the money. No police.”
The call cut off.
I told the officer what I’d heard. He passed the information to the team in the field, then asked me to wait.
Waiting felt unbearable. I crossed the service drive twice while officers examined the catering woman’s car seat. She had been hired through a staffing company that morning, using a false name. She insisted Graham had paid her to leave the empty seat outside as a distraction. She claimed she hadn’t seen Leo.
Teresa emerged from the building with a bandage above her eyebrow.
“You should be sitting down,” I said.
“So should you.”
She held up Leo’s yellow blanket. “This was in the nursery. The one in the car must be the spare.”
I stared at it. Leo had two matching blankets because he couldn’t sleep without one. Almost nobody knew that.
“Who knew about the spare?” I asked.
“Your mother. Me. Victoria.” Teresa hesitated. “And Graham. He saw me folding it when he visited the house.”
My phone buzzed. A photo arrived from Graham’s number. Leo was in a portable crib beside a window. He was no longer crying.
Behind him, painted on the wall, was a blue heron.
Teresa inhaled sharply. “I know that place.”
“Where?”
May you like
“Victoria took me there to look at furniture for the nursery. An old warehouse near the bridge. She said she wanted to turn it into a showroom.”
The officer was already relaying the location. Then Teresa added, “Julian, that building has two exits. The back one opens onto the water.”
