Chapter 6 - THE HOUSE BECOMES A PRISON
Thomas took Richard’s phone.
“You’re becoming difficult.”
Richard looked at him.
“You sent men after Maria.”
“I sent men to scare her.”
“With guns?”
Thomas smiled.
“Details.”
Diane paced near the window.
“This is out of control.”
Thomas turned.
“It became out of control when you planted fake evidence on a woman in a hallway with cameras.”
“You said the cameras were disabled.”
“The regular cameras were.”
Richard watched them.
Fear had started splitting the partnership.
Good.
He needed more of it.
“Diane,” Richard said.
She looked at him.
“Thomas is going to blame you.”
Thomas laughed.
“Don’t.”
Richard continued.
“The bracelet.”
“The termination order.”
“The fake inventory entry.”
“All under your credentials.”
Diane looked at Thomas.
“He told me what to do.”
Thomas’s face hardened.
Richard saw it.
There it was.
The crack.
“Did he?”
Diane’s breathing changed.
Richard kept pushing.
“When police arrive, Thomas will say you stole everything.”
“Stop talking.”
Thomas pointed the gun at Richard.
Richard ignored him.
“He’s the attorney.”
“He knows exactly how to create distance.”
Diane whispered, “You said we were protected.”
Thomas stared at her.
“We are.”
“No.”
Richard shook his head.
“You’re disposable.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“I said stop.”
A security alarm suddenly sounded downstairs.
Thomas spun toward the door.
Richard smiled.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
The alarm continued.
Frank’s voice came through the intercom.
“Mr. Whitfield?”
Thomas grabbed the unit.
“What?”
Frank hesitated.
“Who is this?”
Thomas smashed the intercom.
Richard laughed.
Thomas hit him across the face with the gun.
Richard fell against the desk.
Blood filled his mouth.
Diane flinched.
“Thomas!”
“What?”
“You said nobody gets hurt.”
“Plans change.”
Richard wiped his lip.
Then all three heard something outside.
Engines.
More than one.
Thomas went to the window.
Three Greenwich police vehicles rolled through the gates.
His face darkened.
“How?”
Richard looked at him.
“Maria called them.”
Thomas turned.
Richard smiled.
“You underestimated the maid.”
Thomas grabbed Diane.
“Get downstairs.”
“What?”
“Tell police there was a false alarm.”
“They’ll ask about Richard.”
“Then lie.”
Diane stared at him.
Thomas pressed the gun against her side.
“Do what you’re good at.”
She left.
Richard watched Thomas.
“You just made another mistake.”
“What?”
“You sent the one person who knows everything downstairs.”
Thomas stared at the doorway.
For the first time, he looked worried.
Downstairs, Diane approached the front entrance.
Two officers waited outside.
Frank stood nearby.
One officer asked, “We received a request for a welfare check.”
Diane forced a smile.
“There’s been a misunderstanding.”
“Is Mr. Whitfield home?”
“He’s sleeping.”
Frank frowned.
He had seen Richard awake twenty minutes earlier.
The officer noticed.
“Sir?”
Frank looked at Diane.
She stared back.
A warning in her eyes.
Frank thought of Maria.
The woman he had escorted out.
The woman who once covered his shift when his wife went into labor.
His jaw tightened.
“Mr. Whitfield is upstairs.”
Diane whispered, “Frank.”
He looked at the officer.
“And he is not sleeping.”
The officer reached for his radio.
Diane panicked.
She ran.
The officers shouted.
Upstairs, Thomas heard the commotion.
He grabbed Richard.
“Move.”
“Where?”
“The garage.”
They reached the rear staircase.
Richard suddenly stopped.
Thomas shoved the gun into his back.
“Move.”
Richard looked down.
At the bottom of the stairs stood Matteo.
Still holding his stuffed rabbit.
And beside him stood Maria.
Richard’s face drained of color.
He whispered, “I told you not to come here.”
Maria looked past him.
Saw the gun.
And said, “I know.”
May you like
Then she raised her phone.
“And so do the police.”
