Chapter 2 - Blood Under the Desk
Mark sat down hard in the nearest chair.
“That’s impossible.”
Detective Owens did not blink.
“The preliminary lab match came from an old missing-person sample provided by her father.”
Mark shook his head.
“No. Chloe was never in our house.”
I stared at him.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure the same way you were sure I never needed to know she existed?”
“Laura—”
“Don’t.”
Ethan began to cry quietly.
I immediately stopped.
Whatever Mark had done, our son did not deserve to watch us tear each other apart in a hospital hallway.
Denise came to pick Ethan up and take him to her house for the evening. I hated letting him leave my sight, but I hated the idea of him hearing more even more.
Once he was gone, Owens moved Mark into a private room.
“Tell me what happened today.”
Mark looked at me before answering.
“Daniel Shaw showed up around one thirty. He demanded to know where Chloe was.”
“And?” Owens asked.
“I told him I didn’t know.”
“He says you lied.”
“I did.”
My breath caught.
Mark closed his eyes.
“I don’t know where Chloe is now. But I know why she disappeared.”
Owens leaned forward.
“Start talking.”
Mark told us Chloe had been a junior accountant at Merritt. She had found unusual payments going to shell vendors: maintenance invoices for buildings that did not exist, emergency repair charges on properties Merritt did not own, checks approved by senior executives.
“She came to me because I signed off on field work,” Mark said. “She wanted to know if the work was real.”
“Was it?” I asked.
“No.”
“How much money?”
“Almost three million dollars.”
Owens’s face stayed neutral.
“And what did you do?”
“I told her to make copies.”
“You reported it?”
Mark looked at the floor.
“Not immediately.”
My anger rose again.
“Why?”
“Because my boss, Victor Dane, owned half the company. He had connections everywhere. I needed proof.”
Owens asked, “What happened to Chloe?”
Mark swallowed.
“She called me one night. She was terrified. Said someone had been inside her apartment.”
“And then?”
“I told her to leave town for a few days.”
Daniel Shaw’s voice suddenly came from the hallway.
“You told her to run.”
Two officers stood beside him.
His eyes were red.
“You told my daughter to run, and then you let me spend fourteen months wondering if she was dead.”
Mark whispered, “Daniel, I’m sorry.”
Daniel lunged forward, but the officers held him back.
“You don’t get to be sorry.”
Owens stepped between them.
“Mr. Shaw, stop.”
Daniel pointed at Mark.
“Ask him about the video.”
I turned.
“What video?”
Mark went white.
May you like
Daniel’s voice cracked.
“The video Chloe sent him the night she disappeared.”
