The Signature That Should Not Exist
Chapter 02 - The Signature That Should Not Exist
Ethan took the evidence sleeve from Vivian and held it beneath the light.
“That isn’t mine.”
“It appears on three separate maintenance forms,” said the man in the charcoal suit.
Ethan turned sharply. “Who are you?”
“Marcus Cole. Private investigator.”
“My mother’s investigator?”
Marcus looked toward Claire before answering.
“Mrs. Bennett hired me six weeks ago. Your wife contacted me independently twelve days later.”
Ethan’s face went still.
He looked down at Claire.
“You knew him?”
Claire struggled to sit up. Pain shot beneath her ribs, forcing her back against the pillow.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“When I knew whether I was imagining things.”
Vivian moved closer, but Ethan immediately blocked her path.
“Stay away from her.”
“I did not hurt Claire.”
“You told her to leave me.”
“I told her to leave the city for a few days.”
“You offered her money.”
Vivian’s eyes shifted toward Claire.
Claire remembered the envelope Vivian had placed on the café table. Fifty thousand dollars. A one-way ticket to Seattle. A warning that Ethan’s family destroyed anyone who threatened its reputation.
At the time, Claire had believed Vivian was trying to buy her silence.
Now Vivian spoke with an exhaustion Claire had never heard before.
“I was trying to move her somewhere safe.”
“Without telling me?” Ethan demanded.
“Because someone inside the family was reading your messages.”
Marcus placed a second photograph on the bedside table.
It showed Claire’s car inside a private garage two nights before the crash. A mechanic stood beside the open hood.
The timestamp read 1:17 a.m.
Ethan leaned closer.
The mechanic’s face was hidden beneath a cap, but the image clearly showed a security badge hanging from his belt.
Bennett Properties.
Claire stared at the photograph.
“I saw that badge before.”
“Where?” Marcus asked.
Her breathing quickened as the memory returned.
Three weeks earlier, Claire had entered the Bennett Foundation offices after hours. She had heard voices inside the finance department. Someone had stepped into the hallway as she hid behind a supply-room door.
She had seen the same badge.
And she had heard Ethan’s younger sister speaking.
“Lauren,” Claire whispered.
Ethan looked at her as if she had struck him.
“My sister?”
Before Claire could answer, her phone began ringing on the bedside table.
The screen showed their home-security company.
Ethan answered.
He listened for five seconds.
Then the color drained from his face.
May you like
Their house had just been broken into.
The only thing taken was Claire’s laptop.
