Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Knew How Grace Died
Karen Bennett chose an abandoned church on the South Side for the meeting.
Daniel objected immediately.
“It’s exposed, old, and impossible to secure properly.”
“That’s why she chose it.”
“It’s also why we should refuse.”
“She claims to know who killed Grace.”
“She claims many things.”
I checked the magazine in my pistol and returned it to the holster beneath my coat.
“Emma said she worked with Sloane.”
“Which means this could be a trap.”
“Then prepare for one.”
Daniel stared at me.
“You have two daughters upstairs.”
“I know.”
“Then stop acting like a man with nothing to lose.”
The words landed harder than he intended.
Before Emma, I had believed Lily was the only life that mattered more than my own.
Now two little girls were asleep beneath my roof.
One had known me all her life.
The other had spent years waiting for me without knowing whether I would ever come.
“I’m not taking unnecessary risks,” I said.
“You’re meeting a suspected accomplice to murder in an abandoned building.”
“That is a necessary risk.”
Mrs. Alvarez entered the study.
“Emma is awake.”
“What happened?”
“Nightmare.”
I found both girls in Lily’s bed.
Emma sat against the headboard, clutching her teddy bear. Lily had wrapped a blanket around both of them.
“I heard shouting,” I said.
Emma looked embarrassed.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“I dreamed Mommy was calling me, but I couldn’t open the door.”
Lily leaned against her.
“She’s okay now.”
Emma looked at my coat.
“Are you going somewhere?”
“For a meeting.”
“With Karen?”
Children noticed too much.
“Who told you?”
“No one. You look angry in a different way.”
I sat at the edge of the bed.
“She wants to talk.”
“She lies.”
“I know.”
“She said she loved Mommy, but she didn’t help her.”
“Did Karen ever explain why?”
“She said Victor would kill all of us.”
“Did she hurt you because he told her to?”
Emma stared at the bear.
“She didn’t hit me at first.”
“When did it start?”
“After Mommy died. Karen wanted to know where the other letter was.”
“What other letter?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did your mother hide something besides the suitcase?”
Emma nodded slowly.
“She gave me a key.”
My pulse quickened.
“Where is it?”
“I put it inside Mr. Buttons.”
She held up the teddy bear.
Lily gasped.
“You cut him?”
“Mommy did.”
Emma opened a small seam beneath the bear’s arm and removed a brass key attached to a metal tag.
The tag bore the number 317.
Daniel took a photograph.
“Looks like a bank-deposit key.”
“Which bank?” I asked.
“No name.”
Emma closed her hand around it.
“Mommy told me not to give it to Karen.”
“You did the right thing.”
“She said I should only give it to my father.”
She placed the key in my palm.
I closed my fingers around it.
“I’m going to find out what it opens.”
“Will it tell us who killed Mommy?”
“Maybe.”
“And Grace?”
I looked at her.
“What makes you think Grace was killed?”
“Mommy said accidents don’t send warning letters.”
Seven years earlier, Grace had died when her car went through a barrier on Lake Shore Drive during a storm.
The official investigation blamed wet roads and excessive speed.
I had accepted it because I was too broken to question anything.
Daniel had not.
He investigated for six months but found no proof of sabotage.
Perhaps we had searched in the wrong place.
“Stay with Lily,” I said.
“Are you coming back?”
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
This time, I understood what she heard.
I left the estate with Daniel and six men.
The church stood between two abandoned warehouses. Its stained-glass windows had been shattered, and rain leaked through holes in the roof.
Karen waited near the altar.
She was smaller than I expected. Gray streaked her dark hair. Expensive boots seemed out of place with her worn coat.
She raised both hands as we entered.
“I’m unarmed.”
Daniel searched her.
“She’s clean.”
Karen looked at me.
“You have Emma.”
“She’s safe.”
“Is she?”
“She is now.”
Karen flinched.
“I never wanted to hurt her.”
“You locked her in a room.”
“Victor watched us.”
“You abandoned her in a park.”
“That was the only way to get her to you.”
I stepped closer.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“If I had brought her to your gate, the men inside your house would have killed her before you saw her.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
“What men?”
Karen laughed bitterly.
“You still don’t know.”
“Tell us.”
“Not until I have protection.”
“You’re in no position to negotiate.”
“I know where Victor Sloane is.”
“Then start talking.”
“And I know which of your people reports to him.”
Daniel moved closer.
“Name him.”
Karen looked at him.
“Would you believe me if I said it was you?”
“No.”
“Neither would Marcus.”
She turned toward me.
“That’s why Victor chose someone you trust.”
“I trust very few people.”
“Exactly.”
A shot shattered the remaining glass above the altar.
Daniel threw me behind a stone column.
My guards fired toward the upper balcony.
Karen screamed and dropped to the floor.
A second bullet struck the wall inches from her head.
“Move!” Daniel shouted.
Two guards dragged Karen behind cover while the others advanced.
The shooter fled through a side door.
Daniel spoke rapidly into his radio.
“North alley. Black clothing. Possible motorcycle.”
We heard an engine roar outside.
Seconds later, silence returned.
Karen pressed one hand to her shoulder. Flying glass had cut her coat, but the bullet missed.
“He found me,” she whispered.
“You led him here,” I said.
“No.”
“You chose the location.”
“Because I knew Victor didn’t control it.”
Daniel crouched beside her.
“How did he know?”
Karen looked at me.
“Ask the man who installed the tracker in your car.”
Daniel immediately called the convoy.
One of the vehicles contained a transmitter beneath the chassis.
It had been placed inside the estate garage.
Only employees with security access could have reached it.
Karen smiled without humor.
“Now do you believe me?”
“Start with Grace,” I said.
She looked toward the broken window.
“Grace discovered Victor’s plan during her pregnancy. She believed she could hide Emma and continue gathering evidence.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Because Victor had someone close to you. Every time Grace tried to contact an attorney or federal agent, Victor knew.”
“Who?”
“I never learned his name.”
“Convenient.”
“I was a nurse at St. Catherine’s. I helped falsify records because Victor threatened my daughter.”
“You have a daughter?”
“She died.”
Her voice broke.
“Victor promised treatment if I worked for him. She had leukemia. I did everything he asked, and he still let her die.”
“That doesn’t excuse what you did to Emma.”
“No.”
“Why did Isabel trust you?”
“Because Grace did.”
“And why did Grace trust you?”
“I helped them switch the babies back before Victor’s men took Lily.”
Daniel glanced at me.
Karen continued.
“I spent six years hiding with Isabel and Emma. We changed cities every few months. Victor found us last year.”
“Why didn’t he kill Emma?”
“He needed her alive.”
“For what?”
“To claim the Blackwell empire.”
I laughed coldly.
“She is a child.”
“Not forever. Victor created her because she carried your blood. He planned to raise her through Isabel, then use her when she was older. A legitimate Blackwell heir he could control.”
“He never had my consent.”
“He had falsified fertility records, witnesses, and DNA. He intended to reveal Emma publicly and destroy your relationship with Grace.”
“Grace is dead.”
“Because she found the ledger proving everything.”
The church became silent.
“What ledger?”
“A list of infants Victor moved through St. Catherine’s. Judges, politicians, businessmen, crime families. Children sold, exchanged, or used as leverage.”
“And Grace had it?”
“She copied it.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Emma had a key.”
Karen’s eyes widened.
“Isabel kept it?”
“What does it open?”
“A safe-deposit box Grace rented under a false name.”
“Which bank?”
“I don’t know. Isabel never told me.”
“Why did you burn her papers?”
“To make Victor think the evidence was gone.”
“You let him poison her.”
Karen’s face collapsed.
“I was afraid.”
“She was dying.”
“He told me he would kill Emma in front of me if I called anyone.”
“So you watched.”
“I tried to give her water.”
I seized her coat.
“Did she suffer?”
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“Marcus.”
Karen stared at me, terrified.
“She died holding Emma’s hand.”
I released her.
“Who killed Grace?”
“Victor ordered it.”
“Who carried it out?”
“I don’t know.”
“You brought me here with nothing.”
“No. I have this.”
Karen reached slowly into the lining of her boot.
Daniel aimed his weapon.
She removed a small plastic memory card.
“Victor records everything. Insurance against his partners.”
“What’s on it?”
“A conversation about Grace’s car.”
“Between Victor and whom?”
Karen looked at Daniel.
“Your former head of security.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Thomas Reed?”
“He sabotaged her brakes.”
Reed had retired six years earlier and moved to Florida.
He had trained Daniel.
He had stood beside me at Grace’s funeral.
“Where is he now?” I asked.
“Chicago,” Karen replied. “Victor brought him back.”
A phone began ringing.
Not mine.
Karen pulled it from her pocket.
Daniel snatched it and checked the screen.
Unknown number.
He answered on speaker.
Victor Sloane’s voice filled the ruined church.
“Marcus.”
My hand tightened around the pistol.
“You should have stayed dead.”
“You should have listened to your wife.”
“Where are you?”
“Close enough to know Emma is wearing Lily’s pajamas.”
Daniel immediately called the estate.
Victor laughed.
“Your walls belong to me.”
I stepped toward the phone.
“Touch either girl, and I will erase every person who ever spoke your name.”
“There he is. The Marcus Blackwell everyone fears.”
“You created a child from stolen genetic material.”
“I created an heir.”
“You created evidence.”
“Only if she lives long enough to testify.”
The call ended.
Daniel was already shouting orders.
We ran for the vehicles.
As the convoy sped toward the estate, Mrs. Alvarez called.
Her voice trembled.
“Mr. Blackwell, the lights went out.”
“Get the girls into the safe room.”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“Lily is here.”
My blood turned cold.
“And Emma?”
May you like
There was a pause.
“She’s gone.”
