Chapter 4 - The Man in the Black Car
Daniel watched the motel footage six times.
Anna emerged from Room 214 at 7:06 p.m.
She wore jeans, a gray sweater, and the same green raincoat she had owned eight years ago.
Older now.
Thinner.
Her hair cut to her shoulders.
Alive.
Daniel forgot how to breathe.
At 7:08, a black sedan rolled beneath the motel canopy.
Marcus Bell stepped out.
He looked directly at the camera.
Anna did not appear frightened.
That was the worst part.
She walked toward him voluntarily.
Marcus opened the passenger door.
Anna got inside.
The sedan left.
No struggle.
No visible weapon.
Detective Ruiz paused the frame.
“You recognize him?”
Daniel’s voice was low.
“Yes.”
“Did you know they were in contact?”
“No.”
“Could they have been having an affair eight years ago?”
Daniel turned on her.
“No.”
Ruiz did not blink.
Daniel shut his eyes.
That reaction.
Again.
The anger arriving before thought.
He lowered his voice.
“I don’t know.”
“Better answer.”
They searched the motel room with a warrant obtained through the missing-person investigation.
Daniel was allowed only in the hallway.
Inside, police found two empty formula cans, children’s clothing, cash receipts, a prepaid phone with the battery removed, and a photograph torn in half.
Ruiz carried the photograph outside.
One half showed Anna.
The missing half had once shown someone beside her.
On the back, in Anna’s handwriting, were the words:
THE FIRST TIME HE BETRAYED ME, I FORGAVE HIM.
THE SECOND TIME COST LILY HER HOME.
Daniel stared at it.
“Marcus?”
Ruiz placed it in an evidence sleeve.
“Maybe.”
Maya arrived with another discovery.
“The brass key Ethan wore belongs to a self-storage facility in South San Francisco.”
“How do you know?”
“Manufacturer code. My investigator called.”
Ruiz gave her a look.
“Your investigator stays outside the police investigation.”
“He identified a lock brand.”
“That’s where he stops.”
Maya nodded.
Daniel paced.
“Why would Anna leave Ethan a storage key?”
“Because she expected not to return,” Maya said.
Daniel stopped.
Ruiz’s phone buzzed.
She looked at it.
“The sedan Marcus used is registered to Cross Meridian Executive Services.”
Daniel laughed once, without humor.
“My company.”
“Your father’s company too.”
Daniel looked at her.
“My father doesn’t run Cross Meridian.”
Maya said, “He chairs the board.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No,” she replied. “But after this morning, it may be.”
At 8:03 a.m., Daniel entered the Cross Meridian boardroom.
Charles Cross sat at the head of the table.
Seventy years old, silver-haired, immaculate, he looked more like a retired senator than the founder of a logistics empire.
Marcus sat to his right.
Daniel stopped in the doorway.
Marcus looked up.
“Daniel.”
“Where is Anna?”
Silence.
Charles’s expression hardened.
“This is a board meeting.”
Daniel walked directly toward Marcus.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“I saw the motel video.”
Marcus’s face changed almost imperceptibly.
Charles stood.
“Sit down.”
Daniel ignored him.
“You picked her up three nights ago.”
Marcus exhaled.
“She contacted me.”
“Why?”
“She wanted money.”
Daniel laughed.
“You expect me to believe Anna spent eight years hiding and called you for money?”
“She said Lily needed help.”
The baby’s name landing in Marcus’s mouth made Daniel feel physically sick.
“You know Lily?”
Marcus looked at Charles.
That glance told Daniel more than any answer.
“How long?”
Charles stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Daniel turned on his father.
“You knew too.”
“I knew Marcus had been contacted by a disturbed woman who once stole from this family.”
“Anna is not disturbed.”
Charles’s eyebrows rose.
“Eight years ago you called her paranoid.”
Daniel flinched.
Marcus watched him.
Charles continued.
“She took your infant son. She disappeared. She emptied an acquisition account.”
“Four point eight million.”
“Yes.”
“Where did it go?”
Charles stared.
“What?”
“Anna left a message asking what you did with it.”
For the first time, Charles looked surprised.
Only for a second.
Then it vanished.
“She’s manipulating you again.”
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“Where did you take her?”
“A coffee shop.”
“Which one?”
Marcus named a café near the Embarcadero.
“Then?”
“She left.”
“With who?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stepped closer.
Marcus did not retreat.
Charles slapped a folder onto the table.
“Your personal crisis has now cost this company nine percent of its market value in private secondary trading indications overnight. Three lenders have called. Two clients have suspended negotiations.”
Daniel looked at the folder.
The board voted.
Seven to two.
Daniel was placed on administrative leave as chief executive pending investigation of the assault.
Marcus would become interim CEO.
Charles kept his eyes on Daniel throughout the vote.
Daniel felt something inside him shift.
Eight years earlier, when Anna accused Charles, Daniel had chosen the company.
Now the company was choosing Charles over him.
He stood.
“You always told me Anna destroyed our family.”
Charles said nothing.
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“I’m beginning to think she just discovered who already had.”
Daniel left.
Marcus remained silent until the elevator doors closed.
Then he took out his phone beneath the table.
He sent one message.
Charles saw it.
Neither man knew a young financial analyst outside the glass conference room had a clear view of Marcus’s screen reflected in the window.
May you like
The message contained five words.
HE FOUND LUCAS. MOVE ANNA.
