Chapter 12 - Emma’s Best Friend Had Disappeared for a ReasonKatherine Sloan was not missing.
She lived in Portland.
Married.
Two children.
Different last name.
Grant hadn’t spoken to her in nearly two years.
Michael found her number.
Grant called.
A woman answered cautiously.
“Hello?”
“Katherine?”
Silence.
“Grant?”
His chest tightened.
“Yes.”
She immediately whispered, “Oh God.”
Grant closed his eyes.
That reaction told him everything.
“You knew this call would come someday.”
Katherine began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“What did you do?”
“Grant—”
“What did Richard Vale pay you to do?”
Silence.
Then sobbing.
“I never wanted Emma hurt.”
Grant gripped the phone.
“What did you do?”
“He asked me questions.”
“What questions?”
“About you two.”
“Private questions?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said the board was worried your marriage problems were affecting you.”
“And you believed him?”
“At first.”
“What did you tell him?”
“When you fought. When Emma was upset. Whether she talked about leaving.”
Grant felt nauseated.
“You sold my marriage.”
“I didn’t know what he was doing.”
“Were you paid?”
Silence.
“Katherine.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Five thousand at first.”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“At first?”
“He kept asking.”
“How much total?”
“Maybe thirty.”
Thirty thousand dollars.
Emma’s closest friend had turned her grief into reports.
“Did you know about Charles Voss?”
“Later.”
“When?”
“A few months before Emma died.”
“Did Richard tell you?”
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
“For me to keep Emma from telling you.”
Grant closed his eyes.
“Why?”
“He said if you discovered Charles was her father, you would think she married you for corporate reasons.”
“That’s exactly what Emma feared.”
“I know.”
“Because you reinforced it.”
Katherine cried harder.
“Yes.”
“What happened the night she died?”
Long silence.
“Katherine.”
“She called me.”
“When?”
“About an hour before the accident.”
“What did she say?”
“She had proof.”
“Of what?”
“That Richard had been manipulating both companies.”
Grant looked at Michael.
“What proof?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
“Where was she going?”
“To meet Richard.”
“Why?”
“To make him confess.”
Grant whispered, “Alone?”
“I begged her not to.”
“Then what?”
“Richard called me.”
Grant’s heartbeat hammered.
“What did he want?”
“To know where Emma was.”
“And you told him.”
Katherine sobbed.
“Yes.”
Grant stood.
“Did you know he would follow her?”
“No!”
“But you told him where she was.”
“Yes.”
Grant felt rage rise.
Then Katherine said:
“I called Emma back.”
“What?”
“I warned her.”
Grant froze.
“What did you say?”
“I told her Richard knew.”
“And?”
“She said someone was already following her.”
Charles had told the truth.
“Did she say who?”
“No.”
“Did you hear anything?”
Katherine hesitated.
“A horn.”
Grant frowned.
“What kind?”
“Loud. Like a truck.”
The police report mentioned no truck.
Grant’s pulse increased.
“Anything else?”
“She screamed.”
His stomach dropped.
“Then?”
“The call ended.”
Grant stopped breathing.
“You heard the crash?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“I called her again.”
“No answer?”
“No.”
“Did you call police?”
Katherine went silent.
Grant’s rage became ice.
“You didn’t.”
“Richard called me.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Emma was fine.”
Grant stared ahead.
“He knew she had crashed?”
“He said she pulled over.”
“That was a lie.”
“I know now.”
“You waited.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Maybe forty minutes.”
Grant closed his eyes.
Forty minutes.
Another person choosing fear.
Another delay.
Another life.
“What did Richard threaten you with?”
“My husband.”
Grant frowned.
“You weren’t married.”
“My boyfriend then. He had drug charges.”
“Richard promised to expose him?”
“Yes.”
Grant laughed bitterly.
Always leverage.
Debt.
Crime.
Shame.
Everyone had a secret.
Richard turned secrets into chains.
“Where is Emma’s proof?”
“I don’t know.”
“She didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
Grant was about to end the call.
Then Katherine said:
“Wait.”
“What?”
“There was something she kept saying.”
“What?”
“She said, ‘If anything happens, Rose already has it.’”
Grant froze.
Rose had been two.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Grant looked toward his daughter.
Rose sat on the carpet stacking toy blocks.
If anything happens, Rose already has it.
Then Grant remembered the small phone.
Emma’s phone.
The phone Rose had accidentally used today.
The phone Grant never replaced because Rose loved carrying something that belonged to her mother.
May you like
Grant slowly looked at Michael.
“The recording wasn’t the first secret on that phone.”
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