Chapter 4 - The Anonymous Sender Knew Exactly Where Caleb DiedAt 6:58 a.m., Ethan parked outside Unit 214 of the Stamford storage facility.
The place was nearly empty.
Rows of orange metal doors stretched beneath fluorescent lights. Morning traffic hummed somewhere beyond the concrete wall.
Ethan kept the truck running.
His phone remained in his hand.
If police appeared, he would leave.
If Grant appeared, Ethan wasn't sure what he would do.
At exactly seven, Unit 214 began to open.
A pair of shoes appeared first.
Women's running shoes.
Then jeans.
A gray hooded sweatshirt.
Ethan got out of his truck.
The door rose completely.
Lauren Whitmore stood inside.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Without the mansion behind her, she looked different.
Smaller.
Exhausted.
Dark circles beneath her eyes.
No makeup.
Her hair tied back carelessly.
Ethan's first emotion was anger.
The second was something worse.
He still remembered loving her.
Lauren saw it on his face.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't."
"Ethan—"
"Are you the one sending the messages?"
She looked toward the entrance.
"Come inside."
"No."
"Please."
"Answer me."
Lauren nodded.
"Some of them."
Ethan went still.
"Some?"
"I sent the architectural plan. The renovation invoice. The photograph of Caleb beside the pool."
"And the cap?"
"No."
"The message saying he didn't die in the pool?"
"No."
Ethan stepped closer.
"Then who did?"
"I don't know."
He searched her face.
Three years earlier, Ethan had thought he could always tell when Lauren lied.
He had been wrong.
"Why now?"
She turned away.
Inside the storage unit were several cardboard boxes, an old laptop and a small metal case.
"Because they're selling the house."
"Who?"
"My father."
"Grant would sell his own mother if the price was right."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
Lauren closed her eyes briefly.
"The sale closes in nine days. The buyers want the pool rebuilt before they move in. My father ordered the original filtration system removed tomorrow."
Ethan thought about the photograph of Caleb's cap.
"What's under the pool house?"
"I don't know."
"Don't lie to me again."
"I'm not."
"You lied to the police."
"I know."
"You lied under oath."
"I know."
"You watched me go to prison."
Her eyes filled.
"I know."
Ethan hated that tears still affected him.
He looked away.
Lauren opened the metal case.
Inside were documents.
She handed him one.
It was a maintenance work order dated three years earlier.
Two days after Caleb's death.
EMERGENCY BYPASS INSTALLATION — PRIVATE AUTHORIZATION
No contractor name.
No detailed description.
Only Grant Whitmore's signature.
Ethan read it twice.
"What bypass?"
"I found that in my father's office six months ago."
"Why were you looking?"
"Because Mason died."
Ethan looked up sharply.
He hadn't known.
Lauren swallowed.
"Eight months ago."
"How?"
"Car accident."
There was something in her tone.
Ethan noticed immediately.
"You don't believe that."
"No."
"What happened?"
"Mason drove off a bridge after leaving the mansion."
"Drunk?"
"The report says yes."
Ethan waited.
Lauren looked directly at him.
"Mason hadn't had a drink in fourteen months."
The similarity was so obvious Ethan almost felt nauseated.
Caleb had been labeled drunk.
Now Mason.
"What was Mason doing at the mansion?"
"Searching my father's office."
"For what?"
"He wouldn't tell me."
Ethan looked at the boxes.
"That's when you started digging."
Lauren nodded.
"Two weeks before he died, Mason asked me something strange."
"What?"
"He asked whether Caleb ever told you about a room beneath the pool house."
Ethan's skin prickled.
"No."
"Mason looked terrified."
"Of Grant?"
"I assumed so."
"But now?"
Lauren hesitated.
"I don't know who he was afraid of."
Ethan took the crushed packet from his pocket.
"You told me to use this."
Lauren nodded.
"A former pool engineer confirmed that a tracer would reveal whether the original plumbing still connected to a concealed line."
"And you couldn't do it yourself?"
"My father watches me."
"Apparently not closely enough for you to meet convicted felons in storage units."
Pain crossed her face.
Ethan didn't apologize.
Lauren pointed toward a transparent evidence bag inside the case.
"Put the wrapper in there."
"Why?"
"The powder can be identified."
"So when Grant tells police I poisoned the water—"
"We prove you didn't."
Ethan stared at her.
"You knew he'd do that."
"I knew he might."
"You let me go anyway."
"I warned you."
"After I was already inside."
"I didn't know you'd go last night."
"You sent me the damn instructions."
"I thought you'd wait."
"For what?"
"For me to figure out who else is involved."
Ethan laughed bitterly.
"You still don't understand me."
"I understand you better than anyone."
"Then you should know I stopped waiting three years ago."
Lauren's expression hardened.
"That attitude is exactly why you ended up in prison."
The words landed hard.
She regretted them instantly.
Ethan stepped backward.
"Good meeting."
"Ethan."
He turned.
"Caleb called me the night he died."
Ethan stopped.
Every muscle in his body tightened.
Slowly, he faced her.
"You never told me that."
"I know."
"What did he say?"
Lauren's hands began trembling.
"He said he found something under the pool house."
Ethan moved toward her.
"What?"
"He wouldn't tell me over the phone."
"What else?"
"He asked me to meet him."
"Did you?"
Tears filled Lauren's eyes.
"Yes."
The storage facility seemed suddenly silent.
Ethan's voice dropped.
"What time?"
"Just after midnight."
Caleb had supposedly died between 12:30 and 1:15.
Ethan felt cold.
"You were there."
Lauren nodded.
"At the pool?"
"Yes."
"With my brother?"
"Yes."
"Then you know what happened."
Lauren covered her mouth for a moment.
When she finally spoke, her voice broke.
"I know what happened before he disappeared."
Ethan stared at her.
"Disappeared?"
May you like
Lauren looked at him.
"When I left Caleb that night, Ethan, he was alive."
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