Chapter 3 - The Message Linda Couldn't ExplainBy noon, police had identified Wade.
His full name was Wade Bennett.
Fifty-four years old.
Married.
Owner of Bennett Commercial Holdings, a Nashville development company worth tens of millions of dollars.
And Daniel knew him.
Sarah learned that last part from Detective Ortiz rather than her husband.
She was standing beside Emma's hospital bed when Ortiz entered.
Emma was sleeping under two blankets, her small face almost disappearing against the white pillow.
“Sarah.”
Something in the detective's tone made her stand.
“You found him?”
“We identified Wade Bennett.”
Sarah waited.
Ortiz didn't continue immediately.
“What aren't you saying?”
“Wade is connected to Daniel.”
Sarah's stomach tightened.
“How?”
“Business.”
“Daniel works in construction. He knows hundreds of developers.”
“This isn't casual.”
Ortiz handed Sarah a photograph.
Daniel stood at a charity golf event beside Wade Bennett.
Both were smiling.
Another photograph showed them at a construction-site groundbreaking.
A third showed Wade standing beside Linda.
Sarah looked up.
“When were these taken?”
“Over the last three years.”
“My husband told me he didn't know who was in the SUV.”
“He may not have recognized the vehicle.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Ortiz remained silent.
Sarah called Daniel.
He arrived twenty minutes later.
The second he entered Emma's room, Sarah held up Wade's photograph.
“You know him.”
Daniel stopped.
“Sarah—”
“You know him.”
“Yes.”
She slapped the photograph against his chest.
“Then why didn't you say anything when your mother whispered his name?”
“I wasn't sure that's what she said.”
“Stop.”
“I swear.”
“Our daughter was buried in our yard.”
“I know.”
“Your mother disappeared with a man you know, and you're still choosing your words.”
Daniel looked toward Emma.
“Can we do this outside?”
“No.”
Emma was asleep.
Sarah lowered her voice anyway.
“Who is Wade Bennett?”
Daniel rubbed the back of his neck.
“He invested in two of our developments.”
“That's all?”
“He became a major client.”
“That's all?”
Daniel looked away.
Sarah's heart sank.
“Daniel.”
“My company has been having cash-flow problems.”
Sarah blinked.
“What?”
“For about nine months.”
“You told me business was good.”
“I didn't want you worried.”
She almost laughed.
“What does that have to do with Wade?”
“He loaned the company money.”
“How much?”
“Two point four million.”
Sarah stared at him.
Their comfortable life suddenly felt like a movie set built around a collapsing structure.
“And your mother?”
“I didn't know anything about them.”
“You expect me to believe she has been sleeping with one of your biggest investors and you didn't know?”
Daniel flinched.
“My mother is an adult.”
“She was secretly meeting him.”
“I knew they spoke.”
Sarah shook her head.
“That's not the same thing.”
“No.”
“Is Wade married?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Yes.”
Sarah looked at Ortiz.
“So Emma caught her grandmother having an affair.”
Ortiz nodded.
“But people don't bury children because of affairs.”
“No,” Sarah said.
“They don't.”
That was the real problem.
Whatever Emma had seen, it had to be more than a kiss.
As though hearing her mother's thoughts, Emma moved.
Her eyes slowly opened.
“Mom?”
Sarah immediately went to her.
“I'm here.”
Emma noticed Daniel.
“Daddy.”
Daniel sat beside her and took her hand.
“I'm here too.”
Emma began crying.
Daniel's face collapsed.
“I am so sorry.”
She touched his fingers.
“It hurt.”
“I know.”
Sarah crouched beside the bed.
“Baby, Detective Ortiz needs to know what happened.”
Ortiz stayed several feet away so Emma wouldn't feel surrounded.
“Can you tell us about Grandma?”
Emma's eyes changed.
Fear.
“I don't want her here.”
“She isn't.”
“What about him?”
“Wade?”
Emma swallowed.
“Mr. Bennett.”
Sarah exchanged a look with Daniel.
Emma knew his last name.
“Have you seen him before?”
“At Grandma's.”
“How many times?”
“Maybe three.”
Daniel stared.
Linda had been bringing Wade around Emma.
“Tuesday,” Sarah said gently. “What happened?”
Emma looked at her blanket.
“I went to Grandma's room.”
Linda's temporary bedroom was downstairs, with a separate door leading to the side patio.
“She told me not to come in.”
“Why did you?”
“I wanted my markers.”
Linda had borrowed Emma's craft markers the previous weekend.
“The door was open.”
Emma's breathing became quicker.
“I saw Grandma kissing him.”
Sarah squeezed her hand.
“Wade?”
Emma nodded.
“He got mad when he saw me.”
“What did Grandma do?”
“She said I didn't understand.”
“What else did you see?”
Emma didn't answer.
Sarah waited.
Finally Emma whispered, “The bags.”
“What bags?”
“Blue ones.”
“What was inside?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you look?”
Emma nodded slowly.
“Money.”
Daniel's head lifted.
“How much?”
Emma shrugged.
“A lot.”
Sarah looked at Ortiz.
The detective's expression changed.
“Anything else?”
“Papers.”
“What kind?”
“They had Daddy's name.”
Daniel turned pale.
Emma looked at him.
“And Grandma said, ‘If Daniel finds out, we're finished.’”
Nobody moved.
Sarah slowly stood.
Daniel whispered, “What papers?”
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know.”
May you like
Then she added the words that made Ortiz immediately reach for her phone.
“Mr. Bennett said they had to move the money before the police found the other account.”
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