HE NEVER KNEW I WAS HOME

Grace remained inside the locked bathroom until the officer with the silver watch walked away.

She heard him speaking in a low voice to someone in the bedroom. His words were indistinct, but his tone was calm and controlled, unlike the urgent voices of the other officers.

“Grace?” Elena called through the door. “It’s me.”

Grace opened it only wide enough to see her friend’s face.

Elena Ruiz had been part of Grace’s life since their first year at Northwestern. She had seen Grace through the death of her father, the expansion of her design company, and every stage of her marriage to Nathan.

Elena had also been the first person Grace called after seeing him with the vial.

“I need your coat,” Grace whispered.

Elena studied her for a second, then removed the long camel-colored coat she had worn into the condo.

Grace slipped the photograph and envelope into an inside pocket.

“What was in it?” Elena asked.

“I don’t know yet.”

“You opened it.”

“I know what it said. I don’t know what it means.”

Elena glanced over her shoulder.

The silver-watch officer had returned to the bedroom doorway.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, and perhaps fifty. His nameplate read VANCE. His watch caught the warm light from the wall lamp.

“Mrs. Halden,” he said, “we need your phone as evidence.”

Grace tightened her fingers around it.

The recording was still there. It showed Nathan handling the vial, speaking to the caller, and approaching the chair where Grace had hidden. It was the most important evidence she possessed.

“I’ll provide a copy through my attorney,” she said.

Officer Vance’s polite expression did not change.

“We need the device itself to preserve the chain of custody.”

“The other officer told me I could send the recording.”

“He was mistaken.”

Elena stepped between them.

“She has been ill all day. She needs medical attention before you question her.”

Vance looked toward Grace.

“You were supposed to be at Lakeview Urgent Care, correct?”

Grace felt a cold pressure spread through her chest.

She had told only three people about the appointment: Elena, Nathan, and the receptionist at her doctor’s office.

“How did you know where I was supposed to be?” Grace asked.

“It was mentioned during the emergency call.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

Vance’s gaze shifted to Elena.

For half a second, his expression hardened.

Then another officer entered the hallway carrying a sealed evidence container.

“Lieutenant, the response team wants everyone downstairs. They need to isolate the bedroom.”

Lieutenant.

Vance was not simply one of the responding officers. He was in charge.

Grace forced herself to appear weak. She pressed a hand to the wall and allowed her knees to bend.

Elena caught her immediately.

“Grace?”

“I’m dizzy.”

Vance moved forward, but Elena blocked him again.

“She needs air.”

They were escorted toward the elevator. Grace leaned heavily against Elena while keeping the phone hidden between them.

Inside the elevator, Vance stood beside the control panel. The other officer remained near the doors.

As the elevator descended, Grace’s phone vibrated again.

She did not look at it.

Vance did.

His eyes dropped toward her hand.

Grace coughed, bent forward, and slipped the phone into Elena’s open handbag.

When they reached the lobby, an ambulance waited outside. Reporters had not arrived yet, but several residents stood near the security desk, whispering and watching.

Vance guided Grace toward the paramedics.

“You’ll be safer at the hospital,” he said.

The sentence sounded comforting.

It did not feel comforting.

A paramedic began checking Grace’s pulse. Elena remained close, one hand resting protectively over her handbag.

Vance stepped away to answer a call.

Grace heard only four words.

“She still has it.”

Grace turned toward Elena.

“Go to the garage,” she whispered.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“Take my phone. Get out through the delivery entrance and call Daniel Mercer.”

Elena’s eyebrows rose.

Daniel Mercer had been Grace’s father’s attorney. He was seventy-one, stubborn, and nearly impossible to intimidate. Nathan hated him.

“What do I tell him?” Elena asked.

“Tell him the Winterglass file was real.”

Elena stared at her.

Grace had no idea what the phrase meant, but it had appeared beneath the photograph inside the envelope in letters so faint she had almost missed them.

Before Elena could respond, Lieutenant Vance returned.

“Mrs. Halden, I’ll ride with you.”

Grace looked at the ambulance.

Then she looked at the silver watch.

“No,” she said.

Vance smiled gently.

“That wasn’t a request.”

At that moment, a black sedan stopped beside the ambulance.

An elderly man in a charcoal overcoat stepped out.

Daniel Mercer looked directly at Vance.

“Then perhaps you should explain to me,” Daniel said, “why a police lieutenant named in a sealed federal complaint is attempting to remove my client from her home.”

The lobby fell silent.

Vance’s smile disappeared.

Daniel approached Grace and handed her a business card.