Chapter 9 — She Called It Saving Her

“I’m listening,” I said.

Reed drew her chair beside mine. Daniel remained across the table, his pen poised over a blank page.

Celeste spoke carefully.

“Mercer wants the drive. You’re going to take it to the warehouse tonight, exactly as he requested.”

“And you?”

“I’ll bring Piper.”

“Why would you bring her into a room with armed men?”

“Because he won’t agree to meet otherwise.”

“You’ve spoken to him.”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“After his people reached Joanna’s house.”

“What did you offer?”

“The child at the exchange. A chance to recover the files. And a chance to recover some of the money.”

I stared at the wall.

“You negotiated with her.”

“I negotiated to keep them from coming after her before I could leave.”

“She isn’t a deposit, Celeste.”

“I know that.”

“Then stop describing her like one.”

Celeste’s voice hardened.

“You can hate me later. Right now, I’m the person who knows where she is.”

Reed wrote a question and pushed it toward me.

Who else is there?

“Are you alone with her?” I asked.

“No.”

“How many people?”

“Three men.”

“Mercer’s?”

“Mine.”

I looked at Reed.

She nodded for me to continue.

“Who are they?”

“People I’m paying to protect us.”

“Names.”

“You don’t need them.”

“I need to know who is standing around a frightened little girl.”

“They haven’t hurt her.”

“That wasn’t the question.”

Celeste let out a breath.

“I’ll send photographs.”

“Send them now.”

A moment later, three images arrived. Men in dark clothing. Faces visible. No names.

Reed passed them to the officer.

“What’s your plan?” I asked.

“You give Mercer the drive. Keep him occupied. Once he’s inspected it, my people move in.”

“And do what?”

“Disarm his guards.”

“Three men against however many he brings?”

“They know what they’re doing.”

“Then?”

“We take the drive back. We destroy it. Piper leaves with me.”

I heard the scrape of Daniel’s pen stop.

“Leaves where?”

“Europe.”

“No.”

“Silas—”

“No.”

“She can’t stay here. You’ve made her visible. Every person you contacted knows there’s a connection worth investigating.”

“And your answer is to put her on a plane under a name she’s never heard.”

“My answer is to give her a life.”

“You had seven years.”

The words struck something.

I heard it in the silence that followed.

When Celeste spoke again, she sounded tired.

“I thought she would be better with Noelle.”

“She was.”

“I know.”

“You didn’t go back after Noelle died.”

“Garrett was watching.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I would have had to tell you everything.”

At least that was honest.

Reed’s phone lit up beside her notebook. She read the message and wrote another question.

Why fake death?

I asked it.

Celeste took a long breath.

“After Wyatt died, I couldn’t stay in your life. Garrett said you would start looking for someone to blame.”

“I should have.”

“Yes.”

I closed my hand around the edge of the table.

She continued.

“I bought documents. New identification. A death certificate. The lawyer who sent it believed what he was given.”

“You expect me to believe he never checked?”

“I expect you to investigate him. You will anyway.”

“What happened after Garrett died?”

“I moved again. I took money from accounts we both controlled. Mercer decided it belonged to him.”

“Did it?”

“Most of it.”

“Did you know Garrett was going to damage the car?”

“No.”

The answer came too quickly.

“Did you know he intended to stop Wyatt telling me about Piper?”

“He said he would handle it.”

“How?”

“He didn’t explain.”

“And you didn’t ask.”

“I was afraid of him.”

“You put our son in that car.”

“I was driving it too.”

I remembered that argument from the original report.

Celeste had been injured. Celeste had nearly died. Celeste had lost a child.

All true.

None of it answered what she had known.

“Did he tell you not to let Wyatt speak to me?”

She was quiet.

“Celeste.”

“He said we needed a few days.”

“For what?”

“To move things. Close accounts. I don’t know.”

“You knew enough.”

“I didn’t know he would kill him.”

Her voice broke.

It was the first uncontrolled sound she had made.

I wanted to believe it.

That frightened me more than her denial.

Reed put a hand on the table between us, steadying my attention without touching me.

“Where is Piper now?” I asked.

“Somewhere safe.”

“Give me an address.”

“No.”

“Let me send someone to collect her before the meeting.”

“Mercer will cancel.”

“Then let him.”

“He’ll find us. He found your men outside Joanna’s house, didn’t he?”

I looked away.

Celeste lowered her voice.

“He doesn’t need Piper forever. He needs her long enough to make you obey and make me appear. After that, she’s a witness.”

I knew.

That was why I was still listening.

“Tell me how she’ll be brought in.”

“My people will take her to the warehouse shortly before you arrive. Mercer agreed that she remains visible during the exchange. He wants you certain she’s there.”

“And you trust him to keep that agreement?”

“I trust him to want the files.”

Reed wrote two words.

Access. Timing.

I asked about the entrances.

Celeste described a loading door on the river side, a smaller entrance facing the service road, and the place Mercer intended to have me stand.

Some of it matched the building I remembered.

Some didn’t. Walls had been removed since we closed it.

“When do your people enter?” I asked.

“After he has the drive.”

“Where will Piper be?”

“Near the center. They’re putting a chair under the working light.”

I pictured the girl sitting there, waiting to learn which adult would claim her next.

I made myself speak evenly.

“Fine.”

Daniel’s eyes lifted.

Celeste went still.

“You’ll do it?”

“I’ll bring the drive. I’ll keep him talking. Your people don’t move until Piper is away from his guards.”

“That may not be possible.”

“Then make it possible.”

“All right.”

“And I speak to her again before she leaves for the warehouse.”

“Yes.”

“One more thing.”

“What?”

“If anyone hurts her before I arrive, this agreement ends.”

Celeste didn’t try to challenge that.

“I’ll call later.”

The line went dead.

Reed leaned back.

“You just agreed to walk into a hostage exchange involving two armed groups.”

“I agreed to keep her talking.”

“And if she follows the plan she described?”

“Then we need to be ready before she does.”

Daniel pointed to the drive’s evidence receipt.

“She intends to destroy the records.”

“The company records are already preserved,” I said. “Castillo has copies of the letter. Tessa has another set of files.”

Reed nodded.

“And we have the original drive. We’ll preserve a complete copy before anything leaves this building.”

I looked at her.

“You’re considering it.”

“I’m considering every option that gets the child out alive. That doesn’t mean you’re running the operation.”

“I know the building.”

“Then you’ll help us understand it.”

For the next hour, I drew what I remembered.

Loading bays. Service lanes. The old office staircase. Places where somebody could watch an entrance without being seen.

Knox brought recent photographs and ownership plans. Reed had officers compare them with Celeste’s description.

I called my deputy.

“No one approaches the warehouse without Reed’s knowledge.”

He paused.

“The police?”

“Yes.”

“What do you want us to do?”

“Watch the surrounding roads. Give her vehicle descriptions and positions. Keep your people out of any entry team’s way.”

He understood the instruction even if he disliked it.

Before dawn, Reed stepped out to take another call.

When she returned, she closed the door.

“The mechanic is with officers.”

Tessa stood.

“He talked?”

“He has started. He gave us a phone he kept after the job.”

My mouth went dry.

“What’s on it?”

“Messages arranging the work. Payment details. We still need to authenticate them.”

“From Garrett?”

“Yes.”

Reed sat opposite me.

“And something else.”

She placed a printed image on the table.

A message thread.

Garrett’s name appeared at the top. Below it was a forwarded exchange with a number I recognized from old household records.

Celeste’s.

The visible message was short.

Keep him away from Silas until the accounts are clear.

Under it, Garrett had replied:

Tomorrow will solve it. Take the route we discussed.

I read the words twice.

Celeste had answered:

I don’t want to know the details.

My hands stayed flat on the table.

She had told me she was afraid.

She had told me she didn’t understand.

But when Garrett offered to solve the problem, she had chosen not to ask what would happen to the little boy on her back seat.

Reed watched me.

“What are you thinking?”

I looked at the message.

Tonight, Celeste expected me to help her destroy the truth and carry another child away.

I pushed the paper back toward the detective.

“Put a microphone on me,” I said. “I want to hear what she says when she can’t pretend she never knew.”