Chapter 5
Grant reached the pantry in two steps.
My bodyguard reached him in one.
He was slammed against the marble island.
I moved the bread baskets myself.
Nothing.
Sophia pointed lower.
“Behind.”
I crouched.
Loose kickboard.
I pulled it free.
An old black phone sat inside a plastic bag.
Maria covered her mouth.
“Luis.”
Vanessa whispered:
“This proves nothing.”
I looked at her.
“You’ve said that three times tonight.”
“Because it doesn’t.”
Grant laughed from the island.
“You think a dead driver left you a treasure map?”
Sophia looked at him.
He smiled.
“Maybe Daddy hid snacks too.”
Maria stepped toward him.
I stopped her gently.
Grant wanted anger.
Not truth.
I powered on the phone.
Battery nearly dead.
One folder.
Audio.
First recording.
Luis’s voice.
“Grant Cole. West loading yard. Midnight.”
Then Grant.
Clear.
“Daniel leaves through South Ridge Thursday.”
Another man:
“How many cars?”
“Three.”
Luis breathed quietly behind whatever had hidden the phone.
The recording ended.
Maria started crying.
Grant stared ahead.
I opened the second.
Vanessa’s voice.
“Luis saw you.”
Grant:
“Then handle the wife.”
Vanessa:
“And the kid?”
Grant laughed.
“Kids get hungry fast.”
My hand stopped.
The kitchen became silent.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Sophia looked confused.
She did not understand that her suffering had been planned before Luis even died.
I did.
The third file.
Luis whispering.
“If something happens to me, Daniel needs this.”
Then footsteps.
Grant’s voice farther away.
“Driver.”
Luis stopped breathing.
Grant again:
“You’ve been very curious lately.”
Recording ended.
No crash.
No warehouse noise.
Just that.
I looked at Grant.
“What happened after this?”
He smiled.
“You tell me.”
Maria whispered:
“Luis died the next night.”
Grant shrugged.
“Warehouses are dangerous.”
Vanessa added:
“If he had minded his business, maybe Sophia would still have a father.”
Sophia looked up.
“Daddy was bad?”
I stood so quickly the chair behind me fell.
“No.”
I stared at Vanessa.
“Her father died because he was loyal.”
Then Luis’s phone vibrated.
One unsent audio file remained.
Timestamped the night he died.
I pressed play.
May you like
Luis whispered one name before the recording cut.
“Vanessa.”
