Chapter 5
Mark denied it.
Not convincingly.
His voice was too fast, his hands too still.
“I was here.”
Richard said nothing.
Mark repeated it.
“I was here.”
Richard’s silence stretched.
Mark finally snapped.
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
“I gave you the truth fourteen months ago.”
Richard turned toward his security chief.
“Pull the lodge gate records from the night Sarah died.”
Mark laughed.
“They won't exist.”
Richard looked at him.
“Why?”
Another mistake.
Mark realized it immediately.
The Bellacorte lodges archived gate access for three years.
Mark had just revealed he knew something about records he should never have checked.
The security chief returned an hour later.
Mark’s vehicle left at 10:47 p.m.
It returned at 3:18 a.m.
Sarah’s crash occurred shortly after 12:30.
Mark stared at the report.
Claudia sat with one leg crossed over the other.
Her composure had returned.
Richard noticed that too.
“Where did you go?”
Mark rubbed one hand over his mouth.
“I drove around.”
“For four hours?”
“I was angry.”
“With Sarah?”
“Yes.”
Richard’s stare hardened.
“Why?”
Mark said nothing.
Claudia answered for him.
“Because she knew.”
Mark turned toward her.
“Stop.”
“Knew what?”
Richard asked.
Claudia’s eyes stayed on Mark.
Not Richard.
That made the answer obvious before she said it.
“About us.”
The room seemed to contract.
Richard slowly turned to Claudia.
“You and my son were together before Sarah died.”
Claudia lifted her chin.
“Yes.”
Mark stood.
“You don't know what the marriage was like.”
Richard looked at him.
“You buried your wife and married your mistress eight months later.”
Mark’s breathing sharpened.
“Don't call her that.”
Richard almost smiled.
Even now Mark’s reflex was to protect Claudia.
Then the security chief returned carrying another document.
“A second vehicle left through the service gate that night.”
Richard looked at him.
“Whose?”
May you like
The man hesitated.
“It was registered to Claudia.”
