Chapter 6 - The Missing Dossier
Daniel walked slowly across the room, his leather boots making no sound on the thick Persian rug.
He leaned down, peering into the dark interior of the safe.
The velvet-lined interior, which should have contained three thick manila folders labeled SARAH - CASE #4092, was completely empty.
Not only were the paper files gone, but the encrypted external hard drive containing the digital backups of the vehicle's black box data—the data that proved Sarah's brakes had failed due to a cut hydraulic line—had also vanished from its velvet slot.
"Looking for these, darling?"
Daniel turned around slowly.
Evelyn was standing in the doorway of the study. She had changed out of her beige silk blouse. She was now wearing a thick, black leather jacket, dark jeans, and heavy riding boots. In her left hand, she held a thick manila folder bulging with papers. In her right hand, held comfortably at waist height, was a black, snub-nosed revolver—a Smith & Wesson .38 Special that Daniel kept in his bedside drawer.
The barrel of the gun was pointed directly at Daniel’s chest.
"You really thought you were the smartest man in the room, didn't you, Daniel?" Evelyn said, her voice smooth, dripping with dark amusement. She leaned casually against the doorframe, her thumb resting lightly on the hammer of the revolver. "You thought I was just some desperate, lonely woman who fell in love with a grieving widower."
Daniel did not raise his hands. He did not step back. He stood beside the open safe, his flat gray eyes fixed on the black muzzle of the gun.
"Where is the hard drive, Evelyn?" he asked quietly.
"It's already in my car," she replied smoothly, shifting her weight. "Along with your tax returns, your corporate banking keys, and the signed power-of-attorney documents you so foolishly signed six months ago when you thought we were getting married."
Daniel’s jaw tightened slightly. "The power-of-attorney was contingent on my medical incapacitation."
"I know," Evelyn smiled, her red-painted lips curling upward into a terrifying, beautiful arc. "Which brings us to the current situation."
She took two steps into the study, the heavy leather of her jacket creaking in the silence of the room.
"Do you know why Sarah died, Daniel?" she whispered, her eyes shining with psychotic glee. "She found out about me. She found out that your company’s offshore investment fund wasn't an investment fund at all. It was a laundering conduit for my father's syndicate. Sarah was going to the District Attorney."
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Daniel felt a sudden, crushing weight settle onto his lungs. "You cut her brake lines."
"I didn't cut them," Evelyn corrected cheerfully. "I paid a very nice mechanic two thousand dollars to loosen the bleeder valve on her left front caliper. It took three days for the fluid to drain completely. Just enough time for her to be driving forty miles an hour down Willow Creek Road in a torrential downpour."
