“You.”
She folded her arms.
“Me.”
For the first time, he looked nervous.
I decided not to waste it.
“What happens at 4:30?”
He blinked.
“I’m sorry?”
“The filing.”
Nothing.
Then he recovered.
“I have no idea what you mean.”
Emily held up the USB.
His face changed again.
That was enough.
Daniel quietly called the police.
Victor noticed.
“You’re making a serious mistake.”
I looked at him.
“So did Thomas Carrow?”
The blood drained from his face.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Victor said:
“You should be very careful repeating allegations you don’t understand.”
“I understand he died twelve days before marrying Rebecca.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Thomas had a heart condition.”
“And you managed his trust afterward.”
“Legally.”
Emily stepped forward.
“Then why was Rebecca using the name Rachel Bennett?”
Victor looked at her.
“Ask your father why his late wife knew that name.”
I stopped breathing.
“My wife?”
My first wife had been dead five years.
The mother of Emily.
The woman Rebecca claimed she had never met.
“What did you just say?”
Victor realized he had made a mistake.
Emily stared at him.
“You knew my mother?”
He turned toward the elevator.
Security blocked his path.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman whispered:
“Is this Richard Caldwell?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Anna Carrow.”
Thomas Carrow’s daughter.
Every hair on my arms rose.
“How did you get this number?”
“Emily contacted me three days ago.”
I looked at my daughter.
Anna continued.
“If Rebecca is still at that hotel, do not let her leave.”
“Why?”
“Because I finally found what my father hid before he died.”
My throat tightened.
“What?”
“A recording.”
Silence.
“Of Rebecca?”
“Yes.”
Then Anna said something I was not prepared for.
“And your first wife.”
I gripped the phone.
“My wife is dead.”
“I know.”
“What does she have to do with Rebecca?”
Anna’s voice shook.
“The recording was made six years ago.”
One year before my wife died.
Emily went white.
Then Anna whispered:
“Your wife was trying to warn my father about Rebecca.”
The hallway seemed to tilt.
“What did she know?”
Before Anna could answer, the fire alarm suddenly erupted.
Red lights flashed overhead.
Guests screamed downstairs.
The ballroom doors opened.
People flooded into the corridor.
And through the chaos, I saw Rebecca.
No veil now.
No bouquet.
She was walking quickly toward the service stairs.
“Rebecca!”
She looked back.
For one second, our eyes met.
Then she ran.
Emily pointed.
“Dad!”
I started after her.
But Victor shouted behind me:
“Let her go!”
I turned.
Why would he say that?
Then I saw what he was staring at.
The hotel clock.
4:29.
