Chapter 7 - The Second Car
For twelve minutes, no one knew whether Aaron Bell was alive.
Detective Shaw finally called back.
“He’s safe.”
Mark exhaled.
“What happened?”
“Someone entered the motel parking lot carrying a weapon.”
“Who?”
“The suspect fled.”
“Was Aaron hurt?”
“No.”
Mark’s eyes hardened.
“Then Crane knows he’s talking.”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“I do.”
Detective Shaw warned him not to confront anyone.
Mark agreed.
Then immediately called an emergency meeting of Ashford Development’s executive board.
He told no one why.
Robert Crane arrived at the mansion at four that afternoon.
He was sixty-two.
Silver-haired.
Immaculately dressed.
He had worked for the Ashford family since Mark was a teenager.
When Sarah died, Crane had sat beside Mark at the funeral.
When Mark could not work for months, Crane kept the company running.
When Mark introduced Victoria to the board, Crane had welcomed her warmly.
“You look exhausted,” Crane said.
Mark studied him.
“I didn’t sleep.”
“I heard there was trouble at the estate.”
“Who told you?”
Crane smiled.
“People talk.”
Mark returned the smile.
“Yes.”
“They do.”
The other executives arrived.
Mark conducted the meeting normally.
Revenue.
Contracts.
Expansion plans.
Nothing about Victoria.
Nothing about Aaron.
Nothing about Sarah.
Crane seemed relaxed.
Until Mark mentioned the foundation.
“We’re reopening the complete financial audit from the last seven years.”
Crane’s pen stopped moving.
“For what reason?”
“Routine review.”
“That seems excessive.”
Mark looked at him.
“Does it?”
Crane recovered quickly.
“Only expensive.”
The meeting continued.
Afterward, Mark watched Crane leave.
David approached.
“He made a call before reaching his car.”
“To whom?”
“Burner number.”
“Can we trace it?”
“We’re trying.”
Elena entered carrying Sarah’s files.
“I found something.”
She placed a police report on the desk.
It concerned Sarah’s crash.
Mark had read the document dozens of times.
Wet road.
Excessive speed.
Loss of control.
No evidence of mechanical failure.
Elena pointed toward the witness section.
“There was another vehicle.”
Mark frowned.
“A truck driver saw headlights behind Sarah.”
“The police said it wasn’t involved.”
“Yes.”
“But look at the description.”
Dark sedan.
Partial license plate.
Elena opened another file from the flash drive.
A photograph appeared.
Robert Crane’s company vehicle from that year.
A dark sedan.
The first three characters of the plate matched.
Mark stopped breathing.
“That proves nothing.”
“No.”
Elena agreed.
“But Sarah saved it for a reason.”
Mark called Detective Shaw.
She reopened the accident file.
By evening, investigators located the retired truck driver who had reported the second car.
He remembered more than anyone expected.
“The sedan was following her close.”
“How close?” Shaw asked.
“Too close for that weather.”
“Did you see contact?”
“No.”
“Anything else?”
The man hesitated.
“When her car went off the road, the sedan stopped.”
Mark leaned toward the speaker.
“For how long?”
“Maybe thirty seconds.”
“And then?”
“It drove away.”
“Did anyone get out?”
“I thought somebody did.”
Mark’s hand tightened.
“What did they do?”
“I couldn’t see clearly.”
The witness paused.
“But they walked toward the wreck.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Mark whispered.
“Before emergency services arrived?”
“Yes.”
The room became silent.
Sarah may have survived the initial crash.
Someone had been there.
Someone had left her.
Mark wanted answers immediately.
But Detective Shaw found something even more disturbing.
The original crash photographs had been archived digitally.
One image showed Sarah’s purse open beside the passenger door.
Another showed papers scattered across the road.
The documents Sarah said she was bringing to her meeting were never recovered.
Mark understood.
Sarah had not died because she drove too fast.
She had died carrying evidence.
Evidence someone had taken before the police arrived.
Then David rushed into the room.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We found Crane’s burner.”
Mark looked up.
“Where?”
David’s expression tightened.
“It called Victoria fourteen times this week.”
Mark stood.
“And once tonight.”
“When?”
“Three minutes ago.”
Mark turned toward the window.
May you like
Crane’s car was still outside.
But Crane was no longer in it.
