Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO FOLLOWED TESS
The driver was waiting in a small interview room at the private security office.
His name was Paul Danner. He was forty-six, with a scar above his eyebrow and the restless eyes of a man who had spent too many years looking over his shoulder.
Adrian entered with Victor and an attorney.
Maren waited outside.
She wanted to hear what happened to her sister, but she was afraid of the answer.
After twenty minutes, Adrian came out.
His face was hard.
“What did he say?” Maren asked.
“He worked for a security company contracted by Celeste's father.”
Maren gripped the edge of a chair.
“Did he kill Tess?”
“He says he was ordered to follow her and recover anything she had taken from the clinic. He claims he was told not to hurt her.”
Maren stared at him.
“Then why did she die?”
“He followed her car onto the service road. He says he tried to force her to stop. She swerved to avoid him, hit the barrier, and rolled.”
Maren's eyes filled.
“He left her there.”
Adrian did not look away.
“Yes.”
She covered her mouth.
“Was she alive?”
Danner had told them that Tess was conscious after the crash. He had panicked and called his supervisor instead of emergency services. By the time he returned to the wreck, another vehicle had arrived.
A second man had taken Tess's bag.
The police report recorded no missing property.
“Who was in the second car?” Maren whispered.
“He couldn't identify the driver. But he recognized the vehicle as one registered to Laurent Medical Holdings.”
Celeste's father's company.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“Danner has agreed to provide a formal statement. The investigators have the payment records and the toll-camera footage.”
Maren lowered herself into the chair.
For three years, she had imagined Tess dying alone.
Now she knew that someone had watched her suffer and chosen to protect a secret instead of calling for help.
Adrian crouched in front of her.
“I won't tell you how to feel.”
“I want him to look at me,” she whispered. “I want him to understand that my sister had a name.”
“He will.”
“I want him to know she was not a file he was sent to collect.”
Adrian's voice was quiet.
“He will know.”
Maren wiped her cheeks.
“Did Tess know she was in danger?”
“She knew someone was following her. That's why she hid the card in the bracelet.”
Maren looked down at her wrist.
The small silver chain seemed suddenly heavier.
“Then she trusted me with her last chance.”
Adrian stood.
“And you honored it.”
That evening, Elena noticed Maren's swollen eyes.
“Did someone hurt you?”
Maren sat beside her.
“No, sweetheart. I learned something sad about someone I loved.”
“Your sister?”
Maren nodded.
Elena reached for her hand.
“My mommy is gone too.”
Maren held the little girl's fingers.
“I know.”
“Sometimes I forget her voice.”
Maren swallowed.
“Would you like to tell me what you remember?”
Elena thought for a moment.
“She sang when she brushed my hair. She made up words.”
“Do you remember any?”
Elena hummed a few uncertain notes.
Maren recognized the tune from the music box on the bedside table. She joined softly.
May you like
Elena leaned against her.
And in the hallway, Adrian listened to his daughter hum for the first time in eight months.
