Part 4

I joined by secure video.

My sister looked nothing like the woman who had strutted through my penthouse.

Her hair was tangled.

Her eyes were swollen.

She wore a plain gray sweatshirt and kept twisting a tissue between her fingers.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then she whispered, "I'm sorry."

I felt anger rise immediately.

"Do you have any idea what you did?"

"Yes."

"You broke into my home."

"I know."

"You frightened your children."

Her face crumpled.

"I know."

"You tried to force open a protected office."

Paige began crying.

"Marissa, I didn't want to get inside that room."

The words hung between us.

I leaned forward.

"Then why did you hit the keypad?"

She looked toward her attorney.

He nodded.

Paige swallowed.

"Because Dad told me the office alarm would bring people who didn't answer to Mom."

I stared at her.

"What are you talking about?"

She wiped her eyes.

"Three weeks ago, Dad came to my apartment. He said he needed me to do something."

"Move into mine?"

"Yes. He said you already knew."

"That's ridiculous."

"I know that now."

She shook her head.

"At first, I thought they were finally helping me. My landlord was threatening eviction. My ex-husband had stopped paying child support. I was behind on everything."

She looked down.

"Mom said you'd agreed to let us stay."

"Paige, I would have told you."

"I know."

Her voice broke.

"I knew after Dad gave me the temporary code."

I went completely still.

"He gave you the code?"

She nodded.

"He said the building manager owed him a favor."

"And the office?"

"Mom told me there was something inside she needed."

"What?"

"A black case. She said it contained documents that belonged to our family."

My skin prickled.

There was indeed a black equipment case inside my office.

But it belonged to my work.

My mother had never seen it.

Or even been told about it.

"How did she know about that case?" I whispered.

Paige shook her head.

"I don't know."

Then she told me something worse.

"When I refused, Mom said she'd make sure the children were taken away from me."

My anger faltered.

"She threatened custody?"

Paige nodded.

"She said Dad had paperwork proving I was an unfit mother. She said they could use my debts and the eviction to ruin me."

"That's not how custody works."

"I know that now. But I was scared."

She leaned toward the camera.

"Marissa, they weren't just trying to get your apartment."

I could barely breathe.

"Then what were they trying to do?"

Paige looked directly at me.

**"They wanted me to get into your office before you returned from London."**

***

For a long moment, nobody spoke.

Then Evelyn asked the obvious question.

"Why trigger the alarm if you were supposed to enter the office?"

Paige inhaled shakily.

"Because I heard Dad talking on the phone."

She described an evening two days before the break-in.

She'd gone to our parents' home to collect the luggage Mom insisted she bring.

Dad had been in his study.

The door was partially open.

He was speaking to someone on speakerphone.

Paige heard him say:

"The girl will be inside by midnight. The office is the only problem."

Then an unfamiliar male voice responded.

"She doesn't need to open it. She only needs to compromise the scene."

Paige had stopped outside the door.

My father said something about paperwork.

The stranger replied:

**"Once the incident is documented, Keane will be removed from the witness assignment."**

My blood turned to ice.

Keane.

The witness assignment.

They were talking about me.

Paige continued.

"Then the man said someone in London would take care of the rest."

I felt my heartbeat in my throat.

"What did he sound like?"

"American. Middle-aged. Calm. Like he was giving instructions at work."

"Did Dad use his name?"

"No."

"Anything else?"

Paige closed her eyes.

"He said, 'The transfer schedule stays exactly as Mercer approved.'"

The room seemed to tilt.

Mercer.

Daniel Mercer.

The colleague who had recommended me for London.

The man who had reassured me over breakfast.

The man who had asked whether anyone knew my departure schedule.

I couldn't speak.

Evelyn noticed my expression.

"Marissa?"

I forced myself to breathe.

"That's someone connected to my assignment."

Paige covered her mouth.

"Oh, God."

I looked at my sister.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because Mom was checking my phone. Dad made me install an app he said was for coordinating the move. Lily heard him say it could show my messages."

"Then why bring the children?"

Paige's expression collapsed.

"Because Dad told me they'd stay with him if I didn't cooperate. He'd already taken their overnight bags. I was terrified he'd keep them."

She began sobbing.

"I thought if I got all three of us inside your building, where there were cameras and security, we'd finally be somewhere they couldn't control everything."

I stared at her.

"And the office?"

"I remembered you once telling me that the office had additional protection. You said nobody should ever mess with that door."

She swallowed.

"I thought breaking the keypad would bring people faster."

A tear slid down her cheek.

"I didn't want your office. I wanted help."

The realization hit me with physical force.

**My sister hadn't broken the keypad because she wanted what was behind it.**

**She had broken it because she wanted someone independent to respond.**

I covered my face.

For the first time since the security alert, I cried.

***

An hour later, I requested an urgent meeting with my supervisor and the appropriate investigative authorities.

I reported Paige's statements, Daniel Mercer's possible involvement, and the suspicious documents.

I also removed myself from any decision-making involving the investigation.

My personal connection made that necessary.

A separate team would evaluate the information.

Until then, I was instructed not to confront Mercer.

That was easier said than done.

Because Daniel appeared outside my hotel room that afternoon.

He knocked gently.

"Marissa?"

I stared through the peephole.

He held two coffees.

His usual friendly smile was in place.

"Thought you could use some caffeine."

I opened the door only as far as the security chain allowed.

"Thanks, Daniel. I'm busy."

His smile thinned.

"You okay?"

"Just handling things back home."

He glanced past me.

"Working on the property issue?"

"Something like that."

He hesitated.

Then asked, "Did your sister tell investigators anything?"

My entire body went cold.

I hadn't told him Paige had been interviewed.

"Why would you ask?"

He shrugged.

"Just wondering whether she's cooperating."

I studied his face.

Ordinary.

Concerned.

Perfectly controlled.

"No idea," I said.

He extended one of the cups.

"Here."

"I've already had coffee."

He lowered it.

"Marissa, you seem tense."

"Wouldn't you be?"

"Of course."

He smiled again.

"Remember, we've got an important movement tomorrow. Don't let your family distract you."

I nodded.

He walked away.

Only after the elevator doors closed did I realize my hands were shaking.

I called my supervisor through the secure channel.

"Mercer knows Paige is talking."