Lorenzo looked toward the direction of the hospital.
“Then I want to know what else he’s lied about.”
At Chicago Mercy Hospital, Chloe lay beneath a heated blanket while a physician examined her injuries.
Sarah sat beside her.
“You’re safe here,” Sarah whispered.
Chloe stared at the ceiling.
For two years, Aaron had convinced her that nobody would believe her.
He had friends in every precinct.
He knew judges.
He knew where she worked, where she shopped, and every person she cared about.
But there was something Aaron didn’t know.
Something Chloe had discovered inside his apartment three nights earlier.
A secret hidden behind a loose panel beneath his desk.
She turned toward Sarah.
“I need you to find something.”
“What?”
“My red coat.”
Sarah frowned.
“The one you wore last Christmas?”
Chloe nodded.
“It’s in the bottom of my closet.”
“Why?”
Chloe’s eyes filled with fear.
“Because I hid something inside the lining.”
Sarah leaned closer.
“What did you hide?”
Chloe swallowed.
“A recording.”
“Of Aaron?”
“Of Aaron and a man named Gabriel Marchesi.”
Sarah went completely still.
“Marchesi?”
Chloe nodded.
“And Sarah?”
“Yes?”
“On that recording, they’re discussing how to kill Lorenzo.”
Sarah’s hand stopped halfway to the water cup.
For a few seconds, she could hear the wheels of a cart passing outside, the soft electronic sounds from the equipment, a woman asking for a blanket in the next room.
Then she looked toward the door.
“Does Aaron know you found it?”
“I don’t know.”
“What happened tonight?”
Chloe pulled the blanket closer.
“He noticed something had been moved.”
Sarah waited.
“He asked whether I’d been in his study.”
Chloe’s voice became quieter.
“I said I was cleaning.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
She remembered all the messages she had sent over the past year.
