Chapter 8 — The Second Bottle
Sarah woke to the sound of Noah crying.
For several seconds, she couldn't remember where she was.
Then everything returned.
The basement.
The gunshot.
Thomas Carter.
Mark disappearing into the darkness.
She sat upright on the narrow bed inside the police station's temporary safe room.
“Noah?”
The baby was beside her in a portable crib.
A female officer stood near the door.
“He's fine.”
Sarah immediately reached for him.
She lifted Noah into her arms and pressed him against her chest.
“Where's Mark?”
The officer hesitated.
“We're looking.”
Sarah stared at her.
“You said nobody could get inside.”
“He didn't get inside.”
“Then where is he?”
“We don't know.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Her husband was missing.
Her father-in-law, officially dead for three years, had appeared alive.
Brenda was under arrest.
Elena had disappeared.
And now the police were treating Sarah as though she were both witness and potential suspect.
She looked at the officer.
“Did you find the shooter?”
“No.”
“Thomas?”
“No.”
“Mark?”
“No.”
“Then what did you find?”
The officer didn't answer.
Sarah's phone rang.
Detective Walker.
She answered.
“Detective?”
“Sarah, listen carefully.”
Her voice tightened.
“What happened?”
“We found your husband's vehicle.”
“Where?”
“Two miles from the warehouse.”
“Is he inside?”
“No.”
Sarah's heart sank.
“Blood?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Not enough to know whose it is.”
Sarah stared at Noah.
“Is it Mark's?”
“We're running DNA.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
“I am.”
“Is he dead?”
“No evidence of that.”
Sarah exhaled.
Then Walker said:
“But we found something else.”
“What?”
“A bottle.”
Sarah froze.
“What kind?”
“Baby bottle.”
Her fingers tightened around Noah.
“Where?”
“Inside Mark's vehicle.”
Sarah felt cold.
“No.”
“Sarah—”
“That isn't Noah's.”
“We compared the markings.”
“What markings?”
“There is a blue scratch near the bottom.”
Sarah's face went pale.
Noah's bottles had blue scratches.
She remembered making them herself.
“What does the bottle contain?”
“We don't know yet.”
Sarah whispered:
“Don't let anyone touch it.”
“Already secured.”
She closed her eyes.
A second bottle.
Another trap.
Or another piece of evidence.
“Where is it?”
“At the lab.”
“I'm coming.”
“You can't.”
“That's my son's bottle.”
“Sarah, listen to me.”
His voice became serious.
“We found something on it.”
“What?”
“Your fingerprints.”
Sarah's blood ran cold.
“That makes no sense.”
“We know.”
“I haven't touched that bottle.”
“We know that too.”
Sarah stared at Noah.
“Then how are my fingerprints on it?”
Walker paused.
“Because someone transferred them.”
Sarah swallowed.
“Transferred?”
“Powder from your fingerprints was found on the bottle.”
She felt sick.
Someone had deliberately planted her fingerprints.
“Why?”
“To make it look like you prepared the bottle.”
Sarah's voice broke.
“They're trying to frame me.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
She thought of Thomas.
Then Mark.
Then Brenda.
Then Elena.
The list was getting smaller.
And more frightening.
“Detective…”
“Yes?”
“Where is the first bottle?”
“Still in evidence.”
“Was my fingerprint on that one?”
“No.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
“So the second bottle was planted.”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
“We haven't finished testing it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sarah, you need to hear this from me before someone else tells you.”
“What?”
“The substance is different.”
Her heart stopped.
“Different how?”
“The first bottle contained a dangerous powder.”
“And the second?”
“We don't know yet.”
A pause.
Then:
“But preliminary tests show it isn't poison.”
Sarah's confusion deepened.
“Then what is it?”
“Something used in medical laboratories.”
Sarah looked at Noah.
“Why would someone put that in a baby bottle?”
“We don't know.”
“Find out.”
“We're trying.”
Sarah stood.
“I need to see the evidence.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because someone just tried to access the evidence room.”
Sarah froze.
“What?”
“An officer was found unconscious.”
Her blood turned cold.
“Was the bottle taken?”
“No.”
“What was taken?”
Walker didn't answer immediately.
“Your husband's file.”
Sarah's heart pounded.
“Mark's file?”
“Yes.”
“What was in it?”
“Everything.”
“The trust?”
“Yes.”
“The foundation?”
“Yes.”
“The photographs?”
“Yes.”
“And the evidence about Thomas?”
“Yes.”
Sarah whispered:
“Then they aren't trying to destroy the bottle.”
“No.”
“They're trying to destroy the paperwork.”
“Yes.”
Sarah suddenly understood.
The bottle proved someone had targeted Noah.
But the documents proved why.
Whoever controlled the inheritance had to erase the motive.
The bottle could become a murder investigation.
The documents could become a financial conspiracy case.
And someone desperately wanted the second part gone.
Walker said:
“Sarah, there is something else.”
“What?”
“The security footage from the evidence room.”
“Did you see who entered?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Walker hesitated.
“Mark.”
Sarah's heart stopped.
“My husband?”
“He entered using his police escort credentials.”
“But Mark wasn't with you.”
“I know.”
“Then how?”
“We don't know.”
Sarah felt the room closing around her.
A man using Mark's identity.
Mark's fingerprint.
Mark's credentials.
Mark's bank accounts.
And perhaps even Mark's face.
She whispered:
“Adrian.”
Walker went silent.
“You think Adrian is pretending to be Mark.”
“It's possible.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian has a scar.”
Walker didn't answer.
Sarah continued.
“Under his left eye.”
“Yes.”
“Then check the footage.”
“We did.”
“And?”
“The person entering the evidence room has no scar.”
Sarah's heart sank.
“Then it's Mark.”
“Possibly.”
“No.”
Walker said:
“We're not certain.”
Sarah looked at Noah.
Then at the locked door.
“Detective, where is my husband?”
“I don't know.”
“Then find him.”
“We will.”
The call ended.
Sarah sat down.
Noah was still crying softly.
She rocked him.
“It's okay.”
But she didn't believe her own words.
An hour later, Walker entered the room carrying a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a tiny piece of paper.
Sarah stared.
“What is that?”
“It was found inside the second bottle.”
She frowned.
“Inside?”
“Yes.”
Walker opened the bag carefully.
The paper had been rolled into a tiny cylinder.
Sarah read the words.
ASK ELENA ABOUT THE BLUE ROOM.
She looked up.
“What is the Blue Room?”
Walker shook his head.
“We don't know.”
Sarah's mind raced.
“Maybe Elena does.”
“She isn't answering.”
“Have you searched for her?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Her apartment.”
“Anything?”
Walker looked at the evidence bag.
“A photograph.”
He handed it to Sarah.
She stared.
It showed Elena standing beside Adrian.
Behind them was a blue-painted room.
Sarah recognized the room.
Her own house.
Her breathing stopped.
“That room is in my basement.”
Walker nodded.
“We searched it.”
“What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
Sarah looked at the photograph again.
Something was wrong.
She zoomed in.
On the wall behind Elena was a small painting.
A horse.
A black horse.
Sarah remembered it.
It had hung in the Carter mansion when she and Mark first moved in.
But Mark had told her it belonged to his grandfather.
She looked at Walker.
“That painting…”
“What?”
“It was moved.”
“Where?”
“The basement.”
They went back to the house.
The police removed the painting from the wall.
Behind it was a metal panel.
Walker stared.
“Stand back.”
He opened it.
Inside was a narrow compartment.
Documents.
Photographs.
A flash drive.
And a key.
Sarah stared.
“What is all this?”
Walker picked up the flash drive.
“Evidence.”
Sarah noticed an envelope.
Her name was written on it.
She opened it.
Inside was a letter.
The handwriting belonged to Thomas Carter.
Sarah read:
Sarah,
If you are reading this, the first plan has failed.
She stopped.
Walker read over her shoulder.
The letter continued.
Your husband does not know the whole truth.
Sarah looked at Mark's name.
He believes he is protecting you. He is not.
Her hands trembled.
The person you should fear is not Brenda.
Sarah looked at Walker.
Another line.
It is the woman who saved your son's life.
Sarah's heart stopped.
“Elena.”
Walker nodded.
Sarah kept reading.
Elena knows where Adrian is.
She knows what happened to our granddaughter.
And she knows who really controls Noah's inheritance.
At the bottom:
Do not trust her.
Sarah stared at the words.
Then she noticed something else.
A second sheet.
It contained a list of names.
One name had been circled.
SARAH CARTER.
Beside it:
PRIMARY TARGET.
Sarah whispered:
“They never wanted Noah.”
Walker looked at her.
“What?”
“They wanted me.”
He frowned.
“Why?”
Sarah looked at the documents.
“Because I'm the one who can stop the trust.”
Walker suddenly understood.
“If they remove you…”
“The trust becomes controllable.”
“Yes.”
“And Noah becomes vulnerable.”
“Yes.”
Sarah looked at the second bottle.
“The poisoning was never about killing him.”
Walker nodded.
“It was about making me look responsible.”
Sarah's voice dropped.
“And then taking him away.”
A sound came from upstairs.
Both turned.
Footsteps.
Walker drew his weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
The footsteps stopped.
A man's voice came from the hallway.
“Sarah.”
Her heart stopped.
“Mark?”
Walker moved toward the door.
The voice came again.
“Sarah, it's me.”
She stepped forward.
Walker held up his hand.
“Don't.”
“But that's my husband.”
“We don't know that.”
The door slowly opened.
Mark stood there.
Blood stained his shirt.
His face was bruised.
Sarah almost ran to him.
Then she stopped.
His eyes were wrong.
Too calm.
He looked at Walker.
“Detective.”
Walker raised his weapon.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Mark obeyed.
Sarah stared at him.
“Where were you?”
“I was taken.”
“By whom?”
Mark looked at her.
“Adrian.”
Sarah's heart pounded.
“Where is he?”
Mark shook his head.
“Dead.”
Walker frowned.
“You said he was alive.”
“He was.”
“What happened?”
Mark looked at Sarah.
“He told me something before he died.”
“What?”
Mark's voice dropped.
“He said Elena lied.”
Sarah froze.
“About what?”
“Everything.”
Then Mark looked toward the basement.
“He said the real heir isn't Noah.”
Sarah's heart stopped.
“Then who?”
Mark looked directly at her.
“You.”
Sarah couldn't breathe.
And somewhere outside the house, a car engine started.
May you like
Someone had been listening.
Someone who now knew Sarah had discovered the truth.
