Chapter 5 - The Blue Drive
Gwen grabbed the overnight bag and tried to rip it away.
Liam held on.
The fabric tore between them.
The blue flash drive fell onto the wooden floor.
Gwen dove for it.
Mrs. Alvarez stepped on it first.
“Don’t touch that.”
Gwen glared at her.
Liam picked up the drive.
“What’s on this?”
“Nothing,” Gwen said. “Nora has been building some paranoid fantasy about me for months.”
Liam opened the sealed law-office envelope.
Inside was a business card.
Mara Whitcomb, Forensic Accounting and Estate Litigation.
On the back, Nora had written:
If anything happens, give her the blue drive.
Liam looked sick.
Gwen folded her arms.
“She hired someone to investigate your family. That should tell you how unstable she is.”
“No,” Liam said quietly. “It tells me she was afraid.”
His phone finally rang.
The caller identified himself as Dean Mercer, the building’s overnight maintenance supervisor.
“Yes,” Dean said, “I saw your wife.”
Liam gripped the counter.
“Where is she?”
“She was on the balcony when I passed below. I heard shouting, then saw a woman inside grab her arm.”
Liam looked directly at Gwen.
Dean continued.
“Your wife got back inside. A few minutes later, she came into the hallway through the apartment door. She was soaking wet and could barely stand.”
“Where did she go?”
“I took her downstairs to the management office to warm up. She refused an ambulance. Then a woman claiming to be her sister arrived and said she would take her somewhere safe.”
Nora had no sister.
Liam’s face drained of color.
“What did the woman look like?”
Dean described shoulder-length blonde hair, a tan blouse, cream trousers, and beige heels.
May you like
Everyone turned toward Gwen.
👉 Gwen insisted she had never left the apartment—but the building’s elevator camera was about to prove otherwise.
