Chapter 7 - The Night They Tried to Make Me DisappearThe attack happened three nights later.
Rowan was leaving her attorney's office when she noticed a dark SUV following her.
At first, she thought she was imagining it.
Then the vehicle turned when she turned.
It slowed when she slowed.
She called Leah.
“Someone is following me.”
“Where are you?”
“Near Commonwealth Avenue.”
“Drive toward the police station. Don't go home.”
Rowan changed lanes.
The SUV accelerated.
A second vehicle appeared ahead.
Her stomach dropped.
She turned sharply into a parking garage, abandoned her car near the entrance, and ran toward a staffed security booth.
The SUV stopped outside.
Two men got out.
One was Daniel Pike.
Rowan recognized him immediately.
“Call the police!” she shouted.
The security attendant reached for his radio.
Pike turned and fled.
The second man followed.
By the time officers arrived, both vehicles were gone.
But the garage cameras had captured their faces.
Pike was arrested the following morning.
Under questioning, he admitted that Margaret had hired him to exchange the diamonds and alter the security recordings.
He also admitted that the original stones had been moved to a private storage facility.
But when investigators searched it, the storage box was empty.
Someone had removed the diamonds.
Pike insisted he did not know who.
That afternoon, Margaret disappeared.
Her phone was switched off.
Her passport was missing.
And a private jet registered to a Mercer family subsidiary had requested departure clearance.
Graham contacted federal investigators.
The jet was stopped before takeoff.
Margaret was not aboard.
Instead, police discovered a suitcase containing two million dollars in cash and documents bearing Eleanor's former identity.
Someone had planned to frame Eleanor again.
Rowan returned to her father's workshop that evening.
She was exhausted.
Her marriage was ending.
Her father's secrets had become the center of a criminal investigation.
And Margaret Mercer was still free.
Then she received an email from an unfamiliar address.
It contained one photograph.
Margaret stood inside Arthur's workshop.
The photograph had been taken that morning.
Beneath it was a message.
YOUR FATHER HID THE LAST DIAMOND. I KNOW WHERE HE PUT IT.
Rowan looked around the room.
The old clocks ticked quietly.
Then she noticed something.
Her father's largest wall clock had stopped.
May you like
At exactly 8:17.
The same time as the pocket watch.
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