“He thinks I haven’t noticed the discrepancies in the Caldwell Systems payroll ledger.”

Pierce pointed to the next paragraph with his thumb.

“She has specific dates and transaction numbers here,” he noted.

“She kept a complete log of the embezzlement,” I said, flipping the page.

The next entry was written in a frantic script, the ink smudged in several places.

“I confronted Sterling today,” Claire had written.

“He didn’t even deny it. He just smiled and told me to think of my daughters.”

My chest tightened as I read the next line.

“He said accidents happen to people who ask too many questions in the dark.”

Sophie was watching me, her eyes wide and dark in the flashlight beam.

“Mommy was crying when she wrote that,” Sophie said.

“Did you see her write this, Sophie?” Pierce asked, bending down to her eye level.

Sophie nodded slowly.

“She was sitting at her desk, and she was shaking,” the girl said.

“She told me that if anything happened to her, I had to hide this book.”

“She said Vanessa and the bad man would try to find it.”