Chapter 4 - What Claire Had Been Hiding
I didn't tell Lily what happened.
Children deserved bedtime stories, not secrets about dead fathers and people following their mothers.
I took her home from my mother's house and watched her sleep.
Then I went downstairs.
Claire was sitting in my living room.
I stopped on the last step.
She looked exhausted.
No makeup.
No jewelry.
Her blonde hair was pulled behind her ears.
For the first time since I had known her, she looked afraid.
"How did you get in?"
She held up a key.
"Daniel gave me one."
My stomach tightened.
"Before he died?"
She nodded.
"Why?"
"Because he knew I would need it."
"For what?"
She looked at me.
"To protect you."
I almost laughed.
"You threw a cake at my daughter."
"I know."
"Why?"
"Because Lily recognized me."
"What?"
Claire stood.
"She saw something tonight that she wasn't supposed to see."
"What did she see?"
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"Your husband."
I stared at her.
"Daniel is dead."
"I know."
"Then stop saying his name like he's coming back."
Claire shook her head.
"I'm not saying he's coming back."
"Then what are you saying?"
She took a photograph from her purse.
She placed it on the table.
I picked it up.
It showed Daniel standing in a hotel corridor.
Room number 714 was visible behind him.
But he wasn't alone.
A second man stood beside him.
The same man from the photograph I'd seen earlier.
Jonathan.
I looked at Claire.
"You knew Jonathan."
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
"Daniel's closest friend."
"Why didn't I know about him?"
"Because Daniel was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
Claire looked toward the stairs.
"From the people who were using him."
"Who?"
She shook her head.
"I can't tell you."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because I failed him."
Her voice broke.
"I was supposed to keep the evidence safe."
"What evidence?"
She reached into her purse.
She pulled out a small envelope.
It was old.
Yellowed.
Sealed with tape.
My name was written across it.
MARA.
I stared at it.
"Why didn't you give me this three years ago?"
"Because I was afraid."
"Of who?"
"Everyone."
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Daniel's handwriting.
Mara,
If you're reading this, then Claire finally decided to tell you the truth.
I stopped.
Claire closed her eyes.
I continued.
Don't trust the police report. Don't trust the accident report. Most importantly, don't trust anyone who tells you the night at Bellmore was an accident.
My hands shook.
I read the next line.
I found out where the money was going.
Then:
I found out who was paying for it.
Then:
And I found out someone in our family helped them.
I looked at Claire.
"Who?"
She whispered:
"Daniel never wrote the name."
I read the final sentence.
The second device contains the proof.
I looked up.
"What second device?"
Claire's face went white.
"The one they never found."
"The one under the table?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"That was a decoy."
I couldn't breathe.
"Then where is the real one?"
Claire looked toward the ceiling.
"Room 714."
I remembered the text.
She nodded.
"Someone wants you to go there."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You know more than you're telling me."
"Yes."
"Then tell me."
She looked at me.
"Your husband didn't die in a car accident."
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
"What?"
"He survived the crash."
My knees weakened.
"That's impossible."
"He was alive when they took him away."
"Who took him?"
"I don't know."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know?"
Claire began crying.
"Because I saw him."
I stepped closer.
"When?"
"The night he died."
"Where?"
"Bellmore Hotel."
I stared at her.
"Why were you there?"
She wiped her face.
"Because Daniel called me."
"What did he say?"
"He said he had found the person responsible."
"Who?"
Claire's lips trembled.
"He said it was someone close."
"Who?"
Before she could answer, the lights went out.
Lily screamed upstairs.
I ran.
Claire followed.
We reached Lily's bedroom.
The door was open.
May you like
The window was open.
Lily was gone.
