Chapter 4 - The Woman Claire Buried
Claire couldn't move.
"Mom?"
Daniel stared at her.
The knock came again.
"Claire, please open the door."
Claire walked toward it.
Michael blocked her.
"No."
"That's my mother."
"You don't know who's outside."
"I know her voice."
"Claire."
She pushed past him.
Daniel reached for her.
She shook him off.
"No more people deciding what I can know."
Claire opened the door.
Eleanor Vale stood there.
Alive.
Older.
Crying.
Claire slapped her.
The sound echoed through the apartment.
Eleanor didn't defend herself.
Claire slapped her again.
"You let me bury you."
"I know."
"You let me mourn you."
"I know."
"You let me get married without you."
Eleanor's tears fell.
"I watched."
Claire went still.
"What?"
"From across the street."
That hurt more than anything.
Claire backed away.
Eleanor entered.
Robert looked terrified.
"You shouldn't be here."
"Neither should you."
Michael locked the door.
Claire stared at her mother.
"Where is Dad?"
Eleanor's expression answered before her words.
"Alive."
Claire laughed once.
It sounded broken.
"Of course."
Eleanor reached for her.
Claire stepped back.
"Don't touch me."
"I'm sorry."
"Stop saying that."
Daniel stood silently near the desk.
Claire pointed toward him.
"Did he know?"
"No."
"Margaret?"
"Part of it."
"Michael?"
"Most of it."
Michael lowered his eyes.
Claire looked around the room.
Everyone had pieces of her life except her.
Eleanor explained.
Arthur Vale and Richard Mercer had discovered that senior partners inside both family companies were laundering money through charities and overseas development funds.
When they tried to expose it, threats began.
Arthur disappeared.
Eleanor followed.
Michael discovered the truth years later and nearly died because of it.
Richard protected Daniel by keeping him ignorant.
"And me?" Claire asked.
Eleanor cried.
"We protected you by disappearing."
"You abandoned me."
"Yes."
At least she didn't lie.
Claire sat.
"What happened in Boston?"
Daniel answered.
"The warehouse was part of the network."
"Did you burn it?"
"No."
"Who did?"
"I don't know."
"Who died?"
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
Eleanor answered.
"Three employees. One federal informant."
Claire stared at Daniel.
"You never told me."
"I didn't know what the warehouse really was."
"But you knew people died."
"Yes."
"Why hide it?"
"Because I signed the closure order."
Daniel's voice broke.
"I thought it was my fault."
Claire wanted to hate him.
Instead she saw a man carrying guilt somebody else had carefully placed on him.
Eleanor took Richard's letter.
"Richard figured it out last year. The fire was ordered to make Daniel believe he'd caused the deaths."
"Why?"
"Control."
"By whom?"
Eleanor looked at Robert.
Robert stood.
"No."
Michael raised the gun again.
Robert laughed bitterly.
"You still think I'm the mastermind?"
"Are you?"
"No."
"Then say the name."
Robert looked toward Claire.
"Your father."
Claire stared.
Eleanor shook her head.
"That's not true."
"It is."
"Arthur tried to expose the network."
"At first."
Robert's eyes hardened.
"Then he realized how powerful it was."
Claire's stomach tightened.
"My father runs it?"
"Not anymore."
"Why?"
"Because someone took it from him."
"Who?"
Robert looked at the clock.
11:58.
"We have two minutes."
"For what?"
"Midnight."
"What happens at midnight?"
Richard's trust.
Vanessa grabbed the laptop from the desk.
"The authentication window."
Daniel sat beside her.
A secure portal appeared.
Two names.
DANIEL MERCER.
CLAIRE MERCER.
Claire stared.
"Richard planned this."
"Yes," Vanessa said.
"Why tonight?"
"Because the pregnancy confirmation triggered the trust."
Claire felt violated.
"How did the trust know I'm pregnant?"
Vanessa hesitated.
"Your clinic is owned by a Mercer subsidiary."
Claire stood.
"No."
Daniel looked horrified.
"I didn't know."
"I believe you."
It was the first kindness she'd given him all night.
But trust wasn't repaired by one sentence.
Vanessa typed.
The portal requested two fingerprints.
Daniel placed his finger on the scanner.
Claire hesitated.
"Once we open this, what happens?"
Michael answered.
"Every file Richard collected becomes accessible."
"And the people behind this?"
"They'll know."
Claire looked at Daniel.
He looked back.
"No more secrets," he said.
She placed her finger on the scanner.
ACCESS GRANTED.
Thousands of files appeared.
Bank records.
Videos.
Audio recordings.
Photographs.
One folder was marked:
SUCCESSION.
Claire opened it.
There were three names.
ARTHUR VALE.
RICHARD MERCER.
ROBERT MERCER.
Robert stared.
"No."
Claire opened another document.
CURRENT CONTROLLER:
MARGARET MERCER.
Daniel stopped breathing.
"My mother?"
Claire's phone rang.
Margaret.
Daniel answered.
"Mom?"
A man's voice responded.
"Bring the files."
Daniel stood.
"Who is this?"
"If you want Margaret alive, bring the files."
Claire looked at Michael.
He was already tracing the call.
The voice continued.
"And Claire?"
She took the phone.
"Yes?"
"Congratulations on the baby."
The call ended.
Michael looked at his screen.
"I have the location."
"Where?"
He turned the laptop around.
Claire stared at the address.
It was the ballroom they had just left.
They raced downstairs.
When the elevator opened into the lobby, a black limousine waited outside.
Its rear door was already open.
Someone was sitting inside.
Margaret.
May you like
Her hands were bound.
And beside her sat Claire's father.
