CHAPTER 6: Claire’s Last Fight
Nathan sat inside Detective Mark Reynolds’ office, staring at the evidence folder in front of him.
He had spent the entire drive there trying to convince himself that there had to be another explanation.
There had to be.
Because the alternative was too painful.
Claire had not died because of bad weather.
She had not lost control of the car.
She had not simply been unlucky.
Someone had tried to kill her.
And she knew it.
Mark placed several photographs on the desk.
“Take a look.”
Nathan picked up the first one.
It showed Claire’s car after the crash.
The front end was destroyed.
The windshield was shattered.
The image looked exactly like the accident report he had seen two years ago.
But then Mark placed another photo beside it.
A close-up.
The brake line.
“Someone cut it carefully,” Mark said.
Nathan swallowed.
“Why wasn’t this in the report?”
Mark leaned back.
“That’s the question I’ve been asking myself since last night.”
Nathan looked up.
“You investigated this case.”
“Yes.”
“You told me it was an accident.”
“I believed it was.”
“You believed?”
Mark’s expression tightened.
“Nathan, the original evidence wasn’t supposed to disappear.”
Nathan stared at him.
“What happened?”
Mark looked uncomfortable.
“Someone changed the investigation.”
“Who?”
“We’re finding out.”
Nathan pointed at the file.
“My brother signed the updated report.”
Mark nodded.
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“I checked after you left.”
Nathan felt betrayed all over again.
“You didn’t tell me.”
“Because I needed to confirm it.”
Mark opened another file.
“There’s something else.”
Nathan looked down.
“What?”
“Claire wasn’t just investigating stolen money.”
A new document was placed in front of him.
Nathan read the title.
Sterling Holdings Internal Transfer Records.
His eyes narrowed.
“Vanessa’s family company.”
“Yes.”
Mark tapped the paper.
“Claire discovered millions were moved through fake accounts.”
Nathan’s voice lowered.
“And Ethan was involved.”
Mark nodded.
“But not alone.”
Nathan looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Mark pulled out another picture.
A meeting photo.
Four people sitting at a restaurant.
Nathan recognized three immediately.
Ethan.
Vanessa.
Richard Sterling.
Vanessa’s father.
The fourth person made Nathan’s blood run cold.
His own father.
Thomas.
Nathan stared.
“No…”
Mark watched him carefully.
“This photo was taken two weeks before Claire died.”
Nathan shook his head.
“My father told me he barely knew Richard.”
“Looks like he knew him pretty well.”
Nathan pushed the photo away.
His entire family was connected.
Everyone he trusted.
Everyone who told him they were protecting him.
Maybe they were protecting something else.
That evening, Nathan returned home earlier than expected.
He wanted to talk to Emma.
Not because he wanted more information.
Because he needed to know how much fear his daughter had been carrying.
He found her sitting at the kitchen table drawing.
A picture of four people holding hands.
Nathan smiled sadly.
“Who is that?”
Emma looked up.
“That’s Mommy.”
She pointed.
“That’s me.”
“That’s Lucas.”
Then she pointed at the fourth person.
Nathan paused.
“Who is that?”
Emma’s face changed.
The happiness disappeared.
“That’s the man Mommy was afraid of.”
Nathan sat down slowly.
“Emma…”
She covered the drawing with her hand.
“I’m not supposed to talk about him.”
“Who told you that?”
Emma looked toward the hallway.
“Vanessa.”
Nathan felt anger rising.
“What did she say?”
Emma whispered:
“She said if I tell anyone, bad things will happen.”
Nathan reached across the table.
“Sweetheart, nothing bad will happen to you.”
Emma looked at him.
“Daddy…”
“Yes?”
“Mommy knew she was going to die.”
Nathan’s chest tightened.
“What makes you say that?”
“Because she packed a bag.”
Nathan froze.
“What bag?”
“A blue bag.”
“When?”
“The day before she died.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Where is it?”
Emma shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Did Mommy tell you anything?”
Emma thought for a moment.
Then she whispered:
“She told me to give something to you if she didn’t come home.”
Nathan leaned closer.
“What?”
Emma stood up.
She ran upstairs.
A minute later, she came back holding an old stuffed rabbit.
Nathan recognized it.
Claire bought it for Emma when she was three.
Emma opened the back seam.
Nathan’s eyes widened.
Inside was a small flash drive.
His hands shook.
“Emma…”
“She told me to keep it hidden.”
Nathan looked at his daughter.
“You had this for two years?”
Emma nodded.
“I was scared.”
Nathan immediately hugged her.
“You did the right thing.”
He carried the flash drive to his office.
His heart was pounding.
Claire had hidden evidence inside their daughter’s toy.
She knew someone was watching.
She knew she couldn’t trust anyone.
Nathan inserted the drive into his computer.
One folder appeared.
No password.
Only one file.
A video.
Created the night before Claire died.
Nathan pressed play.
Claire appeared again.
But this time, she looked worse.
Her eyes were swollen.
She had been crying.
“Nathan…”
She took a deep breath.
“If you’re seeing this, I’m probably gone.”
Nathan covered his mouth.
“No…”
Claire continued.
“I need you to know something.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“The person who is helping them is someone you would never suspect.”
Nathan leaned closer.
Claire whispered:
“He isn’t stealing the money.”
A pause.
“He isn’t trying to hide the crime.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“He is trying to erase everyone who knows the truth.”
Nathan felt a chill.
Then Claire said the words that changed everything.
“The person behind this is…”
The video suddenly glitched.
The screen went black.
Nathan stared.
“No.”
He tried opening it again.
Nothing.
The file was corrupted.
Only one sentence remained on the screen.
A sentence typed after the video ended.
“You were never supposed to find this.”
Nathan slowly turned around.
The office door was open.
He was certain he had closed it.
And standing in the hallway…
was Lucas.
His five-year-old son.
Holding something in his hand.
“Daddy…”
Nathan walked closer.
“What is it, buddy?”
Lucas looked terrified.
“I found this in Vanessa’s room.”
He opened his small hand.
Inside was a key.
An old metal key.
With one word engraved on it.
CLAIRE.
Nathan stared at the key.
Because he knew exactly what it opened.
A place Claire had never told him about.
A place that might contain the final piece of the truth.
May you like
THE SECRET ROOM.
TO BE CONTINUED...
