Chapter 5 - Claire Was Alive
Daniel called Michael seventeen times.
No answer.
He called his office.
Michael had left.
He called Michael’s house.
Empty.
He called the police.
Grant immediately issued an alert for Michael’s SUV.
Then Daniel stared at the photograph again.
Claire looked exhausted.
But alive.
Her blonde hair had been cut short.
A bruise marked one side of her face.
Michael stood beside her.
His arm was around her shoulders.
Daniel couldn’t decide which part hurt more.
That she had survived.
Or that someone he trusted had known.
Ethan stood beside him.
“Is that Mom?”
Daniel looked at his son.
“Yes.”
Sophie climbed off the couch.
“Mommy?”
Daniel turned the phone toward her.
She touched the screen with one finger.
Her face crumpled.
“I knew it.”
Daniel swallowed.
“What did you know?”
“She came here.”
Vanessa looked sharply at Sophie.
Daniel noticed.
“When?”
Sophie wiped her nose.
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
“I was little.”
“You’re still little,” Ethan whispered.
Sophie gave him a hurt look.
Daniel knelt.
“Sweetheart, this is important. Did you see Mommy after she disappeared?”
Sophie nodded.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“When?”
“The night with the thunder.”
Daniel remembered storms.
Too many to know which one.
“What happened?”
“I woke up because somebody was talking outside my room.”
“Who?”
“Aunt Vanessa.”
Vanessa snapped, “I wasn’t your aunt.”
“You told me to call you that.”
Silence.
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She had entered his life nine months after Claire disappeared.
At least that was what he believed.
He turned back to Sophie.
“What did you hear?”
“Mommy was crying.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“She said, ‘Please let me see them.’”
Ethan stepped closer.
“And Vanessa?”
Sophie’s eyes went to her stepmother.
“She said no.”
Daniel stood.
His voice shook.
“You knew Claire was alive before you ever married me.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“Yes.”
The word hit harder than any denial could have.
“Why?”
“Because Claire asked me for help.”
Daniel blinked.
That wasn’t what he expected.
Vanessa continued.
“She came to me because she was scared.”
“Of who?”
Vanessa’s eyes drifted toward Daniel.
“You.”
Ethan shouted.
“That’s a lie!”
Daniel raised a hand.
“Let her talk.”
Vanessa studied him.
“Claire discovered money missing from the Mercer Foundation.”
Daniel frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“She found shell companies. Fake charities. Offshore transfers.”
“I didn’t run the foundation.”
“No. Michael did.”
Daniel froze.
Vanessa nodded.
“She thought your brother was stealing.”
“Then why be scared of me?”
“Because your signature was on every approval.”
Daniel stared.
“I never approved illegal transfers.”
“You approved whatever Michael put in front of you.”
That part was possible.
He hated admitting it.
During those years, Daniel had been building three new companies.
He trusted Michael completely.
Vanessa leaned back.
“Claire believed Michael was setting you up.”
“So she disappeared?”
“She was trying to get evidence.”
“And you helped her?”
“At first.”
Daniel heard the last two words.
At first.
“What changed?”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“Claire discovered something about me too.”
“What?”
Before Vanessa could answer, one of the officers entered quickly.
“Detective.”
Grant turned.
“We found blood behind the second wall.”
Daniel’s heart slammed against his ribs.
“Whose?”
“We don’t know yet.”
The officer looked toward Daniel.
“But there’s enough of it that whoever lost it probably didn’t walk away easily.”
Vanessa went pale again.
Then from somewhere beneath the floor came three slow knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
May you like
Sophie screamed.
“That’s Mommy.”
