Chapter 6 - CLAIRE’S SECRET
Claire woke with her wrists tied behind a metal chair.
Blood ran from her lip.
Victor stood across the room.
At sixty-seven, he still wore perfect suits.
Even at four in the morning.
“You ruined a child’s birthday,” he said.
Claire laughed weakly.
“You always did care about appearances.”
Victor poured himself coffee.
“Where is B17?”
“I don’t have it.”
“Your brother does?”
“No.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“You were easier to frighten at twenty-three.”
“I was a kid.”
“You were old enough to understand consequences.”
Claire stared at him.
“I watched Mara die because of you.”
Victor’s eyes hardened.
“You watched Mara make a reckless decision.”
“You ran her off the road.”
“I wasn’t driving.”
Claire froze.
Victor leaned closer.
“That’s the problem with memory. It gives us confidence without accuracy.”
Meanwhile, Sebastian and Daniel drove toward the old Stellan headquarters.
Sebastian kept gripping the flash drive.
“You think Victor killed Mara?”
Daniel answered, “I think Mara believed he was involved.”
“That’s not proof.”
“No.”
“My uncle practically raised me.”
“So?”
“So I need more than an eleven-year-old recording.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You think I don’t?”
Sebastian said nothing.
They entered the abandoned headquarters through a basement door.
The flash drive required a password.
Daniel tried Mara’s birthday.
Wrong.
Sebastian tried Bellweather.
Wrong.
Then he remembered Lily.
“The cake.”
“What?”
“Claire told Lily not to touch the pink box.”
He typed LILY.
Wrong.
Then:
SEVEN.
The drive opened.
Daniel stared at him.
“Why seven?”
“My daughter turned seven yesterday.”
Folders appeared.
Photographs.
Payment records.
Inspector names.
Police names.
Then one video.
They opened it.
Henry Stellan appeared on screen.
Sebastian gripped the desk.
His father looked exhausted.
“If Sebastian ever sees this, then Claire finally stopped protecting me.”
Sebastian’s breath caught.
Henry continued.
“Bellweather was my mistake.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“I approved Victor’s cost reductions. I didn’t know he disabled the sprinkler upgrade. When the building burned, Victor told me the company would collapse if the truth came out.”
Sebastian whispered, “Dad…”
“I let him bury it.”
Henry swallowed.
“Then Mara Mercer found the records.”
Daniel’s hands clenched.
“I told Victor to handle the press.”
Henry closed his eyes.
“I didn’t know what he meant by handle.”
The video shook.
“After Mara died, Claire came to me. She had seen a second car near the crash.”
Daniel stared.
Henry’s next words hit harder.
“It wasn’t Victor’s car.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“It belonged to someone else.”
The video cut.
A second file appeared.
Filename:
May you like
PAUL_REYES_CONFESSION.
Daniel whispered, “Oh God.”
