Chapter 9 - THE BOYS’ SECRET
Victor stood on the dock staring at the water.
Months of evidence.
Gone in seconds.
Theo clung to Clara.
“Dad’s mad.”
“He’s not mad at you.”
“He looks mad.”
“He’s mad at your uncle.”
Police boats searched the marina.
Grant abandoned his boat farther north and vanished.
By sunrise, he had become a fugitive.
Back at the estate, Victor paced.
“The phone was the evidence.”
Detective Ruiz shook her head.
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“What do you mean?”
“If files were backed up—”
“Elena hated cloud storage.”
Ryder appeared in the doorway.
“Cloud what?”
Everyone turned.
“You’re supposed to be in bed,” Victor said.
“Can’t sleep.”
Mason appeared behind him.
Then Cole.
They entered wearing matching pajamas and guilty faces.
Clara recognized those faces instantly.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing,” Mason said.
Clara waited.
Cole cracked first.
“We copied the phone.”
Victor stared.
“You what?”
Ryder smiled proudly.
“To the Command Center.”
Clara almost laughed.
The four tiny terrorists had accidentally saved the entire investigation.
They gathered upstairs.
Ryder plugged in a hard drive.
“I copied all the videos because Mom was on them.”
Victor sat down slowly.
The screen filled with files.
Ruiz called federal investigators.
By noon, they had enough evidence for subpoenas.
By evening, the company’s finance director had confessed that Grant had been moving money for years.
But there was still no proof Elena’s crash was intentional.
And Grant was still missing.
That night, Clara finally got Lily on video.
“I miss you,” Lily said.
“I miss you more.”
“Is the house scary?”
Clara looked at Mason trying to balance a spoon on his nose behind the screen.
“Extremely.”
Lily giggled.
“Can I meet them?”
“Soon.”
Derek’s voice suddenly came through Lily’s side.
“Time’s up.”
Clara stiffened.
“Her call is twenty minutes.”
“She has school tomorrow.”
“It’s summer.”
“Goodnight, Clara.”
Lily’s face disappeared.
The call ended.
Clara stared at the blank screen.
Mason stopped joking.
“I don’t like him.”
“You don’t know him.”
“I know enough.”
She sighed.
“Your favorite sentence.”
He sat beside her.
“What if the judge says Lily has to live with him?”
Clara’s throat tightened.
“I’ll keep fighting.”
“Even if you lose?”
“Especially if I lose.”
Mason looked at her.
“Is that what parents do?”
“When they’re doing it right.”
He was silent.
Then:
“Dad stopped fighting after Mom died.”
Clara glanced toward the hallway.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“He stayed.”
“That’s not the same.”
Mason’s voice cracked.
“He stopped being our dad.”
Clara felt the truth of it.
Victor provided everything.
Money.
Safety.
Schools.
Doctors.
Staff.
But grief had turned him into a manager of his own children.
He had stayed physically while disappearing emotionally.
Mason wiped his face angrily.
“Don’t tell him I cried.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Behind them, Victor quietly stepped away from the doorway.
He had heard every word.
The next morning, Clara found him making pancakes.
Badly.
Smoke filled the kitchen.
Mason stared.
“What are you doing?”
Victor flipped a pancake.
It landed on the floor.
“Apparently committing a crime.”
Cole laughed.
Theo climbed onto a stool.
“You cook?”
“No.”
“Mom cooked.”
“I know.”
Victor looked at his sons.
“I should have learned.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed.
“Why are you acting weird?”
Victor turned off the stove.
“Because I owe you an apology.”
The boys went silent.
“I thought keeping you safe meant giving you everything.”
He swallowed.
“But I gave you everything except me.”
Mason looked away.
Victor continued.
“I can’t fix two years in one breakfast.”
Ryder looked at the burned pancake.
“You can’t fix breakfast either.”
Clara burst out laughing.
Victor did too.
Then the doorbell rang.
Mrs. Whitaker answered.
A process server stood outside.
He handed Clara an envelope.
She opened it.
Her custody hearing had been moved again.
Tomorrow morning.
Attached was Derek’s new filing.
At the top of the evidence list was a photograph of Clara and Victor leaving the marina together at 2:00 a.m.
Under it:
May you like
ALLEGED INAPPROPRIATE RELATIONSHIP WITH EMPLOYER.
Clara’s hands began to shake.
