Chapter 2 - Claire Knew
I turned so fast I hit my shoulder against the stone wall.
Claire stood at the bottom of the ladder.
My younger sister.
The person who had slept on my couch the first week after Evelyn disappeared because I could not be alone.
The person who sat beside me while police said Evelyn might have changed her mind about marrying me.
The person who helped me print missing-person flyers.
She looked at Evelyn behind the gate.
“Move,” I said.
“Daniel, listen.”
“Move.”
“If you open it before the police get here—”
“The police are coming because my wife is under our house.”
Claire flinched at the word wife.
Evelyn whispered, “She knew.”
“How long?”
“How long did you know she was alive?”
Claire’s face collapsed.
“From the beginning.”
Something inside me went quiet.
I turned and pulled at the gate.
“Key.”
“Daniel—”
“Give me the key.”
“I don’t have it.”
Evelyn spoke from behind the bars.
“She does.”
Claire closed her eyes.
She slowly reached under her blouse and pulled a small brass key from a chain around her neck.
I almost could not breathe.
“You wore that around me?”
Tears ran down her face.
“I can explain.”
“You wore the key around me for three years?”
Sirens sounded outside the house.
Claire gave me the key.
Evelyn did not run into my arms.
That hurt more than I expected.
She stepped out carefully, watching Claire the entire time.
“Not yet.”
Three years changed the meaning of touch.
Police came down the ladder with paramedics.
Detective Maya Brooks took one look at Evelyn and ordered the entire lower level sealed.
Then she turned to Claire.
“Did you know Mrs. Mercer was here?”
Brooks asked:
“Did you help keep her here?”
Claire looked at Evelyn.
“Yes.”
I felt Rosa grab my elbow before I fell.
Then Evelyn said something that made everyone stop.
“Claire wasn’t the one who put me down here.”
Detective Brooks looked at her.
“Who was?”
May you like
Evelyn’s voice shook.
“Daniel’s father.”
