Chapter 10 - Claire's Last Week
The police called it a mechanical failure followed by a collision.
Ethan had spent three years forcing himself to accept those words.
Now they sounded like a lie he had been trained to repeat.
"Don't jump to conclusions," Detective Chen warned.
"Grant paid the man who kidnapped my daughter two days before Claire's brakes failed."
"That is evidence worth investigating. It is not proof of murder."
He hated her for being right.
At midnight, she opened her eyes.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah, bug?"
"Are you mad at me?"
His throat tightened. "Never."
"Nora said you would be. She said grown-ups hate kids who make trouble."
Ethan leaned close. "You saved my life. And even if you hadn't, you never have to earn my love by being quiet."
Lily stared at the blanket.
"Mommy wasn't quiet."
Ethan froze.
"What do you mean?"
"Before Mommy died, she yelled at Uncle Grant in Daddy's office."
"You remember that?"
Lily nodded slowly.
"I was under the desk. I was coloring."
Ethan's pulse quickened.
"What were they fighting about?"
"Mommy said, 'I found the transfers.' Uncle Grant said she didn't understand business."
Ethan sat very still.
Claire had worked as Mercer Systems' internal counsel.
He had been traveling and promised they would talk when he returned.
They never did.
"Did Mommy say anything else?"
Lily squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember.
"She said she made copies."
"Copies of what?"
"I don't know."
Then Lily opened her eyes.
"But she hid them in my castle."
Ethan blinked.
"What castle?"
Lily pointed toward the door, as if home were just outside it.
"The wooden one Mommy made me. The dollhouse in the attic."
May you like
Ethan stood so fast his chair tipped backward.
Because Nora had ordered that dollhouse thrown away last month.
