Chapter 7 - The Deleted Recording
Peter recovered eighteen seconds.
Only eighteen.
But sometimes eighteen seconds is enough.
Claire's voice:
"The trust account isn't Marcus's. It's—"
Static.
"End this tonight."
"Your uncle?"
My father's younger brother.
Vice chairman of Carter Holdings.
The man who sat beside me at Claire's memorial service even though, technically, we never had a body to bury.
The man who told me, "She'll come back when she's ready."
I drove to headquarters with Ortiz behind me.
Thomas was in a board meeting.
I walked in without knocking.
Twelve directors looked up.
"Daniel."
I put Claire's death certificate on the table.
That was worse than shock.
"Did you know?"
"This is not the place."
"Did you know my sister was dead?"
He looked at the other directors.
"Adjourn."
I slammed my hand on the table.
"Did you know?"
Thomas finally said, "Yes."
My knees almost gave out.
"For how long?"
"From the beginning."
A director whispered, "My God."
"I was told it was an accident and that disclosure would destroy the company during the merger."
"So you hid her death?"
"I agreed to delay disclosure."
"Thirteen months is not a delay."
He looked older than I remembered.
"Marcus said Claire had been moving money. Vanessa had documents."
"Forged documents."
Thomas stared at the certificate.
"I know that now."
"Mr. Carter, we'd like to speak with you."
"Daniel, there is something else."
"There always is."
"Claire was alive when she left the apartment."
The room disappeared around me.
"What?"
"Marcus called me from the lake house."
I grabbed the edge of the table.
"What lake house?"
Thomas looked toward Ortiz.
"The Carter property at Briar Lake."
My family owned a cabin there.
It had been empty for years.
May you like
Or so I thought.
Thomas said, "Claire was there for two days before she died."
