Chapter 10 - LILY'S COMPLAINT
At the top of the first page she had written:
CLAIRE PIKE - DO NOT TRUST HER WITH MONEY OR ACCESS.
Daniel stared at the name until the letters blurred.
"She knew," he said. "Lily knew exactly who Claire was."
Rebecca turned another page.
"This is eight years old. Claire was moving donations through shell vendors. Lily caught it."
"Why wasn't she charged?"
"The charity wanted to avoid a scandal. They fired her and recovered part of the money."
Harris pointed at a final note.
If Claire contacts me again, I will go to police.
Dated four days before Lily died.
Daniel's mouth went dry.
"Four days."
"Don't jump ahead," Harris warned.
"You think I can read that and not jump ahead?"
The official accident report had blamed a delivery truck that ran a red light. The driver pleaded guilty to reckless driving. Nothing had ever suggested Claire was involved.
But now Claire had spent years lying about knowing Lily.
Harris ordered the old case file pulled.
While they waited, Ethan sat with the child counselor in Rachel's living room drawing with markers.
Daniel joined him.
"You doing okay?"
Ethan shrugged.
"Aunt Rachel makes bad grilled cheese."
Rachel called from the kitchen, "I can hear you."
For the first time in two days, Ethan smiled.
Then he looked serious again.
"Dad? Claire asked me about Mom's letters."
Daniel leaned forward. "When?"
"A long time ago. She wanted to know if Mom wrote about bad people."
"What did you say?"
"I said I didn't know."
Ethan drew a blue square on the page.
"Then she asked where Mom kept the blue box."
Daniel froze.
"What blue box?"
Ethan looked confused. "The one from the old house. Mom used to put papers in it."
Daniel remembered it suddenly - a small steel document box Lily kept in the hall closet.
He had not seen it since the week after her funeral.
Before Daniel could speak, Grant's radio crackled.
She listened, then looked at him.
"We found Owen's truck."
"Where?"
May you like
"Outside Ethan's school."
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