Chapter 3 - Rebecca
Rebecca Valenti had been dead for seven years.
At least that was what Nicholas had believed.
Seven years earlier, Rebecca had supposedly died in a car fire outside Milwaukee. Nicholas had ignored three calls from her that night after an argument, and he had carried the guilt ever since. Now Claire's phone said not to let Rebecca wake up.
"Explain it," Nicholas said.
Claire shook her head.
"It's not what you think."
"Then make me think something else."
She looked at Walter.
"You don't understand what you're doing."
"I understand enough," Walter said.
Hannah noticed Claire was no longer angry.
She was calculating.
Nicholas leaned forward in the wheelchair.
"Where is my sister?"
Claire said nothing.
Vincent unlocked the phone using the code Nicholas had seen Claire enter a hundred times.
There were no older messages. Walter called the sender, but the number was already disconnected.
Hannah's stomach tightened.
"That message was meant to scare her into doing something tonight."
Nicholas looked at Claire.
"What were you supposed to do?"
"Nothing."
"Claire."
She suddenly smiled.
"You want a confession because one nurse has decided your medication looks wrong and one unknown number used your dead sister's name? You built your reputation on evidence, Nicholas. Where is yours?"
Hannah reached into her scrub pocket.
"Right here."
She placed the two sealed tablets on the marble table.
Then she added a folded page.
"And this is your symptom log."
Nicholas scanned the dates.
His eyes narrowed.
On every night he had suffered severe confusion, Claire had been inside the house.
On the nights she attended charity events without him, he had improved.
Claire stared at the page.
Then her gaze shifted to Hannah.
"You should have taken the money."
Nobody spoke.
Hannah felt ice move down her spine.
May you like
"What money?"
Claire realized too late that she had answered the wrong question.
