Chapter 7 - Claire’s Second GraveThe first grave had been empty.
The second grave belonged to Claire.
At least according to the records.
Daniel took Victoria to the cemetery before sunrise.
Rows of old Hale family stones disappeared into the fog.
Claire Hale.
Age 29.
Beloved daughter.
Died eight years ago.
Victoria stood before the grave.
“I don't remember her.”
Daniel said nothing.
She touched the stone.
“I don't remember her.”
“You were young.”
“That isn't enough.”
Daniel looked at the grave.
“Sometimes families erase what they cannot explain.”
Victoria turned.
“Who was Claire?”
“She was your father’s first daughter.”
“I thought I was.”
“You were the daughter he raised.”
Victoria stared.
“What does that mean?”
“Claire was born before your parents married.”
Victoria’s head spun.
“So my mother didn't know?”
“She did.”
“Then why lie?”
Daniel handed her a folder.
Inside were old adoption records.
Claire's mother was not Victoria's mother.
It was another woman.
A woman named Marisol Reyes.
Victoria frowned.
“Who is she?”
Daniel said quietly:
“The woman who worked in your father’s private nursery.”
Victoria remembered a maid from childhood.
A woman with warm brown eyes.
She had been gone before Victoria turned five.
“You're telling me my father had a daughter with a maid?”
“That's what the records indicate.”
Victoria looked back at Claire’s grave.
“Did he kill her?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“We need proof.”
A noise came from behind the trees.
Rosie stepped from the car.
She had followed them.
Victoria walked toward her.
“You should not be here.”
Rosie looked at Claire's grave.
“Mama brought me here.”
Victoria froze.
“When?”
“After the first snow.”
“What did she do?”
“She talked to this stone.”
Victoria knelt.
“What did she say?”
“That Claire wasn't inside.”
Daniel stood.
“Rosie, are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Did your mama show you another place?”
Rosie nodded.
She pointed deeper into the cemetery.
“There.”
They followed her.
She led them toward an old mausoleum.
The door was locked.
Victoria touched the handle.
Rosie whispered:
“Behind it.”
Daniel searched the wall.
He found a loose stone.
Behind it was a narrow cavity.
Inside lay a small metal box.
Victoria opened it.
There was a flash drive.
A key.
And a handwritten note.
Victoria recognized Claire’s handwriting.
The first grave was for Rosalind.
The second is for me.
The third is for the man who thinks he owns them.
Daniel looked at Victoria.
“Your father?”
“No.”
Victoria looked toward Charles’s car.
“Charles.”
Daniel frowned.
“You think he plans to kill Charles?”
“No.”
She held up the key.
“I think Claire predicted someone would.”
They returned to the house.
Charles was waiting in the library.
“You went to the cemetery.”
“Yes.”
“What did you find?”
Victoria stared at him.
“Claire.”
He flinched.
“I told you she was dead.”
“She isn't.”
Charles slowly shook his head.
“Victoria…”
“She left evidence.”
His face hardened.
“Where?”
“You first.”
“What?”
“Tell me what you did with Rosalind.”
Charles sat down.
“I didn't take her.”
“Then who did?”
“Your father.”
“But Eleanor escaped with her.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father threatened you.”
Victoria stared.
“Did he threaten to kill me?”
“Yes.”
“And you believed him?”
Charles looked at her.
“I saw what he did to Claire.”
Victoria's stomach turned.
“How did she die?”
“She didn't.”
Silence.
Victoria's eyes widened.
“You just said she died.”
“I said the world believed she did.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where is she?”
Charles stood.
“I don't know.”
A gunshot exploded through the library window.
Glass sprayed across the room.
Everyone dropped.
Rosie screamed.
Daniel grabbed her.
Charles fell behind the desk.
Victoria crawled toward him.
“Are you hurt?”
Charles looked down.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Victoria froze.
“Charles.”
He looked at her.
“I told you.”
His hand pressed against the wound.
“They are not trying to kill me.”
Another shot.
The lamp exploded.
Rosie cried into Daniel's shoulder.
A third bullet struck the wall.
Then silence.
Police arrived minutes later.
The sniper was gone.
Daniel examined the bullet fragments.
“This wasn't random.”
Victoria nodded.
“What were they trying to do?”
Daniel pointed toward the desk.
The bullet had destroyed the drawer where Victoria kept her father's records.
Not Charles.
The records.
Victoria looked at the floor.
One document had survived.
It was torn in half.
She picked it up.
At the bottom was her father’s signature.
And beneath it:
TRANSFER OF ROSALIND HALE TRUST TO CHARLES HALE, UPON VERIFIED DEATH.
Victoria stared.
Charles had inherited everything the day Rosalind was declared dead.
But one question remained.
Who signed the death verification?
Victoria turned the paper over.
A name was written there.
Dr. Adrian Bell.
And underneath his signature was a second name.
Claire Hale.
Victoria’s blood ran cold.
Claire had signed the document.
May you like
Not as a victim.
As a witness.
Related Stories
