CHAPTER 4 THE WOMAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Clara stopped breathing.
The sound came from the driver's side window.
Thomas slowly turned his head.
Evelyn pulled Clara against her chest.
“Don't look.”
But Clara looked anyway.
A woman's face appeared behind the glass.
She was standing beneath the darkness of the trees.
Long black coat.
Dark hair.
Pale face.
And a smile that made Clara's stomach twist.
Evelyn whispered one word.
“Margaret.”
Thomas's eyes widened.
“That's impossible.”
The woman smiled wider.
Then she lifted one finger to her lips.
Silence.
Thomas reached for his gun.
The woman stepped away from the vehicle.
At that exact moment, the police cars surrounding them turned their lights back on.
Thomas looked around.
The road was empty.
The woman had vanished.
“Where did she go?” Clara asked.
Nobody answered.
Then one of the police officers walked toward the SUV.
He knocked on the windshield.
“Step outside.”
Thomas didn't move.
The officer raised his gun.
“Now.”
Evelyn whispered:
“Don't.”
Thomas looked at her.
“What?”
“Don't fight them.”
“Evelyn—”
“They want the ledger.”
Thomas stared at her.
“And if we give it to them?”
“They'll kill Clara.”
Clara's eyes widened.
“Then what do we do?”
Evelyn looked at her daughter.
For the first time since Clara had found her, she looked completely helpless.
“We run.”
Thomas suddenly slammed the SUV into reverse.
The police officers shouted.
One fired.
Another jumped aside.
Thomas turned the wheel sharply.
The SUV crashed through a barricade and disappeared into the forest.
Branches scraped against the windows.
Clara screamed as the vehicle bounced over rocks.
Behind them, sirens erupted.
Thomas kept driving.
Evelyn looked back.
“They're following us.”
“How many?”
“Four cars.”
Thomas smiled bitterly.
“Then we need somewhere they can't follow.”
“There's an old hunting road.”
“Where?”
“North.”
Thomas turned sharply.
The SUV disappeared deeper into the woods.
Clara clutched the seat.
“Mommy?”
Evelyn turned.
“Yes?”
“Who is Margaret?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
“Mommy.”
“She used to be my best friend.”
“Used to?”
Evelyn looked away.
“She betrayed me.”
“How?”
“She told your father where I was hiding.”
Thomas suddenly interrupted.
“She didn't just betray you.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“She helped Richard.”
Clara frowned.
“Who is Margaret?”
Thomas answered.
“Margaret Vale.”
Evelyn's face hardened.
“She was the foundation's chief financial officer.”
Clara remembered the photographs.
“Was she the one stealing the money?”
“No.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“She was the one moving it.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard ordered her to.”
Clara thought about the voice on the radio.
“She wants the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“What's in it?”
Evelyn looked toward the dark forest.
“Every name.”
“Whose names?”
“Everyone involved.”
Thomas added:
“Judges. Bankers. Police officers. Politicians.”
Clara stared.
“That's why they're trying to kill you.”
Evelyn nodded.
“And that's why your father married Vanessa.”
Clara looked confused.
“What does Vanessa have to do with it?”
Evelyn hesitated.
Then she said:
“Vanessa is Margaret's daughter.”
Clara's mouth fell open.
“What?”
Thomas glanced at Evelyn.
“You never told me that.”
“I never knew until recently.”
Clara stared out the window.
“So Vanessa knew Mommy?”
“Yes.”
“Before she married Daddy?”
“Yes.”
“And she knew Grandpa?”
“Yes.”
Clara's mind raced.
“Then the wedding wasn't about love.”
Evelyn's expression became grim.
“No.”
“What was it about?”
Evelyn looked directly at her.
“You.”
Clara's blood ran cold.
“Me?”
“Your inheritance.”
“What inheritance?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
Thomas did.
“Your grandmother left you a trust.”
Clara frowned.
“I don't have money.”
“You do.”
“How much?”
Thomas looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn whispered:
“Forty-two million dollars.”
Clara stared at her.
“But I'm only nine.”
“That's why they need you alive.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Not exactly.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“What?”
Thomas's expression was grim.
“They don't need her alive.”
Silence.
“They need her to sign.”
Evelyn's face changed.
Clara didn't understand.
“Sign what?”
“Control of the trust.”
Clara looked at her mother.
“Can they make me sign?”
“No.”
Evelyn pulled her closer.
“They can make you afraid enough to do it.”
The SUV suddenly stopped.
Thomas looked ahead.
A fallen tree blocked the road.
He cursed.
“We're trapped.”
Evelyn looked behind them.
Headlights appeared between the trees.
The police had found them.
Thomas grabbed his weapon.
“Get out.”
Evelyn opened the door.
“Where?”
Thomas pointed toward the woods.
“There should be a cabin half a mile east.”
They ran.
Clara held her mother's hand as branches scratched her arms.
Behind them, flashlights moved through the trees.
“Stop!”
A gunshot cracked through the night.
Clara screamed.
Evelyn pulled her behind a tree.
“Stay down.”
Thomas fired back.
The police scattered.
“Go!”
They ran again.
Minutes later, they reached an old wooden cabin.
Thomas kicked the door open.
Everyone rushed inside.
He locked it.
Then pushed a cabinet against it.
Clara was shaking.
Evelyn wrapped her arms around her.
“Are you hurt?”
Clara shook her head.
“I'm scared.”
“I know.”
“You came back for me.”
Evelyn kissed her forehead.
“I promised I would.”
“Then why did you leave?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Because I thought if they believed I was dead, you'd be safe.”
“But I wasn't safe.”
“I know.”
A sound came from the second floor.
Everyone froze.
Thomas raised his gun.
Evelyn whispered:
“Someone's upstairs.”
Thomas pointed toward the staircase.
“Stay here.”
He climbed slowly.
One step.
Two.
Three.
A floorboard creaked.
Then silence.
Clara looked at her mother.
“Mommy.”
“Yes?”
“Is this the house from the photograph?”
Evelyn frowned.
“What photograph?”
“The one of me sleeping.”
Evelyn's face went pale.
She turned toward the walls.
Then she noticed something.
A tiny red light.
Blinking.
Under the smoke detector.
“Thomas!”
He rushed downstairs.
Evelyn pointed.
“There.”
Thomas removed the device.
His expression changed.
“Camera.”
Clara felt sick.
“They've been watching us.”
Thomas looked at the camera.
“Not just watching.”
He turned it over.
A small transmitter was attached.
“They're listening.”
Evelyn grabbed the device.
“Can you trace it?”
Thomas nodded.
“Give me a minute.”
He connected it to his phone.
A signal appeared.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Thomas stared at the screen.
“What?”
Evelyn asked.
He didn't answer.
“Thomas.”
He slowly looked up.
“The cameras aren't coming from outside.”
“What does that mean?”
“They're coming from inside the Whitmore estate.”
Clara's eyes widened.
“How?”
Thomas showed them the screen.
There was a live feed.
It showed the wedding ballroom.
Daniel was standing there.
Vanessa beside him.
And between them stood Richard.
But they weren't alone.
Margaret was there too.
She was holding the silver bird necklace.
Then Richard turned toward the camera.
He looked directly into it.
As if he knew Clara was watching.
He smiled.
“Tell Evelyn the game is over.”
Margaret stepped forward.
She held up a small envelope.
“Not quite.”
Richard looked at her.
“What?”
Margaret smiled.
“I found something.”
She opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Richard's smile disappeared.
Daniel stared.
Vanessa stepped backward.
Margaret looked toward the camera.
Then she said:
“The ledger isn't the most dangerous evidence.”
Evelyn whispered:
“What did she find?”
Margaret held up another photograph.
It showed Evelyn.
Standing beside a newborn baby.
Clara.
But Evelyn wasn't looking at the baby.
She was looking at someone standing behind the camera.
A man.
Thomas leaned closer to the screen.
His face suddenly went white.
“No.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“What?”
Thomas whispered:
“That photograph was taken twenty-four years ago.”
Clara frowned.
“I'm nine.”
“I know.”
Thomas stared at the image.
“That's the problem.”
Evelyn's face went pale.
“Thomas…”
He shook his head.
“No. That's impossible.”
“What?”
Thomas pointed at the photograph.
“The man standing behind the camera.”
Evelyn stared.
Then she dropped the phone.
Because she recognized him.
He was supposed to have died twenty-four years ago.
And he was Clara's biological father.
Daniel was not.
Clara looked at her mother.
“Mommy?”
Evelyn couldn't speak.
Outside the cabin, a car door slammed.
Then a man's voice called from the darkness.
“Evelyn.”
She froze.
The voice continued.
“You have five minutes.”
Thomas looked at the door.
“Who is that?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Your grandfather.”
Thomas frowned.
“Richard?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Clara.
“The man in the photograph.”
A long silence followed.
Then the cabin door slowly opened.
A man stepped inside.
Clara stared at him.
He looked exactly like the photograph.
Same eyes.
Same face.
Same scar above his eyebrow.
He looked at Evelyn.
Then at Clara.
His voice was barely a whisper.
“I'm sorry I was gone so long.”
Clara stepped backward.
“Who are you?”
The man looked at her.
“I’m your father.”
May you like
Evelyn closed her eyes.
And outside the cabin, Richard began laughing.
