Chapter 10 - THE FIRST ATTEMPTNobody moved.
I replayed the recording.
Again.
Then again.
“The first time your father tried to kill Juniper…”
My hands went numb.
“Claire,” I whispered.
She stared forward.
“I didn't know.”
“You knew enough to fake your death.”
“I knew he wanted control of the trust.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“I thought Juniper would be safe with you.”
I stared at her.
“I thought so too.”
We reached a small private clinic outside the city.
It belonged to one of Claire's friends.
No records.
No electronic intake.
No connection to my father's network.
A doctor examined Juniper.
She was stable.
But when he checked her inhaler, his expression changed.
“Who gave you this?”
I handed it over.
He inspected the casing.
“This has been opened.”
“Can you tell when?”
“Yes.”
He pointed at a microscopic seam.
“Recently.”
“What's inside?”
He carefully removed the shell.
A tiny device fell onto the table.
Not a tracker.
A memory chip.
The doctor stared.
“What is that?”
I looked at Claire.
She shook her head.
“I've never seen it.”
We connected it to the USB reader.
One file appeared.
JUNIPER_01
I opened it.
A video began.
Juniper was younger.
Maybe two years old.
She was in a hospital room.
I watched myself standing beside her crib.
But something was wrong.
I didn't remember this.
Then my father entered the room.
He leaned over Juniper.
“Your father doesn't know yet.”
The video shook.
A woman behind the camera whispered.
“She's the legal heir.”
My father answered:
“Then we remove the problem before she can inherit.”
My stomach turned.
A second voice asked:
“What about Ethan?”
My father replied:
“If necessary.”
The video ended.
I couldn't breathe.
That footage had been recorded two years earlier.
Before Claire's supposed death.
Before I knew about the trust.
Before anyone told me Juniper was an heir.
Then another file appeared.
JUNIPER_02
I opened it.
It showed Tabitha.
She was standing outside the hospital nursery.
She was speaking to the camera.
“I know what you're doing.”
My father appeared beside her.
“You should be careful.”
Tabitha looked terrified.
“I won't let you hurt her.”
My father smiled.
“You won't have to.”
The recording ended.
Then the final file automatically opened.
It was dated three days before Claire's accident.
The camera was inside our house.
Claire was asleep on the couch.
Tabitha stood over her.
My father came into frame.
He handed Tabitha a syringe.
My blood ran cold.
“What's that?” Willa whispered.
I watched my father point toward Claire.
“Tomorrow night.”
Then he said:
“When she wakes up, she won't remember anything.”
I stopped the video.
“No.”
Claire was crying.
I looked at her.
“What did he do to you?”
She whispered:
“I don't know.”
Then the doctor entered.
He was holding the blood test results.
His face had gone pale.
“Ethan.”
“What?”
“This chip isn't the only thing they put inside the inhaler.”
He looked toward Juniper.
“There are medication residues in your daughter's system that shouldn't be there.”
My heart dropped.
“What residues?”
May you like
The doctor swallowed.
“Sedatives.”
