Chapter 9 - THE PHONE CALL FROM THE DEADI stared at Savannah.
“That's impossible.”
She shook her head.
“I know how it sounds.”
“Mom is dead.”
“She was supposed to be.”
“What are you saying?”
Savannah pulled out her phone.
She opened an audio file.
I heard my mother's voice.
“Clara.”
I nearly dropped the phone.
It was her.
The same voice.
The same pause between words.
The same way she pronounced my name.
My mother was alive.
Or someone had a recording of her.
Then the voice said:
“If you're hearing this, you're closer than I ever wanted you to be.”
I looked at Savannah.
“What is this?”
“She sent it to me last month.”
My whole body went numb.
“Last month?”
Savannah nodded.
“She contacted me.”
“Where?”
“I never saw her.”
“Then how?”
“Encrypted messages.”
I took the phone.
The next recording began.
Your father will tell you I died.
He will tell you Daniel killed me.
Both are lies.
My breathing stopped.
I listened.
I knew one day you would discover the money.
But the money is only a distraction.
The real inheritance is something else.
A name.
A secret.
And a child.
I froze.
A child.
Zoe.
The recording continued.
If Clara has a daughter, they will eventually come for her too.
I pressed stop.
“What did she mean?”
Savannah looked at me.
“She knew about Zoe.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice whispered:
“Clara.”
I stopped breathing.
“Mom?”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
I couldn't speak.
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere your father cannot reach me.”
“Why did you leave me?”
“I didn't.”
“Then come back.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because the people who want you dead are closer than you think.”
“Who?”
Silence.
Then:
“Look at Savannah.”
I turned.
Savannah was staring at me.
My mother continued:
“She knows.”
“Knows what?”
“The truth about Zoe.”
The call ended.
I stared at Savannah.
“What truth?”
She looked down.
“I was afraid you'd ask.”
“Tell me.”
She closed her eyes.
“Zoe isn't just your daughter.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
“She is the legal heir to the second trust.”
I didn't understand.
“What second trust?”
Savannah pulled out another document.
My name.
Zoe's name.
And a clause.
Upon the birth of Clara Walker's first child, control of the Mercer Foundation shall transfer upon confirmation of biological descent.
Daniel.
I looked at Savannah.
“Zoe is Daniel's granddaughter.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't explain anything.”
Savannah whispered:
“It does if your mother planned all of this.”
I felt a chill.
“Planned what?”
“Your parents didn't take you because they hated you.”
She swallowed.
“They took you because they knew one day you would have a child.”
I stared.
Then my phone buzzed again.
A picture appeared.
Zoe.
Sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Behind her stood a woman.
My mother.
The message below said:
May you like
COME TO THE OLD CHURCH.
ALONE.
