Chapter 8 - Claire’s Truth
Marcus stepped into the light like he had been waiting for us to notice him.
Gray suit. Silver hair. Calm smile.
Claire’s mouth was taped.
A bruise darkened one side of her face.
“Good evening, Ethan,” Marcus said through the speakers.
Rachel signaled officers to trace the feed.
Marcus continued.
“I imagine this has been an unpleasant night.”
“What do you want?” I asked.
“The same thing I wanted three years ago. Cooperation.”
“You killed Anna?”
His smile faded.
“Be careful with accusations.”
Claire made a desperate sound behind the tape.
Marcus rested a hand on her shoulder.
“She made mistakes. So did Daniel. Your wife made the most expensive mistake of all.”
I moved closer to the screen.
“Let Claire go.”
“You threw her out.”
“I said let her go.”
Marcus chuckled. “Now you care.”
The feed cut.
Rachel swore.
I stared at the black screen.
“Claire abused my daughter,” I said. “That doesn’t make this okay.”
“No,” Rachel said. “It doesn’t.”
An hour later, technicians traced the video through six servers and found nothing useful.
But number 417 turned out to be real.
Daniel rented safe-deposit box 417 at a private bank downtown.
A warrant got us inside before sunrise.
The box contained cash, passports, an encrypted drive, and a handwritten letter addressed to me.
Ethan,
If you’re reading this, I failed again.
Claire was supposed to get close to you and recover Anna’s evidence before Marcus found it. That was the plan. She was never supposed to care about you. She was never supposed to frighten Lily. I told her to keep Lily quiet because the child had seen me in the basement and started asking questions.
My vision blurred.
The letter continued.
Anna discovered that Marcus used trust accounts managed through our firm to wash bribe money into legitimate development projects. She copied the records. I helped Marcus hide the transfers because I was scared and greedy. Then Anna died.
I told myself it was an accident.
I knew better.
At the bottom was one final sentence.
The proof is not on the drive. Anna hid it where only Lily would keep it safe.
I thought of the bunny.
We had already found a recorder inside.
But maybe that wasn’t all.
I called Nora.
May you like
She answered on the first ring.
“Ethan,” she whispered, “Lily’s bunny is gone.”
