Chapter 17 - Claire Walked In
Everyone turned.
Claire stood in the aisle, breathless, wearing a borrowed police vest over her sweatshirt.
Ethan's heart stopped.
"What are you doing?"
She never looked at him.
Her eyes stayed on Margaret.
"You wanted me," Claire said. "Here I am. Give Ethan the baby."
Margaret smiled.
"I knew you'd come."
Voss shifted his gun toward Claire.
Ethan moved between them.
"Point that thing at me."
"Ethan," Brooks warned through the earpiece.
Claire took another step.
"You spent months trying to prove I'm unstable," she said to Margaret. "You forged records. You followed me. You attacked me. You kidnapped my daughter. And you still think you're the victim."
Margaret's expression cracked.
"You took my son."
"No. He grew up."
The words landed harder than a shout.
Margaret's face twisted.
"He was mine before he was yours."
Claire shook her head. "That's the problem. You think love means ownership."
Voss muttered, "Enough. We need to go."
Margaret ignored him again.
"Thomas said the same thing," she whispered.
Ethan caught it.
"What did Dad say?"
Margaret looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"He said I didn't love people. He said I collected them."
"Was he right?"
Her tears disappeared.
"He was weak."
Ethan took another step.
"Did you kill him too?"
Voss shouted, "Shut up!"
Margaret snapped toward him. "Don't tell me what to do."
And there it was.
A fracture between them.
Ethan pressed harder.
"He helped you cover up Noah's crash, didn't he?"
Voss's face went pale.
Margaret laughed. "Helped? I paid him."
The church seemed to inhale.
Every word was traveling through Ethan's wire to police outside.
Voss realized it a second too late.
He lunged toward Ethan and ripped open his jacket.
The wire showed.
"You idiot!"
Voss raised the gun.
Margaret screamed.
Lily wailed.
Then the church windows exploded inward as tactical officers breached from both sides.
Voss fired once.
May you like
Ethan felt Claire slam into him.
And she went down.
