Chapter 12 - The Father’s Mistake
Jack felt the world tilt.
“You’re sure?”
Claire turned the necklace over. A tiny E was engraved on the back.
“It was Mom’s. I gave it to Rebecca after she helped Charles through the winter. She tried to give it back. I told her to keep it.”
Jack stared down the dark passage.
Rebecca had been inside the mansion recently.
Maybe today.
He called her number again from Dana’s satellite backup phone.
No answer.
The sheriff’s dispatcher came on the line instead.
“Mr. Mercer, deputies reached the address associated with Rebecca Lane. She isn’t there. A neighbor reports she left three days ago carrying two suitcases.”
“Any sign of trouble?”
“Nothing obvious.”
Jack thanked her and ended the call.
Claire leaned against the wall.
“I pulled her into this.”
“No.”
“I asked her questions about Charles’s medication. I asked her to look at the foundation paperwork.”
“Claire.”
“She told me to stop. I kept going.”
Jack wanted to tell her none of it was her fault. Instead, he said the only thing he knew was useful.
“We find her.”
Claire looked at him. “You’re angry.”
“Yes.”
“At me?”
“No.”
“Then say what you’re angry at.”
Jack took a breath.
“Myself.”
She frowned.
He looked down at the necklace.
“Three months ago, you called me from the grocery store and asked if you could stay at the lake house for a while.”
Claire’s face changed.
“I remember.”
“I asked if you and Ethan had a fight.”
“You told me marriage gets hard.”
“I did.”
“You told me not to make a permanent decision on a bad day.”
Jack closed his eyes.
“I did.”
Claire’s voice did not accuse him. That made it worse.
“I was trying to tell you without saying it.”
“I know that now.”
For a few seconds, they stood in the narrow passage with decades of love between them and one terrible failure sitting in the middle.
Jack opened his eyes.
“I should have asked one more question.”
Claire swallowed.
“What question?”
“Do you feel safe going home?”
Her eyes filled.
Before either of them could speak again, the broken phone on the floor lit up.
One message appeared.
JACK, YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO GET CLAIRE OUT.
May you like
Then a second message arrived.
OR THE HOUSE BURNS WITH ALL OF YOU INSIDE.
