Chapter 4 - MY MOTHER'S SECRET
The police searched my mother immediately.
She had no weapon.
No hidden phone.
Nothing.
But the call had changed everything.
Mason asked her to sit down.
“Who called you?”
“No one.”
“We heard you say, ‘They know.’”
“I was confused.”
“You've been lying since we arrived.”
My mother started crying.
For years, I had seen Teresa as the woman who raised me.
The woman who cooked my favorite meals.
The woman who helped us when Lily was born.
Now I couldn't recognize her.
“Mom,” I said quietly.
She looked at me.
“Did you know Clara was afraid?”
She began shaking.
“Yes.”
“Did you know Derek was investigating Vance?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know someone came to our house?”
She covered her face.
“Yes.”
“Did you know Clara was threatened?”
She whispered:
“Yes.”
My chest hurt.
“Then why didn't you call me?”
“Because they told me they would kill Lily.”
Everything stopped.
She explained that Victor Kane had approached her two months earlier.
He knew where Lily went to school.
He knew where I worked.
He knew about my father's medical condition.
He told Teresa that if she cooperated, everyone would remain safe.
If she didn't...
They would disappear one by one.
“Why did you take Clara's phone?”
Teresa began crying harder.
“Because Victor told me to.”
“What was on it?”
“Evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“I don't know.”
Derek interrupted.
“She knew.”
Teresa looked at him.
“You knew everything.”
“I knew enough.”
“You helped them!”
“I was trying to protect my family.”
Derek stepped forward.
“You locked Clara inside that room.”
Teresa broke down.
“She was going to call you.”
“And?”
“I was afraid.”
“You let her die.”
My mother looked at me.
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“I didn't kill her.”
Mason leaned forward.
“Then who did?”
Teresa stared at him.
“Victor.”
A silence filled the room.
Mason asked, “How?”
“He gave her something.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“What happened afterward?”
“I heard Clara fall.”
Teresa closed her eyes.
“I opened the door.”
“And?”
“She was still breathing.”
My heart nearly stopped.
“You mean Clara was alive?”
Teresa nodded.
“Barely.”
“Then why didn't you call an ambulance?”
Tears rolled down her face.
“Victor told me if I called anyone, Lily would die.”
I stepped away from her.
My entire body trembled.
Clara might have been alive.
And they had let her die.
Mason immediately contacted the coroner.
He asked whether Clara had any signs of poisoning.
The answer came fifteen minutes later.
Preliminary toxicology showed an unusual sedative.
But it wasn't immediately fatal.
My hands went cold.
“Could she have survived?”
The coroner's answer was devastating.
“Yes.”
Mason looked at me.
“If she received treatment quickly, there was a chance.”
My knees almost gave out.
Someone had deliberately prevented help.
But why?
Then Derek remembered something.
“Martin Hale.”
The lawyer Clara mentioned.
“He might know where she sent the files.”
We searched Clara's computer.
The hard drive was encrypted.
Her email had been deleted.
Her cloud storage was locked.
Then Lily walked into the room.
She was holding her doll.
“Daddy?”
I knelt.
“What is it?”
“Mommy told me something.”
“What?”
“She said if something happened to her, I should give Daddy the blue box.”
I froze.
“What blue box?”
Lily pointed upstairs.
“Under Mommy's bed.”
We rushed upstairs.
There was no blue box.
Then my father rolled into the room.
He pointed beneath the floorboard.
We moved the bed.
One floorboard had been scratched.
Mason opened it.
Inside was a small blue metal box.
A key was taped to the lid.
Inside were photographs.
Bank statements.
USB drives.
Contracts.
And one handwritten note.
I recognized Clara's handwriting immediately.
Alex, if you're reading this, they already know.
My hands shook as I unfolded the paper.
Don't trust anyone who works for Vance.
At the bottom was one final sentence.
The person controlling everything isn't Richard Vance.
I looked at Derek.
“Then who is?”
Before he could answer, Mason's phone rang.
He listened.
His face hardened.
“Detective?” I asked.
He lowered the phone.
“The funeral home just called.”
“What about it?”
“The coffin is empty.”
I stared at him.
May you like
“What?”
“Clara's body is gone.”
