CHAPTER 5 — CLAIRE'S LAST MESSAGE
CLAIRE'S LAST MESSAGE
Nathan did not go outside.
Not because he was afraid of Daniel.
Because for the first time in seven years, he understood that fear was exactly what Daniel wanted.
He stood behind the window, staring at his younger brother.
Daniel remained beside the black SUV.
Rain soaked his expensive coat.
His smile never disappeared.
Evelyn stood beside Nathan.
“That's him?”
Nathan nodded.
“My brother.”
“He doesn't look very friendly.”
“He never was.”
Daniel lifted his phone.
Nathan's phone immediately vibrated.
A message appeared.
WE NEED TO TALK. ALONE.
Nathan showed it to Evelyn.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Nathan looked at her.
“No?”
“You don't go outside.”
“He's my brother.”
“Exactly.”
Nathan almost smiled.
“You're ordering me around again.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm the cook.”
He stared at her.
“And?”
“I've decided cooking includes keeping my employer from getting murdered.”
Despite everything, Nathan almost laughed.
Then Daniel drove away.
Nathan watched the SUV disappear into the fog.
“Why did he leave?”
Evelyn asked.
Nathan's expression hardened.
“Because he wanted me to know he could reach me whenever he wanted.”
The next morning, Nathan's technician finally restored Claire's phone.
The device turned on at 8:12 a.m.
Nathan stood beside the technician.
Evelyn waited behind him.
The screen showed hundreds of old messages.
Nathan scrolled.
Most were ordinary.
Grocery lists.
Appointments.
Messages about dinner.
Then he found one dated the night Claire died.
Nathan, I need you to come home. Please don't call. Just come home.
Nathan's breathing stopped.
Another message appeared three minutes later.
He's here.
Nathan stared.
“Who's he?”
Evelyn whispered.
The technician continued.
“There are several deleted videos.”
“Recover them.”
He did.
The first video opened.
Claire appeared on screen.
She was sitting in the back seat of a car.
Her face was pale.
Her hair was wet.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Nathan, if you're seeing this, something went wrong.”
Nathan sat down.
Claire continued.
“I don't know who I can trust anymore.”
She looked over her shoulder.
“I found the transfers.”
Nathan's eyes filled with tears.
“Daniel has been moving money through accounts I can't trace. I confronted him.”
Claire swallowed.
“He knows I know.”
The video shook.
“I wanted to tell you tonight.”
She looked toward the window.
“But someone has been following me.”
The recording ended.
Nathan stared at the screen.
Evelyn gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
Another video opened automatically.
Claire was standing outside.
The background looked familiar.
Nathan leaned closer.
“That's our old house.”
Claire nodded.
“I found something in the basement.”
She turned the camera toward a wooden cabinet.
“There is a hidden compartment.”
Nathan froze.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“I never knew that cabinet existed.”
Claire opened it.
Inside were files.
Then the video suddenly became distorted.
A man's voice came from behind her.
“Claire.”
She turned.
The video ended.
Nathan stared at the black screen.
Evelyn whispered:
“Who was that?”
Nathan didn't answer.
He recognized the voice.
Daniel.
That afternoon, Nathan went to the old house.
Evelyn insisted on coming.
The property had been empty since Claire's death.
The windows were dusty.
The garden had grown wild.
Nathan unlocked the front door.
For a moment, he couldn't move.
Memories rushed toward him.
Claire dancing in the kitchen.
Claire arguing about paint colors.
Claire leaving flowers on the dining table.
He closed his eyes.
Evelyn stood beside him.
“You don't have to go in.”
“Yes.”
He opened his eyes.
“I do.”
They walked downstairs.
The cabinet from the video still stood against the wall.
Nathan moved it.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside were several folders.
Evelyn picked up the first.
Company transactions.
The second contained bank statements.
The third contained photographs.
Nathan opened it.
His face changed.
The photographs showed Daniel meeting various executives.
Then one showed Daniel handing a briefcase to a man Nathan didn't recognize.
The next photograph showed the same man meeting James.
Nathan frowned.
“James was working with Daniel.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Maybe.”
Nathan looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Look at James.”
He examined the photograph.
James wasn't receiving money.
He was handing something to the man.
A small flash drive.
Nathan's expression changed.
“Maybe James wasn't working for Daniel.”
“Maybe he was spying on him.”
Nathan opened another file.
Inside was a handwritten statement.
James had written it.
I discovered Daniel's transfers. Claire asked me to help her collect evidence. I agreed.
Nathan stared.
“James was helping Claire.”
Evelyn nodded.
“That's why Daniel wanted him silenced.”
Nathan read the rest.
There is one person Daniel fears more than the police.
Nathan looked at the next line.
Nathan Mercer.
His eyes filled with tears.
Claire had believed in him.
Even when he had no idea she was fighting to protect him.
Then they heard a noise upstairs.
Footsteps.
Nathan grabbed Evelyn's arm.
Someone was inside the house.
They turned off the lights.
The footsteps came closer.
Nathan whispered:
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Evelyn.”
“No.”
The door opened.
A man stepped inside.
James.
Nathan nearly shouted.
“James?”
James closed the door behind him.
He looked exhausted.
A bruise covered one side of his face.
“I knew you'd find this.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“You're alive.”
“Barely.”
“Why did you disappear?”
“Because Daniel threatened my family.”
Nathan's expression hardened.
“What happened to Claire?”
James looked away.
“I didn't kill her.”
“I know.”
“Then you know Daniel didn't either.”
Nathan froze.
“What?”
James whispered:
“Daniel ordered me to follow Claire.”
“Why?”
“To find out who she was meeting.”
“Who?”
James looked at Evelyn.
Then back at Nathan.
“A man named Robert Cole.”
Evelyn stiffened.
“Robert Cole?”
James nodded.
“Who is he?”
Evelyn's face had gone pale.
“My grandmother's brother.”
Nathan stared at her.
“What does he have to do with Claire?”
James reached into his coat.
He pulled out a photograph.
It showed Claire standing beside Robert.
Behind them was a large black sedan.
James said:
“Claire wasn't meeting Robert about Daniel.”
Nathan frowned.
“Then what?”
James looked directly at him.
“She was trying to uncover something much bigger.”
“What?”
“Your father's old company.”
Nathan's face changed.
“My father died fifteen years ago.”
“I know.”
James lowered his voice.
“But his illegal accounts didn't.”
That night, Nathan returned to Mercer Estate with Evelyn.
The technician called.
“Mr. Mercer, I found something else on Claire's phone.”
“What?”
“A scheduled recording.”
“Play it.”
The recording began.
Claire's voice filled the room.
“Nathan, if you are hearing this, then I failed.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Claire continued.
“I need you to know one thing.”
A pause.
“I never left you.”
Nathan's eyes opened.
“You will probably believe I ran away. You may believe I was angry. Please don't.”
Her voice trembled.
“I loved you.”
Nathan covered his mouth.
Evelyn looked away.
Claire continued.
“The person who knows the truth is someone you trust.”
Nathan's heart began pounding.
“Someone inside your house.”
The recording ended.
Nathan stared at the phone.
“Inside my house?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Who?”
Nathan slowly looked toward the hallway.
Ruth had retired.
James was missing.
Daniel was outside the family.
There were only a handful of people who still had access.
Then Nathan remembered something.
Someone had been in the house the entire time.
Someone who knew every room.
Every schedule.
Every security code.
Every secret.
He looked at Evelyn.
“What?”
Nathan whispered:
“The house manager.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Thomas?”
Nathan nodded.
“Thomas has worked here for seventeen years.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Nathan answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You're getting close.”
Nathan's jaw tightened.
“Who are you?”
“You'll find out tomorrow.”
The call ended.
Evelyn looked at him.
“What happens tomorrow?”
Nathan stared through the window.
Fog covered the mountain.
“Thomas is coming back from his trip.”
Evelyn's face tightened.
“And if Claire was right?”
Nathan looked at her.
“Then the person who has been hiding the truth from me has been living under my roof for seventeen years.”
May you like
Outside, thunder rolled over the mountains.
And somewhere in the darkness, a car engine started.
