Chapter 2 - The Girl With the Locket)
Richard Whitmore wanted the hallway cleared immediately.
That alone told Claire more than anything he said.
Her father had always been obsessed with appearances. If a waiter dropped a glass during dinner, Richard noticed. If a gardener left a hose visible from the terrace, Richard noticed. If Claire wore the wrong shoes to a charity luncheon when she was sixteen, Richard noticed.
But now nearly two hundred guests were waiting in the ballroom.
The orchestra was playing.
The wedding ceremony was supposed to begin in less than fifteen minutes.
And Richard did not care.
"Rachel," he said, never taking his eyes off Claire, "go downstairs and tell everyone there has been a medical delay."
Claire laughed once.
A strange, humorless sound.
"A medical delay?"
"Claire."
"You just told me my dead mother was never supposed to find me."
Daniel closed the doors to the bridal suite.
"We need to understand what he means."
Richard finally looked at him.
"This is a family matter."
Daniel stepped beside Claire.
"I'm about to become family."
"Not today."
The words came so quickly that everyone went silent.
Claire looked at her father.
"What did you say?"
Richard's expression shifted.
He seemed to realize what he had revealed.
"I mean the wedding is obviously being postponed."
"Why?"
"Because you're distressed."
"I'm distressed because my father just admitted my mother may be alive."
Richard looked toward Lily.
The child had moved close to Rachel.
"Margaret should take the girl home."
"No."
Claire's voice was immediate.
Lily looked at her.
Claire crouched in front of her again.
"I'm sorry I accused you of stealing."
Lily sniffed.
"It's okay."
"No. It isn't."
She held up the locket.
"You said your mother gave this to you."
Lily nodded.
"Did she tell you where she got it?"
The child hesitated.
Richard stepped forward.
"Claire, enough."
Daniel blocked him.
Richard's jaw tightened.
Claire kept her attention on Lily.
"Did your mom tell you anything about the woman in this photograph?"
Lily looked toward Richard.
Fear flickered across her face.
Claire noticed.
"Why are you looking at my father?"
Lily said nothing.
Claire touched her shoulder.
"Lily, you can tell me."
The child whispered, "My mom told me not to tell him."
Richard's face changed again.
Daniel turned slowly toward him.
Claire felt cold.
"Why?"
Lily's voice became even smaller.
"She said if Mr. Whitmore knew, the woman would have to disappear again."
Richard took a sudden step.
"That is enough."
Lily flinched.
Claire stood between them.
"Don't come near her."
Richard stared at his daughter as if he no longer recognized her.
For the first time in Claire's life, she stared back without feeling like a child.
"You've lied to me for twenty years."
"You don't know what happened."
"Then tell me."
Richard's eyes moved to Daniel, Rachel and Lily.
"Not here."
"Here is fine."
"Claire."
"Tell me where my mother is."
Richard said nothing.
Claire lifted the open locket.
"This is her."
Richard looked at the photograph.
Something painful moved through his expression.
That confused Claire.
She had expected only guilt.
But the grief looked real.
"Is she alive?" Claire asked.
Richard looked at her.
"I don't know."
Claire's throat tightened.
"That's not the same answer as no."
"No."
"Did she survive the crash?"
Richard closed his eyes briefly.
"There was no crash."
Silence filled the room.
Rachel covered her mouth.
Daniel whispered, "Jesus."
Claire felt as though the floor shifted beneath her.
"What?"
Richard walked toward the window.
For several seconds he looked outside at the gardens where guests had arrived in expensive cars and photographers had captured smiling relatives beneath arches of white roses.
Then he spoke.
"Your mother left."
Claire stared at him.
"You told me she died."
"I had reasons."
"What reasons could possibly justify telling a nine-year-old that her mother was dead?"
Richard turned.
"She was not well."
Claire laughed again.
"That's your explanation?"
"She was unstable."
"You're lying."
"You don't remember those months."
"I remember her."
"You remember the version of her she allowed you to see."
Claire stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Richard looked at the locket.
"Your mother became convinced people were watching her. She stopped sleeping. She accused people around us of things that made no sense."
"What things?"
He hesitated.
Claire caught it.
"What things?"
"Financial crimes. Bribes. Blackmail. She thought people in the company were stealing."
"Were they?"
"That is not the point."
"It sounds exactly like the point."
Richard's jaw tightened.
Daniel spoke.
"What company?"
Richard looked annoyed.
"Whitmore Industries."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
His own father, Marcus Reed, had worked as Whitmore Industries' outside counsel for almost thirty years.
Claire saw him making the same connection.
"My father was your lawyer back then," Daniel said.
Richard ignored him.
Claire's pulse quickened.
"What happened to Mom?"
Richard looked toward Lily again.
"I tried to get her help."
"Where?"
"She left before arrangements could be made."
"And then?"
"I was told she died."
"By whom?"
No answer.
Claire stepped closer.
"By whom?"
Richard finally said, "Marcus Reed."
Daniel went completely still.
Claire looked at her groom.
Neither of them spoke.
From downstairs came a distant burst of applause.
The wedding guests apparently thought the ceremony was about to begin.
Instead, Daniel reached into his pocket and removed his phone.
"What are you doing?" Richard asked.
"Calling my father."
Richard crossed the room quickly.
"No."
Daniel stared at him.
"Why not?"
Richard said nothing.
Daniel pressed the call button anyway.
It rang once.
Twice.
Then Marcus Reed answered.
"Daniel, where are you? Everyone is waiting."
Daniel looked directly at Richard.
"Dad, did Evelyn Whitmore die in a car accident twenty years ago?"
Silence.
Long enough to become an answer.
Then Marcus said quietly, "Who told you to ask that?"
Claire closed her eyes.
Her father sat down.
And Lily whispered from across the room.
"The blue house is in Bellwater."
Claire opened her eyes.
"What?"
Lily wiped her cheeks.
"My mom took me there."
"When?"
"Before she got sick."
"Where in Bellwater?"
Lily reached into the small pocket sewn into her dress.
She pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"I think this is for you."
Claire unfolded it.
A single address had been written in Anna Hale's handwriting.
17 Mariner's Road.
Bellwater.
May you like
Underneath were five words.
If Lily gives you this, run.
