Chapter 5 - The Man Who Had Been Watching
The fitness review contained eighty-three pages.
It described Claire as distracted, emotionally unstable, financially irresponsible, and unwilling to cooperate with professional support.
None of it was true.
The document cited missed appointments Claire had never scheduled, arguments that had never happened, and statements supposedly made by teachers she had never met.
There were photographs of Claire leaving work late at night, buying medicine at a pharmacy, and sitting alone in her car after Evelyn’s funeral.
Ordinary moments had been arranged to suggest a pattern.
Someone had been watching her for months.
Ethan read the report in a police interview room.
“This is why I hired Thomas Reed,” he said.
Claire sat across from him with Detective Ortiz nearby.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you show me the trust payment?”
“Because I thought someone close to us was involved.”
“Who?”
Ethan looked ashamed.
“Your aunt Diane.”
Diane Harper was Evelyn’s younger sister and one of the three administrators of Ava’s trust. She was also Claire’s closest surviving relative.
“What made you suspect her?”
“She approved the payment to Child Stability Consulting.”
“That could have been a mistake.”
“She also recommended Northbridge after Evelyn died.”
Claire remembered the conversation. Diane had said grief support would help Ava. Claire had declined because Ava already had a counselor she trusted.
Ethan had later agreed without telling her.
“Thomas was supposed to trace the company and find out who created the fitness report,” Ethan continued. “Three days ago, he said he had identified the person following you.”
“Who?”
“He wouldn’t tell me over the phone. He said he needed to verify something first.”
“And then?”
“He disappeared.”
Detective Ortiz placed a photograph of Thomas Reed on the table.
It was the same man recorded outside Marisol’s salon.
“His apartment was searched this morning,” she said. “There were signs he left quickly, but no evidence of a struggle. His laptop and phone are gone.”
“Was he the person in the vehicle?” Claire asked.
“We’re checking.”
“What about the sign?”
“We believe he wanted the salon camera to record it.”
THEY KNOW AVA REMEMBERED THE DOOR.
“What door?” Ethan asked. “The blue one?”
Ava had drawn two doors. The blue room door with its silver tree handle and the gray door beneath the school.
Perhaps Thomas meant another one.
Detective Ortiz handed Claire a sealed envelope.
“This was delivered to the station ten minutes ago. There’s no return address.”
Claire opened it.
Inside was a small flash drive and a note written in the same handwriting as Thomas’s sign.
DO NOT PLAY THIS ON A CONNECTED DEVICE.
A police technician examined the drive on an isolated computer.
The first file showed security footage from an underground parking garage. Richard Bell stood beside a black car speaking with Jonathan Mercer, the trust attorney.
A third person approached.
Diane Harper.
Claire felt the room tilt.
Diane handed Mercer a folder.
Mercer gave her an envelope.
The video had no audio, but the exchange was clear.
The second file contained a recording made by Thomas Reed.
He appeared tired and repeatedly looked behind him.
“If Ethan receives this, I found the connection,” Thomas said. “Northbridge is not a counseling scam. It is a guardianship operation. They identify children connected to protected assets, create evidence against the parents, and recommend an approved temporary guardian.”
A document appeared on the screen.
The proposed temporary guardian for Ava was Diane Harper.
“The guardian gains control of medical decisions, education, and trust distributions. Mercer’s companies collect fees from every transaction. But Diane is not running this. She may not even understand the entire plan.”
Thomas leaned toward the camera.
“The person who created Claire’s fitness review had access to private family photographs, school records, trust documents, and the Hales’ home schedule.”
His expression became grim.
“This information did not come from an outside investigator.”
Claire and Ethan exchanged a look.
Thomas continued.
“Someone inside their family has been helping Northbridge from the beginning.”
A loud sound came from somewhere behind him.
Thomas turned.
Before the video ended, another person’s reflection appeared in a window.
Claire paused the image.
May you like
The reflection was distorted but recognizable.
It was a woman wearing Marisol Vega’s salon uniform.
