Chapter 13 - The Voice Behind The Door
Claire stood completely still.
Thomas spoke again.
"You've been looking for me."
She didn't answer.
Ethan moved toward the hidden staircase.
Thomas knocked once.
"I know you're in there."
Claire looked at Ethan.
He shook his head.
Don't.
Thomas continued.
"Your father made a terrible mistake."
Claire finally spoke.
"What mistake?"
"He trusted the wrong person."
"Who?"
Thomas laughed quietly.
"That is what you're trying to discover, isn't it?"
Claire's hands tightened.
"Why did you use my identity?"
Silence.
Then Thomas said:
"I didn't."
Claire frowned.
"Then who did?"
"Ask your mother."
"She says she was protecting me."
"She was."
"From you?"
"From your father."
Claire felt anger rising.
"My father tried to protect me."
Thomas's voice became colder.
"Your father tried to protect himself."
Claire stepped closer to the door.
"Where is he?"
Thomas didn't answer.
"Where is Robert?"
Another silence.
Then:
"Alive."
Claire's heart stopped.
"Where?"
"That depends on what you do next."
Ethan whispered.
"Don't listen."
Thomas continued.
"You have something that belongs to me."
"The trust?"
"No."
"The key?"
"No."
"What then?"
Thomas said:
"Your father's last confession."
Claire froze.
"I don't have it."
"You do."
"I don't."
"You just don't remember."
The words struck her.
Claire suddenly remembered the hospital.
A hallway.
A nurse.
Her father holding her hand.
A cassette.
Then a voice.
Her father's voice.
You must forget this until you're safe.
Claire closed her eyes.
"Why can't I remember?"
"Because your mother made sure you wouldn't."
Claire opened the door.
Thomas stood outside.
He was older than the man in the photographs.
But the black-stone ring remained.
Claire stared at him.
"You're my grandfather."
Thomas looked at her.
"That is what Robert wanted you to believe."
Claire's expression changed.
"What?"
Thomas stepped closer.
"Robert was never my son."
Claire couldn't breathe.
"Then who was he?"
Thomas looked toward the staircase.
"That is the question your father died trying to answer."
Claire felt the world shift.
"You're lying."
"Perhaps."
He reached into his coat.
Claire tensed.
But he only removed a photograph.
He handed it to her.
Claire looked down.
It showed Robert standing beside a woman.
Evelyn Mercer.
But there was a child between them.
A little girl.
Claire.
On the back was a date.
October 14, 2008.
And beneath it:
She saw everything.
Claire looked up.
Thomas was gone.
May you like
Only his final words remained in her mind.
"You were never the victim, Claire."
