Chapter 8 - THE LAW FIRM BUILT ON SILENCE
Thomas Whitaker was eighty-three years old and officially retired.
His son ran the law firm.
His grandson handled Whitmore Construction.
Three generations of lawyers tied to one family.
Claire called the office pretending to need estate representation.
Thomas accepted almost no appointments.
But when Claire gave her surname, the receptionist immediately transferred her.
A man answered.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
Not Claire.
Mrs. Whitmore.
Margaret.
Claire remained silent.
Thomas spoke again.
“Margaret?”
Claire ended the call.
Daniel stared at her.
“He thought I was your mother.”
They went to Thomas’s house that evening.
He lived on a private road behind iron gates.
They did not reach the door.
Thomas was waiting outside.
White hair.
Cane.
Expensive cardigan.
His first words were not a greeting.
“You should stop.”
Daniel laughed.
“Apparently everyone thinks that works.”
Thomas looked at Claire.
“You brought an outsider.”
“She’s my wife.”
“Exactly.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Rebecca Reed hired you.”
Thomas’s expression tightened.
“She did.”
“To recover Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“Then you became Margaret’s lawyer.”
Thomas stared toward the trees.
“Things were complicated.”
“Was Rebecca’s death complicated?”
Daniel asked.
Thomas looked at him for a long moment.
“You really do resemble her.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Did Margaret kill my mother?”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Too immediate.
“Did you?”
Thomas looked offended.
“No.”
“Were you there?”
“Yes.”
Daniel went still.
Thomas sighed.
“Rebecca asked me to meet her at a gas station outside Richmond. Margaret arrived unexpectedly.”
“Why?”
“Because I told her.”
Claire felt disgust.
“You betrayed your client.”
“I believed confrontation might resolve the matter.”
“What happened?”
“They argued.”
“About Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“Rebecca left.”
“And crashed?”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“She did not crash.”
Claire felt her skin prickle.
Daniel whispered, “What?”
“The accident report was false.”
Thomas looked suddenly older.
“The car was found damaged, but Rebecca was not inside.”
Daniel stared.
“She wasn’t?”
“No.”
“But they said she died.”
“Because Margaret needed everyone to believe she had.”
Daniel grabbed the front of Thomas’s cardigan.
“Where is she?”
Thomas did not resist.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel shook him.
“Where is my mother?”
“I don’t know!”
Claire touched Daniel’s arm.
He released Thomas.
The old lawyer steadied himself.
“Rebecca disappeared that day.”
“And Samuel?”
“He believed she died.”
“Why would you lie to him?”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“Margaret paid me.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Claire asked, “Why fake Rebecca’s death if she was alive?”
Thomas looked directly at her.
“Because Rebecca discovered something larger than Daniel’s adoption.”
Mark’s voice came from behind them.
“What?”
Claire turned.
Mark and Jessica had arrived.
Thomas looked at all four of them.
“You were never supposed to compare your DNA.”
Mark stepped forward.
“What did she discover?”
Thomas hesitated.
Then said the sentence that changed the entire investigation.
“Edward Whitmore did not adopt children because he wanted a family.”
Daniel stared.
May you like
“Then why?”
Thomas whispered, “He was paid to hide them.”
