Chapter 10 - Teresa’s Confession
Rachel survived the gunshot.
The shooter did not.
Police found him in the attic with a rifle and a cyanide capsule crushed between his teeth.
His fingerprints identified him as Calvin Shaw, a former Hale Meridian security contractor who had officially died six years earlier in a warehouse fire.
Another dead man who was not dead.
Another person hidden by Project Harbor.
The evidence recovered from the lake house triggered federal involvement.
By evening, agents from three agencies had taken control.
Teresa Carter finally asked to speak.
Alex entered the interview room alone.
His mother looked smaller without her pearls.
They had taken the jewelry during booking.
She stared at him through swollen eyes.
“Is Clara alive?”
“You knew she was.”
“No.”
Alex sat.
“I thought Beatrice was taking her to a private clinic.”
“Why?”
“To scare her.”
Alex stared at Teresa.
“You drugged my wife to scare her?”
“She wouldn’t stop.”
“She found out you were paid to raise me.”
Teresa’s expression hardened.
“You think you understand because you saw some paperwork.”
“Then explain.”
“Your father brought you home without asking me.”
“You mean Arthur.”
“Yes.”
“My actual father is William Vale.”
Teresa looked away.
“So you know.”
“You knew?”
“Of course.”
“How?”
“Arthur told me.”
“And you decided to turn me into income.”
Teresa slammed her palm against the table.
“I raised you!”
“For money.”
“I fed you. I stayed up when you were sick. I sat through every school concert. I took you to soccer. I drove you to college.”
“And sent progress reports to Vale.”
Her silence answered.
Alex felt a strange pain.
Not surprise.
Grief.
The kind that came when a childhood memory changed meaning.
“Did you ever love me?”
Teresa started crying.
“Yes.”
“Enough to stop taking their money?”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because once you were part of Harbor, there was no leaving.”
“Rachel tried.”
“And look what happened to her!”
“So you were afraid.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you help Derek attack Clara?”
Teresa wiped her face.
“Derek owed people money.”
“What people?”
“Vale’s people.”
Alex frowned.
“Why would Derek owe them?”
“He gambled.”
“How much?”
“Almost two million.”
Alex stared.
“Jesus.”
“They told him they would clear it if he recovered the drive.”
“And you helped him.”
“He’s my son.”
“So am I.”
Teresa’s face crumpled.
Alex leaned toward her.
“So was Clara your daughter-in-law.”
She looked down.
“What happened after Clara drank the drug?”
“She collapsed.”
“Then?”
“Arthur came downstairs.”
“He tried to stop you.”
“Yes.”
“Beatrice came.”
“Yes.”
“Who called Keene?”
“Derek.”
“Did Keene examine Clara?”
“Briefly.”
“And declared her dead.”
Teresa shook her head.
“No. He told us she would look dead for six hours.”
Alex went still.
“What?”
“The plan was to transport her through Beatrice’s funeral home to a private medical facility.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“But Beatrice scheduled a burial.”
Teresa nodded.
“That wasn’t the plan.”
“Who changed it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I swear.”
Alex stood.
Teresa reached across the table.
“Alex.”
He stopped.
“When Beatrice told me there would be a funeral, I panicked.”
“Yet you stood beside the coffin.”
“I didn’t know what to do.”
“You told me she was dead.”
“I was trying to make you leave.”
“You were trying to let them bury her.”
“No!”
“You grabbed Lily when she told the truth.”
“Because Derek said they would kill all of us if anyone talked.”
Alex looked at her.
“Who are they?”
Teresa whispered, “The Continuation Board.”
Alex remembered Jonathan’s phrase.
Continuation files.
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“Names.”
“I only know three.”
“Tell me.”
“Jonathan.”
Alex waited.
“Dr. Keene.”
“And?”
Teresa looked terrified.
“Beatrice.”
Alex stared.
“Aunt Beatrice is part of Harbor?”
“For twenty-six years.”
The funeral home.
The dead identities.
The false deaths.
Alex suddenly understood.
“They use the funeral business.”
Teresa nodded.
“To disappear people.”
“Yes.”
“Calvin Shaw.”
“I don’t know that name.”
“How many?”
Teresa looked confused.
“How many people has Beatrice buried who weren’t dead?”
Teresa covered her mouth.
Alex stepped back.
“God.”
“I didn’t know at first.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
Alex turned toward the door.
Teresa spoke quickly.
“There’s something you need to know about Clara.”
He stopped.
“What?”
“The phone under Arthur’s wheelchair.”
“What about it?”
“Arthur didn’t hide it there.”
Alex turned slowly.
“Who did?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because after they moved Clara, I found it beneath the dining table.”
Alex stared at her.
“I listened to the recording.”
“And hid it?”
“I wanted you to find it.”
“Then why not give it to police?”
“Because Derek was watching me.”
Alex remained silent.
Teresa whispered, “I knew Lily would tell you. I knew Arthur would point you to the phone.”
“You planned that?”
“It was the only thing I could do without Derek knowing.”
Alex’s anger did not disappear.
But the shape of it changed.
Teresa reached across the table again.
“I did terrible things, Alex.”
“Yes.”
“But I didn’t want Clara buried.”
He looked at her hand.
Then at her face.
“There’s more,” Teresa said.
“What?”
“Beatrice asked me something before the funeral.”
“What?”
“She wanted to know whether you had ever been tested.”
“Tested for what?”
“I asked her the same thing.”
“What did she say?”
May you like
Teresa looked directly at him.
“She said, ‘Whether William’s condition has started yet.’”
