Chapter 14 - The Man Who Came Back
William Bell descended one step at a time.
Claire could not move.
Six years disappeared.
She was thirty-six and fourteen and eight simultaneously.
Then William reached the bottom.
Claire ran to him.
He held her.
Neither spoke.
There were no words large enough.
Eventually William whispered:
“I’m sorry.”
Claire pulled away.
“You were alive.”
“I tried to reach you.”
“For six years?”
“Daniel found me.”
Claire stared at him.
William explained.
After escaping Hawthorne, he spent months recovering.
He contacted an old investigator.
Before he could reach Claire, Daniel found him.
Daniel offered a choice.
Disappear.
Or Claire would suffer the same fate as her mother.
“You believed him?”
“I knew what Peter was capable of.”
“What about Daniel?”
William’s expression hardened.
“I underestimated him.”
“Why did they keep you alive?”
“Because they needed something.”
“The shares?”
“No.”
William looked toward the windows.
“The ledger.”
Claire remembered the files.
“What ledger?”
“Your grandfather kept records of every payment, every official, every property taken illegally.”
“Peter has files.”
“Copies.”
William lowered his voice.
“The original ledger contains signatures.”
“Where is it?”
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
William looked at her.
“With your mother.”
Claire frowned.
“My mother is buried in Oak Woods Cemetery.”
“I know.”
Claire understood.
“You put it in her grave?”
“Not exactly.”
Before William could explain, Reed entered.
“We have movement outside.”
Everyone froze.
Engines.
Multiple vehicles.
Officers took positions.
A loudspeaker crackled.
Then Daniel’s voice filled the forest.
“Claire!”
Her father went pale.
Daniel continued.
“I know William is inside.”
Claire moved toward the window.
Reed stopped her.
“Stay down.”
Daniel’s voice came again.
“Peter isn’t with me.”
William whispered:
“That’s worse.”
Claire looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel finally turned on him.”
Outside, Daniel shouted:
“Claire, Peter has Rebecca!”
Claire’s heart stopped.
“He’ll kill her unless we give him the ledger!”
Reed looked toward the federal agents.
One of them whispered into his radio.
Daniel continued.
“I came here because I need your help!”
Claire almost laughed.
The man who had tried to drug her was asking for help.
Then another voice came through the loudspeaker.
Vanessa.
“Claire!”
Claire moved toward the window.
Vanessa stood beside Daniel.
Alive.
Terrified.
Her hands were tied.
Daniel held no weapon.
He raised both hands.
“Peter took Rebecca.”
He pointed toward Vanessa.
“And Kessler gave Vanessa to me because Peter ordered him to kill her.”
Claire stared.
Daniel shouted:
“You think I’m the monster?”
His face twisted.
“You still don’t understand what your uncle is.”
William stepped beside Claire.
“Yes,” he whispered.
“I do.”
Claire looked at her father.
William’s face had become white.
“He killed your mother.”
Claire’s eyes burned.
William continued.
“And now Peter knows exactly where the ledger is.”
“How?”
May you like
William looked at Daniel outside.
“Because Daniel told him.”
