Chapter 3 - sarah's final phone call)
Ryan moved Lily into Ethan's bedroom.
Not because he trusted Claire.
Because he did not want Lily spending another second behind the wall.
Ethan gave her his bed without being asked.
He dragged his sleeping bag onto the floor and placed his collection of stuffed animals beside her.
Lily chose the smallest one.
A brown bear with one missing button eye.
Ryan watched from the doorway.
She ate slowly.
Bread.
Banana slices.
Chicken soup.
Every few bites she looked toward the hallway, as though expecting someone to appear.
Ryan noticed she startled whenever Claire came near.
After Lily fell asleep, Ryan closed the bedroom door halfway.
Then he walked downstairs.
Claire was waiting in the kitchen.
Her arms were folded tightly against her body.
"Start talking."
Claire nodded.
"Sarah contacted me six nights ago."
"Why you?"
"Because she didn't trust anyone connected to you."
Ryan stared.
"But she trusted my wife?"
"She didn't trust me either."
Claire's bitter smile lasted less than a second.
"She said I was the only person who would understand what Lily meant to you."
Ryan's jaw tightened.
"I didn't know Lily existed."
"I know."
"Did Sarah tell you I'm her father?"
"Yes."
Ryan turned away.
He walked to the window.
Outside, neighboring houses glowed peacefully beneath the evening sky.
Normal families.
Normal kitchens.
Normal children sleeping in normal rooms.
Behind him, Claire continued.
"Sarah said someone had been following her for weeks. A black SUV. Different license plates. Same driver."
"Did she go to the police?"
"She tried."
"And?"
"The officer she spoke to told her there was nothing they could do without proof."
Ryan turned.
"What kind of proof?"
Claire hesitated.
"She worked as an accountant."
"I remember."
"Not anymore. She worked for Northstar Development."
Ryan knew the company.
Everyone in Boston real estate knew Northstar.
It was one of the largest development firms in New England.
And one of Carter Architectural Group's biggest clients.
Ryan stared at Claire.
"We're designing three projects for Northstar."
"I know."
"Sarah worked for them?"
"For four years."
Ryan felt another piece move into place.
"Why was someone following her?"
"She found something."
"What?"
"I don't know."
Claire walked to the kitchen table and picked up her phone.
"She wouldn't tell me over the phone. She only said she had documents proving that money was being moved through shell companies."
Ryan frowned.
"Fraud?"
"Maybe more."
Claire unlocked her phone.
"She sent me one voicemail."
She pressed play.
Static filled the kitchen.
Then a woman's frightened voice.
Ryan had not heard Sarah Mitchell speak in almost six years.
Still, he recognized her instantly.
"Claire, listen carefully. If anything happens to me, take Lily somewhere nobody would think to search. Do not call Ryan yet. I know how that sounds, but someone around him is involved. Someone close. I don't know who. I only know they have access to his office, his schedule, even his home security information."
Ryan looked at Claire.
The recording continued.
"Lily has the key. She doesn't know it is a key. Keep her away from Northstar. Keep her away from anyone connected to Carter Group. And Claire... tell Ryan I'm sorry. Tell him I should have told him years ago."
The voicemail ended.
Ryan stared at the phone.
"Someone close to me."
Claire nodded.
"That's why I didn't tell you immediately."
"You hid my daughter in a wall."
"I was terrified."
"You could have taken her to a hotel."
"They followed me."
Ryan's anger faltered.
"What?"
"The night Sarah called, I drove to Worcester. She gave me an address."
Claire rubbed her arms.
"When I got there, Lily was sitting in the back seat of Sarah's car."
"And Sarah?"
Claire looked down.
"Inside the house."
Ryan knew the answer before she said it.
"She was dead."
His throat tightened.
"How?"
"I don't know. There were pills beside her. It looked like an overdose."
"But you don't believe that."
"No."
"Why?"
Claire's face went pale again.
"Because Sarah had left me another message."
She reached into her pocket.
From it she removed a folded piece of paper.
Ryan opened it.
The message had been written quickly.
If they say I killed myself, they are lying.
Ryan read it twice.
Then he looked upstairs.
"My daughter watched her mother die?"
"I don't think she saw everything."
"You don't know."
"No."
"And instead of calling the police, you took her?"
"Sarah told me the police might already be compromised."
Ryan slammed the paper onto the table.
"You still should have told me."
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"I wanted to."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because somebody came here the next morning."
Ryan stopped.
"Who?"
"They didn't knock."
May you like
Claire looked toward the hidden passage.
"They used a key."
