Chapter 5 - The Funeral Was Never for Clara)
Clara survived.
Barely.
She had been sedated, dehydrated, and restrained inside a basement treatment room beneath Bluebird.
A catheter had kept her from needing to leave the bed.
An IV had kept her alive.
Someone had intended to hold her for days.
Possibly longer.
When Alex reached her at the hospital, she could not speak.
But she recognized him.
That was enough.
He sat beside her until dawn with one hand wrapped around hers.
Lily was brought under police escort at seven.
The child stopped at the hospital doorway.
For three terrible seconds, she only stared.
Then Clara opened her arms.
Lily ran.
“Mommy!”
Clara sobbed for the first time.
Alex turned away because he could not watch without breaking.
Lily climbed carefully beside her mother.
“They said you were dead.”
Clara kissed her hair.
“I know, baby.”
“I told Daddy.”
“You were so brave.”
“Grandma said I was bad.”
Clara’s eyes sharpened.
“No. Never.”
Alex looked at his wife.
“We need to talk.”
Clara glanced at Lily.
“Later.”
“No. Not everything. Just one thing.”
He placed the photograph of Teresa and Richard outside Bluebird on the bedside table.
Clara looked at it.
Fear moved across her face.
“Where did you get that?”
“My father hid records. Lily knew the building.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“Richard has been stealing from Voss Meridian for years.”
“How?”
“Not stealing money exactly. Moving ownership.”
Alex frowned.
“Through Bluebird?”
“Bluebird is one of dozens.”
She spoke slowly, voice weakened by sedation.
“My father discovered it before he died.”
“Arthur says your father’s death wasn’t an accident.”
Clara stared at him.
“You know about my father?”
“Enough to know my mother knew him.”
Clara’s eyes filled.
“I didn’t want you finding out like this.”
“Finding out what?”
She looked at Lily.
Then whispered.
“Your mother was the last person my father called before he disappeared.”
Alex sat back.
“Why?”
“Because she worked for Richard’s father.”
He stared at her.
Teresa had always described herself as a corporate consultant.
She claimed she left business when Alex was born.
Clara shook her head.
“She didn’t leave. She became their private fixer.”
“No.”
“Alex.”
“No.”
“I have proof.”
“Where?”
“That’s why they took me.”
She looked toward Lily.
“The records were never in the house.”
“Where are they?”
Clara smiled faintly despite everything.
“With someone Richard can’t intimidate.”
“Who?”
Before she answered, the hospital lights went out.
The room dropped into darkness.
Lily screamed.
Alex stood instantly.
Emergency lights flickered red.
A crash came from the corridor.
Then shouting.
Security alarms began blaring.
Alex pushed Lily behind the bed.
“Stay down.”
Clara grabbed his sleeve.
“They found me.”
A man in hospital scrubs appeared at the doorway.
He held a syringe.
Alex recognized him.
Not because he had seen him before.
Because his employee badge read:
DR. SIMON BELL.
The suspended doctor who had signed the false death certificate.
Bell lunged.
Alex grabbed his wrist.
They crashed against the wall.
The syringe fell.
Bell drove a fist into Alex’s ribs.
Alex struck him back.
Security officers rushed into the room.
Bell was pinned to the floor.
But while they restrained him, Bell began laughing.
Alex wiped blood from his mouth.
“What’s funny?”
Bell looked at Clara.
“You think Bluebird was the secret?”
Clara went pale.
May you like
Bell smiled.
“That was only the waiting room.”
