Chapter 5 - The House Daniel Had Never Seen)
Claire landed in Boston shortly after two in the morning.
Maya was waiting outside baggage claim.
She wore black trousers, a wool coat and the expression of a person who had not slept but had no intention of admitting it.
She hugged Claire carefully.
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Claire blinked.
Maya took her suitcase.
“I would be concerned if you said yes.”
Despite everything, Claire laughed once.
It hurt.
Maya drove north rather than toward the city.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere Daniel won’t think of.”
Claire watched the highway.
Forty minutes later, Maya turned onto a narrow road surrounded by pine trees.
A small gray house appeared beyond a stone wall.
Claire stared.
“You kept it?”
“Yes.”
The house had belonged to Claire’s mother.
Not the grand Hawthorne estate.
Not the Manhattan apartment.
A simple coastal house where Claire spent summers as a teenager.
After her mother died, Claire transferred ownership to a trust and rarely visited.
Daniel had never been there.
He once asked to come.
Claire had told him the place held too many memories.
That was only partly true.
The other reason was that it was the one thing she kept completely separate from her marriage.
Maya parked.
Inside, the house smelled faintly of cedar and old books.
Claire stood in the kitchen while Maya turned on lights.
For the first time that night, Claire felt the exhaustion hit.
She sat.
Maya placed the diary between them.
“You brought it.”
“I wasn’t leaving it.”
“Good.”
Claire looked at the cover.
“I want everything.”
“We’re still working.”
“No. Everything you know now.”
Maya sat opposite her.
“Grayhaven Holdings received ninety-eight million from Mercer Meridian.”
“I know.”
“Thirty-one million then moved to an account in Luxembourg.”
Claire listened.
“Twenty million moved to a property company in Portugal.”
“Why?”
“Unknown.”
“The rest?”
“Split between several entities.”
“Vanessa?”
“Her name does not appear as owner.”
“But?”
“One entity has a director named Julian Cole.”
“Relative?”
“Possibly her brother.”
Claire rubbed her forehead.
“What about the photographs?”
“Metadata confirms at least four were taken this year.”
The last hope died quietly.
Claire nodded.
“Okay.”
Maya watched her.
“You don’t have to pretend that doesn’t hurt.”
“I’m not pretending.”
“You look like you’re discussing taxes.”
“If I start crying again, I’m afraid I won’t stop.”
Maya reached across the table and held her hand.
Claire looked away.
For almost a minute, neither woman spoke.
Then Maya said, “There’s something else.”
Claire’s fingers tightened.
“What?”
“Aster Biotechnologies has an undisclosed contingent liability.”
“In English.”
“They’re being threatened with a lawsuit.”
“For what?”
“Data manipulation.”
Claire stared.
“What kind?”
“Clinical trial reporting.”
Claire knew enough about Aster to understand the implications.
Their valuation depended heavily on an experimental neurological treatment.
If trial data had been manipulated, the company could be worth a fraction of the purchase price.
“Does Daniel know?”
“Almost certainly.”
“And he still wants to buy them?”
“That’s what concerns me.”
“Why would anyone pay two billion dollars for a company hiding a liability that could destroy its value?”
Maya opened the diary.
She turned to one of the pages Claire had photographed.
Four letters had been written beside Aster.
R.C.V.P.
“What does that mean?”
“We don’t know.”
Claire studied the handwriting.
Something about it bothered her.
“Whose writing is this?”
“We need a sample from Vanessa.”
Claire touched another page.
“Daniel’s handwriting is different.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’ve seen his notes for five years.”
“Then the diary probably belongs to Vanessa.”
Claire stared at the leather cover.
“Why was Vanessa’s diary hidden behind my baby clothes?”
Neither woman spoke.
That was the question neither could answer.
If Daniel had hidden it there, why choose a place Claire might easily discover?
If Vanessa had hidden it, when had she entered the penthouse?
And if someone else had placed it there, why?
Claire stood.
“I need to sleep.”
Maya nodded.
“You need rest.”
Claire walked toward the hallway.
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
She stopped.
A photograph had arrived.
Claire opened it.
Her entire body went cold.
It showed the penthouse nursery.
The photograph had been taken recently.
Very recently.
The crib Daniel assembled sat against the wall.
Claire’s ultrasound photograph was visible on the dresser.
Beneath the image was one sentence.
He lied to both of us.
Maya came beside her.
“Who sent that?”
“I don’t know.”
Another message appeared.
Ask Daniel what happened in Lisbon.
Claire looked at Maya.
“What happened in Lisbon?”
Maya’s face changed.
“You tell me.”
May you like
Claire swallowed.
“Daniel told me he had never been there.”
