Chapter 8 - Clara's Recording
By the time Daniel returned to the hospital, dawn had begun turning the eastern sky gray.
Clara was awake.
One look at him told her something had happened.
"Where were you?"
Daniel stopped.
He hated lying to her now.
Even protective lies felt dangerous.
"With the police."
She watched him.
"Why?"
He sat beside her.
"They recovered the safe."
Her eyes widened.
"The drive?"
"No."
"The notebook?"
"No."
"My envelope?"
"No."
Daniel hesitated.
"But I met my father's attorney."
Clara stared.
"Your father had an attorney?"
"Apparently."
"What did she say?"
Daniel told her.
Not everything.
Not yet.
But enough.
The trust.
The forged documents.
The mysterious Anna.
When he finished, Clara was silent.
Finally she said, "Anna."
"What?"
"I've heard that name."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Where?"
Clara closed her eyes, thinking.
"Your mother."
"When?"
"Last year."
"What did she say?"
"She was arguing with someone on the phone."
Daniel's pulse quickened.
"About what?"
"I couldn't hear everything."
"Tell me what you remember."
Clara looked toward Noah's bassinet.
"She said, 'Anna stays dead as long as everyone keeps their mouths shut.'"
Daniel went still.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Clara looked at him.
He immediately regretted asking.
"Right."
She looked away.
Daniel lowered his voice.
"I'm sorry."
"I recorded part of it."
His head snapped up.
"On the flash drive?"
"Yes."
"Did you make copies?"
Clara hesitated.
Daniel felt hope.
"You did."
"I didn't trust keeping everything in one place."
"Where?"
She looked at Noah.
"Not where your mother can find it."
"Clara."
She breathed slowly.
"I emailed encrypted copies to myself."
Daniel almost laughed with relief.
"You still have them?"
"My phone."
Evelyn had taken Clara's phone during the collapse.
Daniel's relief vanished.
"No."
Clara saw his expression.
"What?"
"Mom took your phone."
Clara closed her eyes.
"Of course she did."
"Can you access the email another way?"
"Yes."
Daniel grabbed his laptop from his work bag.
Within minutes Clara had logged in.
The folder was there.
Twenty-seven audio files.
Three videos.
Photographs.
Scanned statements.
Daniel stared.
"You've been documenting this for months."
Clara looked ashamed.
"I thought maybe I was becoming paranoid."
"No."
Daniel turned toward her.
"You were becoming prepared."
He opened the oldest file.
Evelyn's voice filled the room.
Clara's voice followed.
The date was nearly eleven months earlier.
Evelyn: "Daniel always wanted children. If you can't give him one, eventually he'll understand he chose wrong."
Clara: "I had a miscarriage."
Evelyn: "Exactly."
Daniel stopped the audio.
His hands shook.
Clara watched him.
He opened another.
Evelyn: "You think this house belongs to you because your name is on paper? Paper can change."
Another.
Evelyn: "Once there's a baby, things become easier."
Clara: "For who?"
Evelyn: "For the family."
Another.
Recorded three weeks before Noah's birth.
Evelyn: "You should let me handle the baby's accounts."
Clara: "There are no accounts."
Evelyn: "There will be."
Daniel looked at Clara.
"She knew."
Clara nodded.
"About the trust?"
"I don't know."
Daniel played the final recording.
Today's date.
Kitchen sounds.
Noah crying.
Evelyn's voice.
"Get up."
Clara: "I can't."
Evelyn: "You can and you will."
Clara: "Please give me Noah."
Evelyn: "When dinner is started."
Clara: "I feel dizzy."
Evelyn: "Then lean against the counter."
Daniel closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
Clara crying quietly.
Evelyn opening cupboards.
"You have one job now. Feed my grandson and keep my son's house. If you cannot manage that, Daniel needs to know what kind of woman he married."
Then Clara spoke.
"You don't care about me at all."
Evelyn laughed.
"No, Clara. I don't."
A pause.
Then Evelyn's voice lowered.
"But you gave us what we needed."
Daniel stopped the recording.
He looked toward Noah.
Clara's face had gone pale.
"What did she mean?" Daniel asked.
"I don't know."
His phone rang.
Rebecca Sloan.
Daniel answered.
"Hello?"
"Daniel, don't go to Atlantic Union."
He stood.
"Why?"
"Someone accessed Anna Carter's deposit box thirty minutes ago."
Daniel stared at the clock.
The bank wasn't open.
"How?"
"Private vault appointment."
"Who?"
Rebecca's voice was tense.
"Your mother."
Daniel felt his blood run cold.
"Then stop her."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because according to the bank's current records, Evelyn isn't merely authorized on the account."
May you like
Rebecca paused.
"She is Anna Carter's legal guardian."
