Chapter 15 - the grave that carried the wrong name)
Rain returned on Thursday.
Not the violent storm from the night Emma was chained outside.
A quiet rain.
Cold.
Persistent.
David stood beneath an umbrella thirty yards from Claire's grave.
Ruiz had forbidden him to come alone.
So the cemetery appeared empty while plainclothes officers waited behind trees, inside parked vehicles, and near the maintenance building.
Laura remained home with Emma.
At precisely four in the afternoon, nothing happened.
Four ten.
Nothing.
Four twenty.
David looked toward Ruiz.
"This is a waste."
"Wait."
At four twenty seven, a black sedan entered the cemetery.
It drove slowly.
Then stopped near the far gate.
Nobody exited.
Ruiz spoke quietly into his radio.
The sedan moved again.
It passed Claire's grave.
Then continued toward the exit.
Police stopped it.
The driver was an elderly man who had taken the wrong entrance while trying to visit his wife's grave.
David nearly laughed from exhaustion.
At five, Ruiz called it.
"We're done."
David stared at Claire's headstone.
Claire Mercer
Beloved wife and mother
He walked closer.
Ruiz followed.
"David."
"I just need a minute."
Ruiz stayed several steps away.
David touched the wet stone.
"I don't know what I'm doing anymore, Claire."
Rain gathered on the carved letters.
"They keep telling me things about you."
His throat tightened.
"I wish you had just told me."
He closed his eyes.
"I would've believed you."
Maybe that wasn't true.
That thought hurt.
Would he have believed Claire if she had accused Diana before collecting proof?
He had defended his mother once.
Claire had known that.
Maybe that was why she stayed silent.
David whispered.
"I'm sorry."
Behind him came the sound of tires on gravel.
He turned.
A maintenance van approached.
Ruiz reached toward his jacket.
The van stopped.
A cemetery worker stepped out carrying tools.
"Police?"
Ruiz nodded.
The worker looked nervous.
"I was told someone wanted the Mercer marker inspected."
David frowned.
"By who?"
"Office request."
"When?"
"Yesterday."
Ruiz immediately called the cemetery office.
The worker opened his tablet.
"There's something wrong with the burial record."
David felt his chest tighten.
"What?"
The worker looked at the headstone.
"This grave was registered under a temporary case number before Mrs. Mercer's name was attached."
"Is that unusual?"
"Not necessarily after an accident."
Ruiz listened to someone on the phone.
His expression changed.
"What?"
David asked.
Ruiz lowered the phone.
"The original burial authorization is missing."
David stared at him.
"Missing how?"
"Removed from the county archive."
"When?"
"Two months after the funeral."
The worker crouched near the base of the headstone.
"There's another thing."
"What?"
"The marker was moved."
David looked down.
"What do you mean?"
"You can tell by the foundation."
"When?"
"I don't know."
Ruiz ordered everyone back.
Crime scene technicians were called.
The cemetery section was closed.
David waited beneath a tree while rain soaked through his shoes.
He thought about Raymond.
The grave is real, but the name isn't.
Hours later, the preliminary ground scan returned.
There was a coffin beneath Claire's marker.
David felt relief and horror at the same time.
A grave.
A body.
Something real.
Then a technician approached Ruiz.
They spoke privately.
Ruiz's shoulders stiffened.
David walked toward them.
"What?"
Ruiz hesitated.
"Tell me."
"The burial depth doesn't match the cemetery record."
"So?"
"It appears the coffin was removed and replaced at some point."
David stared.
"When?"
"We can't know without excavation."
"Then excavate it."
"That requires authorization."
"Get it."
Ruiz placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We will."
David returned home after midnight.
Emma was asleep beside Laura on the sofa.
He carried her upstairs.
As he tucked her into bed, she opened her eyes.
"Did you see Mommy?"
David froze.
"What?"
"At the place."
"No, sweetheart."
Emma rubbed her eyes.
"Okay."
"Why would you ask that?"
She was nearly asleep again.
"Because the lady said you would."
David's entire body went cold.
"What lady?"
Emma didn't answer.
He gently touched her shoulder.
"Emma."
Her eyes opened.
"What lady?"
"The one at the window."
David looked toward the curtains.
"When?"
"Tonight."
His pulse exploded.
"Emma, what did she look like?"
Emma yawned.
"Like Mommy."
David ran downstairs.
Laura stood.
"What happened?"
He checked every camera.
Front.
Back.
Side gate.
Driveway.
At 8:14 p.m., the camera facing the street flickered.
Only once.
A woman stood across the road.
Long coat.
Blonde hair.
Her face turned away.
The recording lasted three seconds.
Then she disappeared beyond the frame.
David called Ruiz.
While he waited for him to answer, another notification appeared.
Email.
No sender name.
Subject:
DAVID MERCER
He opened it.
One sentence.
Ask your mother why Claire was using the name Elena Ward before she met you.
An attachment appeared beneath it.
A scanned photograph.
David opened it.
Claire was younger.
Maybe nineteen.
Standing outside a college dormitory.
Beside her stood Diana.
David stared at the date printed at the bottom.
It was five years before David had supposedly introduced Claire to his family.
His hands began shaking.
Laura leaned over his shoulder.
"What is that?"
"I don't know."
Then the phone rang.
Unknown number.
David answered without speaking.
For several seconds there was only breathing.
Then a woman's voice.
Quiet.
Familiar enough to stop his heart.
"David."
He gripped the phone.
"Who is this?"
The woman began crying.
"You need to stop trusting the story they told you about Claire."
David couldn't breathe.
"Who are you?"
A pause.
Then the woman whispered.
"My name is Elena."
David looked toward the photograph.
The call crackled.
"Where are you?"
"You aren't ready for that."
"Tell me what happened to my wife."
Silence.
Then:
"First ask Diana which daughter she buried twenty six years ago."
The line went dead.
David stood motionless.
Laura stared at him.
"What did she say?"
Before he could answer, headlights swept across the living room wall.
A vehicle stopped outside.
David looked at the security monitor.
A black SUV sat across the street.
The rear door opened.
Someone stepped out.
A woman.
Blonde.
Long coat.
She stood beneath the streetlight.
This time she looked directly toward the camera.
David's breath disappeared.
The resemblance to Claire was no longer distant.
It was terrifying.
The woman raised one hand.
Not waving.
Holding something.
A silver necklace.
Claire's necklace.
Then the camera feed went black.
May you like
And from upstairs Emma screamed.
"Daddy, she's inside."
