Chapter 4 - The Dead Man’s Journey Home
Arthur Hale had spent twenty-three days believing Clara wanted nothing to do with him.
His unit’s communications officer confirmed that messages were being delivered to the private address Victoria had provided.
Arthur received brief responses from Clara’s account.
The baby is fine.
I need space.
Your mother understands what I need.
The words hurt, but they also confused him.
Clara never wrote like that.
Arthur requested a secure video call. The request was declined from Clara’s account.
He called the mansion whenever possible.
Each time, Victoria’s assistant claimed Clara was asleep, at an appointment, or too distressed to speak.
Arthur’s suspicion grew.
Three weeks before his expected return, an explosion damaged a vehicle in his convoy. Arthur escaped serious injury, but the incident led to his temporary reassignment and early transport back to the United States.
He decided not to tell Victoria.
He wanted to surprise Clara.
At a military facility in Germany, he connected to a secure network and accessed an old email account Victoria did not know existed.
There were forty-seven unread messages from Clara.
Photographs.
Ultrasound images.
Voice recordings.
Questions asking why he had stopped calling.
Arthur listened to every recording.
By the end, his hands were shaking.
The final file contained only seven seconds of sound. Clara’s voice was distant and breathless.
Arthur is alive.
Then Victoria’s voice cut through the recording.
Give me the phone.
The file ended.
Arthur contacted Major Bennett immediately.
Bennett had received a damaged message from Clara, but most of it was corrupted. The attached photograph clearly showed the intercepted call logs.
“I’ve already contacted local authorities,” Bennett said. “They visited the mansion yesterday.”
“And?”
“Your mother told them Clara was receiving treatment for prenatal anxiety. Dr. Warren confirmed it.”
“She is being held there.”
“We need evidence.”
Arthur looked at the image again.
“My wife is the evidence.”
He boarded the earliest military transport available.
During the flight, he investigated every document connected to the Hale family trust. His father’s will contained a clause Arthur had never paid attention to.
If Arthur died before taking control of the company, his lawful child would inherit his voting shares upon birth. Until the child turned twenty-five, the legal guardian would control those shares.
Victoria’s position as company chair was under threat.
Several board members were preparing to remove her because of unexplained financial transfers. If Clara became guardian of Arthur’s child, Clara would control enough future voting power to support the investigation.
Victoria needed Clara declared unfit.
She also needed Arthur declared dead.
Arthur sent everything to Bennett and military investigators.
He arrived in Virginia before sunset.
At the airport, he bought white lilies from a small flower shop. Clara had carried the same flowers at their wedding.
He imagined walking through the mansion doors and seeing her surprise.
He imagined kneeling beside her and feeling his daughter kick.
He imagined telling her they would never be separated again.
Then Maria called him.
She had found his private number in Clara’s old contacts.
“Captain Hale,” she whispered, “you must come quickly.”
“What happened?”
“Your mother gave Mrs. Hale a death notice this morning. She says you died.”
Arthur stopped walking.
“Where is Clara?”
“In the kitchen. Mrs. Hale refuses to sign the papers.”
“What papers?”
“Custody papers.”
A scream sounded in the background.
Arthur dropped his suitcase and ran.
The mansion was forty minutes from the airport.
He reached it in twenty-six.
The front gate refused his access code.
Arthur drove around the eastern wall to an old service entrance used by groundskeepers. He remembered the manual release from childhood.
He forced the gate open, abandoned the vehicle near the greenhouse, and ran toward the back of the house.
The lilies remained clenched in his hand.
When he reached the kitchen door, he smelled burned hair.
Then he heard his mother say, “No one is coming to save you.”
Arthur struck the door with his shoulder.
May you like
Wood splintered.
The world beyond it changed forever.
