Chapter 12 - The House With Two Cameras
Evelyn's home was searched under warrant the next morning.
Police found no Thomas.
No Richard.
No evidence of violence.
But they found a room behind a locked basement door.
Grant had never seen it.
Neither had the household staff.
The space contained computer equipment, storage drives and surveillance feeds.
Dozens of cameras.
Some inactive.
Some still live.
One displayed the front entrance of Grant's house.
Another showed Claire's former home.
Another showed the parking garage beneath Bennett Capital.
Another displayed Richard Vale's law office.
Claire stared at the photographs Ortiz showed her.
"She watched all of us."
"For years," Ortiz said.
"Why?"
"We're still determining that."
The surveillance archive extended back almost six years.
Michael Sullivan appeared repeatedly.
So did Thomas.
Richard.
Grant.
Claire.
Even Vanessa.
The timeline changed what everyone believed.
Thomas had been working with Evelyn before his supposed death.
Then something happened.
After the lake incident, Thomas disappeared from Evelyn's cameras for nearly two years.
When he reappeared, he began contacting Vanessa.
Claire studied a photograph from one recording.
Thomas stood outside Evelyn's home.
He looked older.
Thinner.
A scar ran along his jaw.
Grant stared at it.
"He looks like someone tried to kill him."
Ortiz said nothing.
Another discovery was more disturbing.
Evelyn had kept copies of Claire's father's private medical records.
Medication doses.
Doctor notes.
Nursing schedules.
Maya looked at them.
"Why would she need this?"
Claire knew.
"To know when he couldn't fight."
The trust amendment had supposedly been signed during a period Michael received heavy sedation.
But the audio recording proved he had been alert at least part of that week.
Someone had used his changing condition strategically.
A document examiner confirmed the signature on the amendment was forged.
Not poorly.
Professionally.
A handwriting specialist believed it had been traced from an earlier contract.
Evelyn was arrested that afternoon.
Fraud and conspiracy charges came first.
More could follow.
Grant watched officers place his mother into a car.
Claire stood several feet away.
Evelyn looked at Grant.
"You don't understand what you're doing."
Grant said nothing.
"I'm your mother."
Grant's expression remained still.
Evelyn's eyes moved to Claire.
"This is because of her."
Grant finally spoke.
"No."
Evelyn looked back.
"This is because of you."
Something changed in Evelyn's face.
Not remorse.
Contempt.
"You always were weak."
Grant flinched.
Claire watched him.
He did not respond.
Evelyn was taken away.
For a few hours, it felt like a conclusion.
Vanessa jailed.
Evelyn arrested.
Lily safe.
Custody resolved for now.
The fraudulent transfer stopped.
Claire's father's company protected.
Then Ortiz called at midnight.
"Richard Vale is alive."
Claire sat up.
"Where?"
"Hospital in Vermont."
"What happened?"
"A truck driver found him beside a rural highway."
"Was he hurt?"
"Severely."
"Can he talk?"
"Not yet."
Claire's pulse raced.
"Was Thomas involved?"
"We don't know."
But Richard's car had been found burned fourteen miles away.
Inside the trunk was a human tooth.
DNA pending.
The next day Chloe returned to Grant.
Police believed the immediate threat had decreased after Evelyn's arrest.
Grant moved temporarily into a secure apartment.
Claire allowed Lily a supervised afternoon visit.
The girls played together.
Grant made sandwiches.
For one strange hour, they looked almost like a broken version of a normal family.
Then Lily asked Claire to help find her yellow hat.
They had brought it from Claire's apartment because Lily wore it constantly now.
"It makes my short hair feel like mine," she said.
They searched the playroom.
Then Chloe remembered.
"I saw Mommy put something in it."
Claire froze.
"When?"
"The day she cut Lily's hair."
Grant looked up.
Claire picked up the hat.
She examined the lining.
A seam had been cut and resewn.
Grant brought scissors.
Claire stopped him.
"No."
The sight of scissors near the hat made Lily stiffen.
Grant immediately put them down.
"Sorry."
They called Ortiz.
An evidence technician opened the lining.
Inside was a tiny memory stick.
Owen reviewed it later that day.
It contained one video.
Not from the tablet.
Not from the hidden camera.
A different angle.
Someone had placed a camera above the living room fireplace.
The video began before Claire entered the mansion on the day of the haircut.
Vanessa paced.
She looked frightened.
Evelyn's voice came through a speaker.
"Remember what we discussed."
Vanessa whispered, "I don't want to hurt her."
Claire stared.
Evelyn said, "You're cutting hair, not fingers."
"What if she moves?"
"Then control her."
Vanessa looked toward the door.
"I can't do this."
Evelyn's voice hardened.
"Thomas says you can."
Vanessa froze.
Claire leaned forward.
Evelyn continued.
"Do you want Chloe to know who her father is?"
Vanessa began crying.
"Don't."
"Then do what you're told."
Claire felt something unfamiliar.
Not forgiveness.
But a complication.
Vanessa had abused Lily.
That remained true.
But Vanessa had also been threatened through Chloe.
Then a man's voice entered the recording.
Not from the speaker.
From inside the room.
"She's here."
Claire's blood went cold.
The camera angle showed only part of the living room.
A man stepped briefly into frame.
Hat.
Glasses.
Dark jacket.
Vanessa turned toward him.
"Thomas, you said you weren't coming."
He removed the glasses.
Grant whispered, "That's him."
Thomas Vale.
Alive.
Inside Grant's home.
Minutes before Claire arrived.
He moved close to Vanessa.
"Claire needs to believe you did this alone."
Vanessa stared at him.
"What?"
"If something goes wrong, you never saw me."
"Thomas."
He touched her face.
Vanessa pulled away.
"After this, I get Chloe and we leave."
Thomas smiled.
"Of course."
Then he looked directly toward the hidden camera.
As if he knew it was there.
Claire felt goosebumps rise along her arms.
Thomas walked closer until his face filled the screen.
He said quietly, "And Evelyn thinks this camera is hers."
Claire stopped breathing.
Thomas smiled at the lens.
May you like
"But it isn't."
The recording ended.
