Chapter 6 - The Engagement Party Continued
Ethan wanted to call 911 immediately.
Claire stopped him.
Not because she trusted her family.
Because she did not.
"Don't let them know what evidence you have."
She sat on the rear step of the hearse, shaking so hard Ethan removed his blazer and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Diane hovered several feet away.
Richard stood beside the wall.
Vanessa cried near the garden gate.
For the first time, nobody seemed sure who controlled the scene.
Ethan held his phone.
"Claire, they locked you in a coffin."
"I know."
"You need a hospital."
"I know."
"I'm calling police."
"Call an ambulance first."
"Fine."
"But before they arrive, send the key location to someone you trust."
Ethan stared at her.
"What?"
"Archive Room C. Old Whitmore Development headquarters. The building on Mercer Avenue."
Richard moved.
Ethan saw it.
One step.
Not toward Claire.
Toward him.
Ethan lifted the phone.
"Stay where you are."
Richard stopped.
Claire continued.
"Third floor. East hallway. The room is behind a metal fire door. The key opens the inside archive lock."
Richard's voice cut through the garden.
"That building contains confidential corporate records."
Ethan looked at him.
"You locked your pregnant daughter in a coffin."
"She attacked her sister."
Vanessa stared at her father.
Even she seemed stunned by the lie.
Claire laughed weakly.
"There it is."
Diane stepped forward.
"Claire became hysterical."
Ethan's eyes moved to the broken cane.
"Did hysteria snap that too?"
Diane did not answer.
Richard changed strategy.
He looked at Ethan as if Ethan were a younger colleague who had misunderstood a difficult transaction.
"You walked into the middle of a family crisis."
"I walked into a kidnapping."
"No."
"What would you call it?"
"Protective restraint."
Ethan stared at him.
"Inside a coffin?"
Richard's jaw tightened.
Claire whispered, "Record him."
Ethan already was.
His phone was in his hand.
The voice recorder had been running since he entered the garden.
Richard did not know.
Ethan kept his face blank.
"Why couldn't Claire attend tonight?"
"Because she has been under extreme emotional strain."
"Did a doctor say that?"
"Her mother knows her condition."
Claire shook her head.
Diane said, "She's been erratic for weeks."
Ethan looked at Claire.
She looked exhausted.
Injured.
Terrified.
But not confused.
"What did she do?"
Richard hesitated.
Claire answered.
"I found the transfers."
Richard snapped, "You stole private records."
"And the forged guardianship documents."
Diane said, "Drafts."
Claire looked at Ethan.
"See?"
Ethan dialed emergency services.
Vanessa moved closer.
"Ethan, please."
He looked at her.
She was still wearing the stained engagement dress.
"Did you know?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"About what?"
"The coffin."
She said nothing.
"Did you know they were putting Claire inside it?"
"It wasn't supposed to be like this."
Claire closed her eyes.
Ethan felt something inside him collapse.
Not love.
That had probably begun collapsing weeks ago.
Something simpler.
Trust.
"How was it supposed to be?"
Vanessa wiped her face.
"Just until after the announcement."
Ethan stared at her.
"You knew."
"She was going to destroy everything."
"She is your sister."
"You don't understand what she does."
Claire whispered, "I tell the truth."
Vanessa spun toward her.
"You make everyone choose you."
Ethan stepped between them.
"No."
Vanessa looked at him.
"No what?"
"No more making this her fault."
Vanessa stared.
The first distant sound of sirens appeared beyond the neighborhood.
Richard heard them too.
His face changed.
"What did you do?"
Ethan held up the phone.
"What you should've done."
Richard looked toward the house.
Guests were beginning to gather in the garden through the opposite doors.
They could not see the hearse yet because of the wall.
But they could hear the sirens.
Richard lowered his voice.
"Ethan, think very carefully."
"I am."
"If police arrive here, tonight becomes public."
"Good."
"The press will destroy Vanessa."
"Then maybe Vanessa should have considered that before helping lock her sister in a coffin."
Vanessa flinched.
Richard stepped closer.
"Your firm is exposed too."
Ethan paused.
Richard saw it and pressed.
"You reviewed our accounts."
"Not these transfers."
"Your firm's name is on the restructuring."
"That doesn't make me responsible for your fraud."
"Do you think journalists care?"
Ethan looked at Claire.
She was watching him.
Not pleading.
Measuring.
This was the moment she expected him to become like the others.
Choose reputation.
Choose comfort.
Choose himself.
Ethan turned back to Richard.
"Then let them print my name."
Richard's expression went blank.
The sirens grew louder.
Diane whispered, "Richard."
He suddenly grabbed Vanessa's arm.
"Inside."
Vanessa resisted.
"What?"
"Now."
Claire looked at Ethan.
"Don't let them reach the office."
Richard heard.
He turned.
Claire forced herself upright, holding the side of the hearse.
"The originals aren't the only thing in Archive C."
Richard stopped completely.
Diane stared at her.
Ethan noticed.
"What else?"
Claire looked at her father.
Richard looked afraid again.
Claire said, "Grandma's recordings."
Vanessa whispered, "What recordings?"
Richard lunged toward Claire.
Ethan blocked him.
Richard shoved him.
Ethan shoved back.
The rear gate burst open.
Two paramedics entered first.
Behind them came two police officers.
Everyone froze.
One officer surveyed the hearse, coffin, broken cane, Claire's forehead cloth, and Richard's clenched fists.
"Nobody move."
For the first time all evening, Richard Whitmore obeyed an order.
But as the officer approached Claire, Richard looked past Ethan toward Vanessa.
He mouthed three words.
Ethan saw them.
May you like
So did Claire.
Get the recordings.
