Chapter 23 - The Friend at the Funeral
Claire couldn't move.
The man standing in front of her was Daniel Shaw.
Martin's oldest friend.
The man who had carried the coffin at Martin's funeral.
The man who had helped Claire settle the company's affairs.
The man who had once told Wesley, “Your father would want you to know you aren't alone.”
Now he stood in the basement holding a pistol.
Wesley stepped in front of Claire.
“You?”
Daniel's expression barely changed.
“Yes.”
Jonathan raised his hands.
“Let's not make this worse.”
Daniel smiled.
“It already became worse nine years ago.”
Thomas stared at him.
“I knew it was you.”
Daniel looked over.
“You suspected.”
“You ordered the surveillance.”
Daniel said nothing.
Thomas's face hardened.
“You threatened Martin.”
Daniel lowered the weapon slightly.
“I protected the organization.”
Claire finally found her voice.
“What organization?”
Daniel looked at her.
“You still think this was about one company.”
“What was it about?”
“Influence.”
He walked slowly into the room.
“Money is easy to replace. Companies disappear. People get old.”
He pointed toward the documents.
“But systems survive.”
Claire stared at him.
“You destroyed my husband's life for a system?”
“No.”
Daniel's eyes became cold.
“Martin destroyed his own life when he decided he could walk away.”
Wesley stepped forward.
“My father tried to expose you.”
“He tried to expose people who couldn't be exposed.”
“Because you were protecting them?”
“Because they controlled everything.”
Daniel glanced at the list.
“Judges. regulators. investors. board members.”
He looked at Claire.
“Your husband discovered a network that had existed long before him.”
Claire's voice trembled.
“Then why did you let me spend nine years believing Caleb was responsible?”
“Because Caleb was responsible.”
“For part of it.”
“Yes.”
“You let him take the blame for everyone.”
Daniel shrugged.
“Caleb made his choice.”
Wesley looked furious.
“You manipulated my father.”
Daniel gave a sad smile.
“I tried to save him.”
“You killed him.”
The room went silent.
Daniel looked directly at Wesley.
“You don't know what happened that night.”
“Then tell me.”
Daniel lowered the gun.
“Martin was supposed to leave the country.”
Claire's heart stopped.
“He had a ticket.”
She remembered nothing about it.
Daniel continued.
“He was going to meet an investigator in Switzerland.”
Thomas nodded.
“He never made it.”
“Because Martin changed his mind.”
“Why?”
Daniel's eyes moved to Claire.
“Because he received proof that the network had someone inside your house.”
Claire felt a cold wave pass through her.
“What do you mean?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Thomas.
“You never told her about the second recorder.”
Thomas looked away.
Claire turned.
“Thomas?”
Thomas's silence was enough.
“How many recordings were there?”
“Two.”
“And where is the second?”
Daniel smiled.
“In a place Martin believed no one would search.”
Claire whispered, “Where?”
Daniel walked toward her.
“You already looked at it.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“Your home.”
Her mind raced.
The study.
The clock.
The desk.
The hidden compartments.
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“There's nothing left.”
“There is always something left.”
Daniel suddenly tossed a small object onto the desk.
A key.
Claire recognized it.
The old brass key she had found years ago.
The one she thought had belonged to Martin.
“You had this?”
Daniel nodded.
“Martin gave it to me.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew the clock wasn't the hiding place.”
Claire stared.
The clock.
The compartment.
The stopped hands.
6:17.
A signal.
Not the hiding place.
The time.
“6:17 wasn't a message,” she whispered.
Daniel smiled.
“It was an instruction.”
Wesley understood.
“What happened at 6:17?”
Daniel looked at Claire.
“The night Martin died, the security camera recorded a delivery at 6:17.”
Jonathan stepped forward.
“What delivery?”
“A package.”
“Where?”
Daniel's expression changed.
“At the house.”
Claire's breathing stopped.
She remembered that night.
A knock.
A delivery.
Martin telling her not to answer.
She had forgotten.
Or perhaps she had forced herself to forget.
Daniel continued.
“The package contained something Martin never wanted you to see.”
“What?”
“A photograph.”
“Of what?”
“Your family.”
Claire frowned.
“That's not enough.”
Daniel looked toward Wesley.
“Wesley, you were not supposed to be home that night.”
Wesley stared.
“I was at college.”
“No.”
Daniel's voice hardened.
“You came home.”
Wesley froze.
He remembered.
A late drive.
A key in the front door.
His father's office light.
A man's voice.
But he had buried the memory.
“I…”
Daniel watched him carefully.
“You saw someone leaving the study.”
Wesley closed his eyes.
The memory returned in fragments.
A dark coat.
A silver watch.
A familiar voice.
He opened his eyes.
“I know who it was.”
Claire grabbed his arm.
“Who?”
Wesley turned pale.
“I thought it was Dad.”
“It wasn't.”
Wesley shook his head.
“He was standing with him.”
Claire looked at Daniel.
“Who?”
Wesley whispered the name.
“Elliot Graves.”
Daniel nodded.
“But Elliot wasn't alone.”
Claire's heart pounded.
“Who was with him?”
Wesley looked at her.
“You.”
Claire stepped back.
“What?”
“You were standing in the doorway.”
“No.”
“You were talking to someone.”
“I was asleep.”
“You weren't.”
Claire shook her head.
“I would remember.”
Daniel said softly, “That's why Martin chose not to tell you.”
Claire stared at him.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Daniel reached into his coat and pulled out a small recorder.
“The truth is here.”
He placed it on the table.
Claire stared.
“You said the second recording was missing.”
“It was.”
“Then where did you get this?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Martin gave it to me the night he died.”
Thomas suddenly lunged.
Daniel moved faster.
The gun fired.
The sound exploded through the basement.
Thomas collapsed.
Claire screamed.
Wesley tackled Daniel.
The recorder slid across the floor.
Jonathan grabbed it.
Daniel struggled free and ran toward the stairs.
Wesley chased him.
A door slammed above.
Then another sound.
A car engine.
Wesley returned minutes later, breathing hard.
“He's gone.”
Claire dropped beside Thomas.
Blood covered his shirt.
Jonathan knelt.
“He's alive.”
Claire looked at the recorder.
Her hands shook.
“Play it.”
Jonathan pressed the button.
Static.
Then Martin's voice.
“Claire, if you're hearing this, the person you trust most is not the one you think.”
A pause.
Then another voice entered the recording.
Claire recognized it.
Her own voice.
And she heard herself say:
“I'll do whatever you want.”
Claire's face went white.
The recording continued.
Then the voice she loved most said something that made her entire world collapse.
“Claire doesn't know what she agreed to.”
May you like
The recording stopped.
And somewhere above them, a phone began ringing again.
