Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Left
Rachel stopped the video.
Her finger remained on the trackpad.
Sophie stood beside her chair.
“Who is that?”
Rachel swallowed.
“Go to your room, sweetheart.”
“But—”
“Please.”
Sophie hesitated, then left through the connecting hallway.
Rachel locked that door too.
Daniel was still outside the study.
“Rachel.”
She played the video again.
Claire sat inside what looked like a motel room.
“If anything happens to me, Daniel did it.”
A noise sounded off-camera.
Claire looked toward the door.
The video ended.
Nineteen seconds.
That was all.
Rachel opened the study door.
Daniel stood there.
“What happened to Claire?”
His face changed.
“Rachel—”
“What happened to Lily’s mother?”
“She left.”
“I just watched her say you were going to hurt her.”
Daniel stared at the USB.
“Where did you get the password?”
“There wasn’t one.”
Now he looked genuinely shocked.
“That’s impossible.”
Rachel felt cold.
“So you have seen this drive before.”
Daniel said nothing.
“Did you hurt Claire?”
“No.”
“Did you kill her?”
“No.”
“Then where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Rachel shook her head.
“You told me she packed a bag and disappeared.”
“That’s what I believed.”
“Believed?”
Daniel stepped inside and closed the door.
“The police found her car at the airport. Her accounts were emptied. There was footage of her entering the terminal.”
“Did you see her leave?”
“No.”
“Did anyone?”
He hesitated.
“No.”
Rachel looked at the screen.
“Why did she record this?”
Daniel’s voice became quieter.
“Because Claire thought someone was following her.”
“You?”
“No.”
“Your mother?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Daniel stared at the floor.
Rachel’s patience snapped.
“Answer me.”
He looked up.
“That video wasn’t supposed to survive.”
Rachel went still.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“Claire told me she had evidence against someone. She hid copies. After she disappeared, our house was broken into twice.”
“And you never told me?”
“I thought it was over.”
“You searched Sophie’s room last night.”
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
“My mother called me yesterday. She said she had seen Bunny before.”
Rachel frowned.
“What?”
“She said it belonged to Claire.”
Rachel stared at him.
“No. I bought Bunny for Sophie when she was two.”
“I know.”
“Then your mother was wrong.”
Daniel did not answer.
Rachel’s stomach tightened.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Before he could answer, Sophie screamed from her bedroom.
Rachel ran.
The window was open.
The curtains blew inward.
Sophie stood beside the bed, pointing outside.
“There was a man.”
Rachel rushed to the window.
A dark sedan accelerated away from the curb.
On Sophie’s pillow lay a photograph.
Rachel picked it up.
It showed Sophie asleep in this exact room.
Taken from outside the window.
On the back, someone had written:
GIVE BACK WHAT CLAIRE STOLE.
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