Chapter 9 - MY DAUGHTER WAS NOT ALONE
I ran.
Griffin followed.
We reached the first floor.
"Tansy!"
No answer.
"Merisette!"
Silence.
Then I heard footsteps upstairs.
I raced up the stairs.
My daughters' bedroom door was open.
The window was broken.
Tansy's stuffed rabbit lay on the floor.
Merisette stood beside the bed.
Alone.
"Where's Tansy?"
She pointed toward the closet.
I opened it.
Tansy was inside.
Terrified.
But unharmed.
I pulled her into my arms.
"Where were you?"
She sobbed.
"A man came."
My blood froze.
"What man?"
"He said Grandma sent him."
Griffin's face went white.
"What did he look like?"
Tansy shook her head.
"I don't know."
Merisette spoke.
"He had a scar."
I looked at Griffin.
"Where?"
She touched her cheek.
"Here."
Griffin immediately knew.
"Evan."
Police arrived minutes later.
The house was searched.
Evan was gone.
But he had left something behind.
A laptop.
It contained photographs.
Hundreds of them.
My family.
The girls.
Me.
Griffin.
Our daily routines.
The dates.
The locations.
Someone had been watching us for years.
I felt sick.
Then I found one folder.
PHASE TWO.
Inside was a document titled:
CLAIRE WHITAKER — PUBLIC NARRATIVE.
I opened it.
It contained fabricated evidence designed to make me look like a financially unstable woman who had manipulated my father and murdered him for his estate.
I stared at the screen.
They hadn't simply wanted my house.
They wanted me destroyed.
Griffin stood behind me.
"This is my fault."
I turned.
"Yes."
He looked down.
"I know."
"But you can help fix it."
He looked at me.
"How?"
"Tell the truth."
He nodded.
"I will."
Then my phone rang.
Evelyn.
I answered.
"Claire."
"What?"
"I've just received confirmation."
"Of what?"
"Evan Cross has left the country."
My heart sank.
"Where?"
"Mexico."
I closed my eyes.
"Can he be stopped?"
"We're working on it."
Then Evelyn said:
"There is something else."
"What?"
"The documents you found are not the end."
"What do you mean?"
"Your father left a second inheritance."
I stared at Griffin.
"What inheritance?"
Evelyn paused.
"A company."
"What company?"
"The company that owns the bank holding the money Ilsa stole."
I couldn't breathe.
"How much?"
"Approximately forty million dollars."
Silence.
Griffin looked at me.
I whispered:
"Forty million?"
Evelyn answered.
"And Claire?"
"Yes?"
"You are not the beneficiary."
My heart stopped.
"Who is?"
May you like
She said:
"Your daughters."
