Chapter 4 - The Footprints Outside Marcus’s Window
Marcus locked his house down without frightening Evan.
That was harder than it sounded.
Two patrol cars arrived quietly. Officers searched the yard. Snow had
begun falling again, covering tracks almost as quickly as they formed.
Near the side fence, they found one set of footprints.
Adult boots.
The prints ended at the road.
No vehicle tracks remained.
Claire stood at the window.
“Someone watched him sleep.”
Marcus pulled the curtain closed.
“Not anymore.”
Daniel was held for questioning. His kidnapping story collapsed quickly.
Traffic cameras showed him driving a borrowed sedan during the period he
claimed to be captive.
But the photograph from Marcus’s house was real.
Someone else had taken it.
Ruiz called from the station.
“Daniel says the person watching Evan is connected to Rebecca.”
Claire frowned.
“Rebecca is dead.”
“He says that’s what Margaret wanted everyone to believe.”
At the station, Daniel looked exhausted but not frightened enough.
Claire sat across from him with Ruiz present.
“Tell me about Rebecca.”
Daniel rubbed his wrists.
“She found North Star before we launched it.”
“Five years ago?”
“It had another name then.”
“You were planning this before Evan was born?”
Daniel looked away.
Claire’s stomach turned.
“What was the original plan?”
“Family storytelling.”
“That phrase means nothing.”
“We made short documentaries for donors.”
“Using real children?”
“Sometimes.”
“Without their understanding?”
“They were compensated.”
Claire leaned forward.
“Children cannot consent to being frightened for money.”
Daniel’s jaw hardened.
“You’re acting morally superior because you finally noticed your own
house.”
The words hurt because part of them touched her guilt.
Ruiz interrupted.
“Rebecca.”
Daniel sighed.
“She copied files. Margaret confronted her. Two days later, Rebecca’s
car went off a bridge.”
Claire’s throat tightened.
“The police called it an accident.”
“I know.”
“Was it?”
Daniel looked toward the mirrored glass.
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I wasn’t there.”
“Who was?”
Daniel whispered, “Your father.”
Claire stopped.
“Owen?”
Daniel nodded.
“My father died three years ago.”
“Doesn’t mean he was innocent five years ago.”
Claire stood.
“You’re lying.”
“Ask Marcus why Owen paid Rebecca’s mother two million dollars after the
funeral.”
Claire looked through the glass.
Marcus was standing outside.
His face answered before his mouth could.
“You knew about a payment?”
Marcus entered.
“I knew Dad helped her family.”
“Two million dollars?”
“He said Rebecca had uncovered an embezzlement problem involving one of
his executives. He felt responsible.”
Daniel smiled.
“Keep going, Uncle Marcus.”
Marcus ignored him.
Claire stared at her brother.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Dad asked me not to.”
“That answer is becoming popular.”
Marcus flinched.
Claire left the room.
In the hallway, Ruiz caught up.
“Families keep secrets for different reasons. We need evidence before
deciding what this one means.”
Claire appreciated the sentence because it did not excuse anyone.
That night, they opened Owen Hale’s old storage vault.
Inside were tax records, board minutes, family photographs, and a red
accordion folder marked R.S.
Rebecca Sloan.
Claire sat on the floor.
The first document was a handwritten letter from Rebecca.
Mr. Hale, Daniel Whitaker is not dating Claire by accident.
The second page described shell charities.
The third mentioned Margaret.
The fourth contained a sentence that made Claire cold.
There is a camera network inside the Whitaker estate. Daniel says the
child will eventually be more valuable than the mother.
Rebecca wrote that five years before Evan’s birth.
Claire covered her mouth.
Marcus read over her shoulder.
“She knew.”
“Dad knew too.”
A later letter from Owen read:
Rebecca, I have contacted federal counsel. Do not confront them again.
Stay with your mother tonight.
The date was the day before Rebecca died.
The two-million-dollar payment was documented separately.
It was not hush money.
It established a trust for Rebecca’s mother and disabled younger brother
after her death.
Attached was a note from Owen.
I failed to keep her safe. Money cannot correct that. It can only keep
the promise she made me make.
Claire cried quietly.
Her father had not bought silence.
He had carried guilt.
Marcus found one more envelope.
It was addressed to Claire but never mailed.
Sweetheart, if you are reading this, I waited too long. Daniel
Whitaker’s family has been using staged charity campaigns for years. I
have reason to believe Rebecca died because she discovered it. I am
trying to gather enough evidence to protect you without driving them
underground. Forgive me for confusing secrecy with protection.
Claire read it twice.
Then Marcus found a flash drive taped beneath the envelope.
It contained surveillance from the night Rebecca died.
A parking garage.
Rebecca walking toward her car.
Margaret following.
Then another person entered frame.
Claire expected Daniel.
Instead, she saw a woman in a nurse’s coat.
Marcus whispered, “Who is that?”
Claire knew.
May you like
“Dr. Naomi Reed.”
The pediatrician who had examined Evan on Christmas Eve.
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