Chapter 6 - The Sister He Blamed“My sister?”
The words left my mouth so quietly that even I almost didn't hear them.
Miller looked from Daniel to me.
“What sister?”
Daniel's eyes remained fixed on the staircase.
“Claire has a sister.”
“I know that,” Miller said. “Who is she?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Rachel.”
My stomach dropped.
Rachel.
My older sister.
The person I had called every Sunday for years.
The person who had held my hand at the hospital after the accident.
The person who had told me, over and over, that I was lucky to have survived.
“No,” I whispered.
Daniel shook his head.
“She started it.”
I looked at Marissa.
She was staring at Daniel as though she'd never seen him before.
“You never told me about Rachel.”
“I didn't want you to know.”
“Why?”
“Because she said she'd destroy both of us.”
Miller stepped closer.
“Mr. Harrington, you're already in enough trouble. Choose your words carefully.”
Daniel looked at him.
“I’m telling the truth.”
“You've spent tonight changing your story.”
“I changed my story because I was scared.”
“Scared of what?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Rachel.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“My sister?”
“Yes.”
“She lives three states away.”
“I know.”
“She barely knew you.”
“She knew enough.”
I shook my head.
“Rachel hated you after the accident.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Exactly.”
“That makes no sense.”
“She didn't hate me because of the accident.”
“What are you talking about?”
Daniel's eyes lowered.
“She hated me before it happened.”
I stared at him.
There was a memory I couldn't place.
Rachel at our kitchen table.
Six months before the crash.
Her hand wrapped around a coffee mug.
Her voice low.
“Claire, there's something wrong with Daniel.”
I had laughed.
“You've never liked him.”
“This isn't about liking him.”
I remembered getting defensive.
“You're judging him because he makes more money than you.”
She'd shaken her head.
“It's because I saw what he does when nobody's watching.”
I had ignored her.
I had told her she was jealous.
I had stopped answering her calls for nearly a month.
Then she apologized.
At least, I thought she had.
I looked at Daniel.
“What did Rachel know?”
He glanced at Miller.
“I don't know how much.”
“Tell me.”
“She knew about the money.”
I felt the room shift around me.
“What money?”
“The transfers.”
Miller asked, “How did she find out?”
Daniel shook his head.
“She worked with one of our contractors.”
“Name.”
“Elliot Crane.”
Miller made a note.
I stared at Daniel.
“Rachel was investigating you?”
“She wasn't officially.”
“What does that mean?”
“She suspected something.”
Marissa suddenly stepped forward.
“She did more than suspect.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You knew?”
“I knew she was asking questions.”
“When?”
“Before the crash.”
I felt a strange pressure building behind my eyes.
Everyone seemed to know things about my life except me.
Rachel.
Daniel.
Marissa.
Linda.
Robert.
Everyone.
Except me.
I looked at Miller.
“I need to call her.”
“Not yet.”
“She deserves to know what's happening.”
“She may already know.”
“How?”
Miller pointed toward the phone still lying near the broken window.
“The message.”
I frowned.
“What about it?”
“It came from a number that was routed through an encrypted service.”
“So?”
“So whoever sent it knew the exact moment this house would be vulnerable.”
I stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
“I'm saying tonight wasn't random.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
I looked at him.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“About what?”
“That Rachel would come.”
“She isn't here.”
“She doesn't have to be.”
The room went silent.
Then my phone rang.
The screen showed one name.
Rachel.
I froze.
Daniel whispered, “Don't answer.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because she wants you to.”
I answered.
“Rachel?”
Static.
Then my sister's voice.
“Claire.”
My knees nearly buckled.
“Where are you?”
“Doesn't matter.”
“Are you okay?”
A pause.
Then:
“Are you with Daniel?”
“Yes.”
I looked directly at him.
His face had gone white.
Rachel breathed out slowly.
“Then listen to me very carefully.”
I walked away from the others.
“I'm listening.”
“You cannot trust anything he tells you.”
“I already know he lied.”
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“You don't know half of it.”
I swallowed.
“Tell me.”
“I tried to warn you.”
“I know.”
“I should have done more.”
“You should have told me.”
“I did.”
“No, you didn't.”
“I called you.”
“You called me about everything.”
“Not everything.”
I closed my eyes.
“Rachel…”
“Do you remember the voicemail?”
“What voicemail?”
“The one I left three days before the crash.”
I frowned.
“I deleted it.”
“I know.”
“Why would you know?”
“Because Daniel told me he found it.”
My heart stopped.
“What did it say?”
“Claire, I need you to hear this.”
“I'm here.”
“I found proof that Daniel wasn't stealing money.”
I gripped the phone harder.
“What?”
“He was moving it for somebody else.”
My mouth went dry.
“For who?”
Rachel hesitated.
“Your father.”
I stopped breathing.
“My father is dead.”
“I know.”
“You're talking about Dad's company?”
“Yes.”
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
Her voice became quieter.
“Your father left something behind.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
I looked toward Robert.
He was watching me.
“Rachel, what ledger?”
“The original financial records from Harrington Development.”
I stared at Robert.
He stood perfectly still.
“Dad's records?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
“I don't know.”
“You said you found them.”
“I found copies.”
“Where?”
“I sent them to someone.”
“Who?”
Rachel didn't answer.
“Rachel.”
“I don't know if he has them anymore.”
“Who?”
She whispered a name.
“Elliot Crane.”
The contractor.
The same name Daniel had just given Miller.
I looked at the detective.
He was already listening.
“Rachel,” I said, “why did you say Daniel wasn't stealing the money?”
“Because the money was being moved before it ever reached him.”
I couldn't understand.
“Then where was it going?”
“To offshore accounts.”
“Whose?”
“Your father's.”
“But Dad died six years ago.”
“I know.”
My head spun.
“How could dead accounts still receive money?”
Rachel's voice broke.
“They weren't controlled by your father.”
“Then who?”
Silence.
“Rachel.”
“Someone in your family.”
I looked at Linda.
Then Robert.
Then Daniel.
“Which one?”
“I don't know.”
A crash sounded somewhere on Rachel's end.
She gasped.
“Rachel?”
Someone shouted in the background.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“Claire, don't stay at the Harrington house.”
“Where should I go?”
“Anywhere they can't find you.”
“Who?”
“The person who ordered the accident.”
I felt my stomach turn.
“Daniel said it was you.”
Rachel laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“He would.”
“Why?”
“Because he needs you to believe there is always one more villain.”
I looked at Daniel.
He was staring at me.
“Rachel, did you know about the crash?”
“I knew something was going to happen.”
My throat tightened.
“When?”
“The night before.”
“Why didn't you stop it?”
“I tried.”
“How?”
“I called Robert.”
I looked at Robert.
His face changed.
“I told him Daniel was planning something.”
Robert whispered, “I remember.”
Rachel continued.
“Your father-in-law said he'd handle it.”
I turned toward Robert.
“You knew Rachel tried to stop it.”
He nodded.
“I did.”
“You never told me.”
“I thought I'd fixed it.”
Rachel's breathing became uneven.
“You didn't.”
“What happened?”
“I followed Daniel.”
“Where?”
“To the service road.”
I closed my eyes.
“And?”
“I saw him with someone.”
“Who?”
“I didn't recognize her.”
My heart started pounding.
“A woman?”
“Yes.”
“Was it Marissa?”
“No.”
Marissa looked stunned.
“Then who?”
Rachel's voice dropped.
“She was wearing your coat.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“She looked like you from behind.”
I glanced at my green dress.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“She had your hair.”
“I don't understand.”
“She was standing beside Daniel when he tampered with the car.”
“Did you see her face?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know it wasn't me?”
“Because you called me while I was watching.”
I stopped.
“I'm sorry?”
“You called me from home.”
My blood ran cold.
“What time?”
“About twenty minutes before the crash.”
I looked at Daniel.
He looked terrified.
Rachel continued.
“That means there were two Clares that night.”
The phone slipped slightly from my hand.
“What?”
“The woman with Daniel wore your coat. She used your phone.”
I could barely breathe.
“Where did she get my phone?”
“I don't know.”
“Rachel—”
“She wanted me to think it was you.”
I whispered, “Why?”
“Because someone wanted me to kill the investigation before it started.”
“Who?”
Rachel went silent.
Then I heard her whisper:
“I think it was Linda.”
My head snapped toward my mother-in-law.
She was staring at me.
I lowered the phone.
“Why would Linda do that?”
Rachel answered before I could ask again.
“Because your mother-in-law knew about your father's money.”
Linda suddenly stepped forward.
“Claire, give me the phone.”
I backed away.
“No.”
Her face twisted.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
She shook her head.
“You don't understand what your father did.”
Miller looked at her.
“What did her father do?”
Linda's eyes filled with tears.
“He didn't die clean.”
Robert whispered, “Linda.”
She ignored him.
“Your father had debts.”
I stared at her.
“What debts?”
“Millions.”
“That's impossible.”
“He borrowed against the company.”
“And?”
“He couldn't repay it.”
“What happened?”
Linda looked at Daniel.
“He made a deal.”
Daniel's eyes widened.
“Mom.”
She continued.
“With a man named Victor Crane.”
I felt the air leave my lungs.
“Elliot's father?”
Linda nodded.
Miller's pen stopped moving.
“Who is Victor Crane?”
“The man who owned the private lender controlling your father's debt.”
“Where is he now?”
Linda looked at me.
“Dead.”
I waited.
Then she whispered,
“Just like your father.”
My phone buzzed again.
A new message.
This time there was no text.
Only a photograph.
I opened it.
It showed my father standing beside Victor Crane.
And between them was a little girl.
Me.
I stared at the image.
At the child I had been.
At my father's hand resting on my shoulder.
Then I noticed something in the background.
A second adult.
A woman.
My mother.
May you like
And beneath the photograph, one final message appeared:
Ask your mother why she told everyone your father died alone.
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