Chapter 3 - WHAT RYAN TOOK WITH HIM
I called Ryan back immediately.
The number was disconnected.
Not sent to voicemail.
Disconnected.
I stared at the screen.
"Mom?"
Lily's voice pulled me back.
I crouched in front of her.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded too quickly.
"Was that Dad?"
I could not lie to her anymore.
"Yes."
Her lower lip trembled.
"Is he here?"
"He was."
"Why didn't he come see me?"
That question nearly broke me.
I brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
"I don't know, sweetheart."
Vanessa laughed from across the room.
"Of course you do."
I stood.
"Stay away from us."
Security had not yet taken her to the sitting room because everything had exploded too quickly.
Now Graham looked at the guards again.
"Please."
Vanessa pulled away before they touched her.
"I can walk."
She glanced at me as she passed.
"You should have listened to him."
"Why?"
She smiled.
"Because once you start opening old doors, you do not get to choose what comes through them."
Then she disappeared down the corridor.
My mother followed.
I started after them.
Graham caught my arm gently.
"Claire."
I pulled away.
"What?"
"Do not chase her right now."
"She stole from my daughter."
"Maybe."
"You heard the video."
"I heard enough to know she has been planning something involving my family's assets too."
His eyes were exhausted.
"Which means we need to stop reacting and preserve everything we can."
I wanted to hate him for sounding reasonable.
Instead, I looked at Lily.
She was still standing beside the DJ booth, surrounded by adults who had suddenly become fascinated by her courage.
I hated that too.
She should have been worried about cake.
Not evidence.
I took her hand.
"We are leaving."
Graham nodded.
"I will have my driver take you home."
"No."
I did not want anything from him.
Not because he had done something wrong.
Because accepting help from anyone connected to Vanessa suddenly felt dangerous.
He seemed to understand.
"At least let security walk you to your car."
I agreed.
The moment we entered the hallway, my mother appeared from the sitting room.
Her mascara was streaked.
"Claire."
I kept walking.
"Claire, wait."
Lily squeezed my hand.
I stopped.
Mom approached slowly.
For the first time in years, she looked old to me.
Not cruel.
Not powerful.
Just tired.
"I should have told you about the trust," she said.
"Yes."
"Your father made me promise."
"He made you promise not to tell me for the rest of my life?"
She looked down.
"He was afraid Ryan would get access to it."
"So you gave access to Vanessa instead."
"I thought she was responsible."
I almost laughed.
"You thought the woman who called my child useless in front of three hundred people was responsible?"
Mom flinched.
"She was different then."
"No. She was better at hiding it."
Mom's mouth tightened.
"You have no idea how hard it was after your father died."
"Do not do that."
"Do what?"
"Turn this into something that happened to you."
Her face hardened.
There was the mother I knew.
"I was trying to protect Lily's future."
"By keeping her inheritance from me while I was choosing between groceries and rent?"
"The principal was not supposed to be touched."
"Was it?"
She did not answer.
"Was it touched?"
Mom whispered, "Yes."
"How much?"
"I don't know."
"You were the trustee."
"Not after I transferred it."
"Why did you transfer it?"
She looked toward the sitting room door.
"Vanessa said she could grow it."
"And you believed her."
"She had contacts."
"She had my ex-husband."
Mom looked at me sharply.
"That started later."
My stomach dropped.
I stared at her.
"You knew about them?"
She froze.
The hallway became silent.
Even the security guard took one step back.
"Mom."
Her lips moved.
"I did not know everything."
"Did you know Vanessa was seeing Ryan?"
"I suspected."
The word was barely audible.
My entire body went cold.
"When?"
She closed her eyes.
"Before he left you."
Lily was right beside me.
I wished I could pull the words back into the air.
I wished I could keep them from reaching her.
Too late.
She looked up at me.
"Aunt Vanessa was with Dad?"
Mom's face collapsed.
"Lily, honey--"
"Do not speak to her."
My voice came out sharper than I intended.
Mom stepped back.
"Claire, I was trying to keep the family together."
I stared at her.
"By hiding an affair?"
"I did not know it was an affair."
"You just said you suspected."
"I saw things. Messages. A lunch. I asked Vanessa, and she denied it."
"And Ryan?"
"He told me you were having problems."
I laughed.
It sounded almost hysterical.
"So you believed him too."
Mom wiped at her face.
"I did not want to blow up your marriage over a suspicion."
"Instead, you let them blow it up in private."
She reached for me.
I stepped away.
"Please leave us alone."
"Claire--"
"Leave us alone."
This time she did.
Lily and I walked outside beneath a row of white lights strung through the trees.
The night air was cold against my face.
I had parked at the far end of the gravel lot because the valet line had been full.
A security guard accompanied us.
Halfway to the car, Lily stopped.
"Mom."
"What is it?"
She reached into her cardigan.
"I need to tell you something."
My heart sank.
"What?"
She pulled out a second flash drive.
Not the black one she had handed to the DJ.
This one was red.
I stared at it.
"What is that?"
Lily swallowed.
"The black one was a copy."
"A copy of what?"
"The video."
"Then what is on the red one?"
She looked toward the security guard.
I understood.
"Could you give us one minute?"
He nodded and moved several yards away.
I crouched again.
"Lily, tell me."
She clutched the red drive.
"Dad gave it to me."
Every sound around me disappeared.
"When?"
"Today."
"Where?"
"At the estate."
I gripped her shoulders.
"You saw him?"
She nodded.
"Before the wedding."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"He told me not to."
My anger rose so fast it frightened me.
Not at Lily.
At Ryan.
"What exactly did he say?"
"He said Aunt Vanessa was dangerous."
I stared at her.
"Dangerous how?"
"I don't know."
"What else?"
"He said if anything happened tonight, I should keep this safe."
She held up the red drive.
"He said not to give it to anybody except you."
My hands started trembling.
"Did he tell you what is on it?"
Lily shook her head.
"He said it would explain why he left."
I closed my eyes.
For two years I had dreamed about an explanation.
Then I had finally stopped wanting one.
Now it was sitting in my daughter's hand.
"Why did you record Vanessa?"
Lily looked ashamed.
"After Dad gave me the drive, I followed him."
"Lily."
"I wanted to know why he did not come see us."
Her voice cracked.
"Then I heard Aunt Vanessa yelling at him."
I pulled her into my arms.
"You should never have had to do any of this."
"Are you mad?"
"Not at you."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
She cried quietly against my shoulder.
After a minute, I stood.
"We are going home."
I took the red drive.
This time, I put it in the inside pocket of my purse.
The security guard walked us the rest of the way.
My car sat under a maple tree near the edge of the lot.
Something looked wrong before we reached it.
The driver's door was slightly open.
I stopped.
"Stay behind me."
The guard immediately moved ahead.
He opened the door fully.
My purse from earlier was still on my shoulder.
Nothing should have been inside the car except Lily's backpack and a gift bag.
Both were gone.
The glove compartment hung open.
Papers were scattered across the front seats.
The center console had been emptied.
The security guard looked at me.
"Was it like this when you arrived?"
"No."
Lily whispered, "Mom."
I turned.
She was staring at the windshield.
A white envelope had been tucked beneath the wiper.
My name was written across it.
CLAIRE.
The guard pulled on gloves before removing it.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed me leaving my school three days earlier.
On the back, someone had written one sentence.
STOP LOOKING FOR MONEY THAT IS NOT YOURS.
The guard read it.
Then he looked at me.
"You need to call the police."
My phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I answered on speaker.
"Claire," Ryan whispered.
He sounded out of breath.
"Do not go home."
"Why?"
"Because they know where you live."
"Who is they?"
There was a crashing sound on his end.
Then Ryan shouted, "The drive, Claire! Whatever you do, do not let Vanessa get the red drive!"
A second voice came through the line.
A man's voice.
Cold.
Close.
"Too late."
May you like
The call ended.
