Chapter 9 - ## THE WOMAN IN THE TREES
Julia aimed the gun with both hands.
The weapon shook so badly that Claire could hear the metal rattle against her wedding ring.
Ethan stopped beside the open car door.
Malcolm moved slowly away from him.
Detective Mercer reached beneath his jacket.
Julia shifted the barrel toward his chest.
“Do not.”
Her voice was hoarse from years of medication and silence.
Mercer raised his hands.
Claire remained inside the sedan.
Her injured ribs screamed whenever she breathed.
She studied Julia’s face.
The resemblance between them was not exact.
It was more disturbing than exactness.
They shared the same dark eyes, narrow jaw, and slight indentation above the upper lip.
Claire looked like a younger version of a woman whose life Ethan had tried to erase.
Julia looked at her.
For one second, her expression softened.
Then she returned her attention to Ethan.
“You brought another woman here,” Julia said.
Ethan lifted his hands.
“You are confused.”
“You always say that.”
“You need treatment.”
“You always say that too.”
Malcolm spoke carefully.
“Julia, give me the gun.”
“You know what happens when you become agitated.”
Julia laughed.
The sound was brittle and empty.
“What happens?”
“You lock me in a room?”
“You drug me?”
“You make a judge sign papers saying I no longer belong to myself?”
Malcolm glanced toward Mercer.
“Take her.”
Mercer moved.
Julia fired.
The bullet struck the ground near his shoe.
Mercer froze.
Birds exploded from the surrounding trees.
At White Pine, a distant alarm began sounding.
“Get out of the car,” Julia told Claire.
Ethan stepped forward.
“She is my wife.”
Julia aimed at his head.
“So was I.”
Claire slid across the seat.
Malcolm grabbed her injured wrist.
Pain shot through her body.
Julia fired again.
The bullet shattered the sedan’s side mirror.
Malcolm released Claire.
She fell to the ground and crawled toward Julia.
Ethan watched them stand beside each other.
Something changed in his face.
It was not surprise.
It was satisfaction.
“This is perfect,” he whispered.
Claire understood then that Ethan did not see two separate women.
He saw two versions of the same possession.
One had escaped his control.
The other had challenged it.
He wanted both punished.
The White Pine alarm grew louder.
Julia grabbed Claire’s arm and pulled her toward the trees.
“Run.”
Claire stumbled.
“I can’t move quickly.”
“Neither can I.”
They entered the forest together.
Behind them, Mercer shouted.
Ethan ordered him not to shoot Claire.
He said nothing about Julia.
A bullet struck a tree near Julia’s head.
They moved down a steep slope covered with wet leaves.
Julia knew the forest.
She led Claire toward an old drainage path beneath the facility’s fence.
“How did you escape?” Claire asked.
“A nurse opened my room.”
“Amy?”
“Yes.”
“She told me people were coming.”
“Then Harlan arrived.”
“Did he take you?”
“He tried.”
“I hid inside the laundry truck.”
“Where were you going?”
“The chapel.”
“For the ledger?”
Julia looked at her.
“You know about it?”
“We found it.”
“Then they took it.”
“Yes.”
“There is another copy.”
“My father made it.”
Julia stopped.
“Daniel Bennett?”
Claire’s voice tightened.
“You knew him?”
“He brought me back.”
“I know.”
“He came to White Pine years later.”
“He apologized.”
“He said he was collecting evidence.”
Claire struggled to remain standing.
“Did he tell you where he kept it?”
Julia shook her head.
“He said his daughters would understand.”
Engines sounded near the road.
Mercer and Ethan were circling the forest.
Julia led Claire through the drainage tunnel.
The concrete passage opened beyond White Pine’s northern fence.
A narrow road descended toward an abandoned ranger station.
Julia had hidden food, clothes, and a prepaid phone beneath the floorboards.
She had prepared for escape for years.
Her hands shook as she tried to dial.
The phone had no signal.
Claire examined the ranger station.
A dusty radio sat on a shelf.
“Does that work?”
“I don’t know.”
Claire turned the power switch.
Static filled the room.
She adjusted the frequency until a weather broadcast became audible.
Then she searched for emergency channels.
A voice emerged through the interference.
“State units approaching White Pine.”
Claire pressed the transmit button.
“This is Claire Bennett Caldwell.”
“I have been abducted.”
“I am with Julia Grant.”
A burst of static swallowed the next words.
She repeated the message.
“We are at an abandoned ranger station north of White Pine.”
The radio crackled.
No response came.
Then Ethan’s voice sounded from outside.
“Claire.”
Julia turned off the radio.
The ranger station had one front door and two narrow windows.
The rear exit had collapsed years earlier.
Julia raised the gun.
Ethan stood beyond the porch.
Mercer approached from the opposite side.
Malcolm remained near the road.
“You cannot leave,” Ethan said.
“Police are coming,” Claire replied.
“Police have always come.”
“They always leave with the story my family gives them.”
“Not this time.”
“You still believe Mara can save you?”
“She already did.”
Ethan’s face tightened.
“She destroyed our marriage.”
“You destroyed it the first time you put your hands around my throat.”
“You made me angry.”
“No.”
“You became angry because control stopped working.”
Mercer moved closer to the side window.
Julia fired through the wall.
He retreated.
Ethan raised his voice.
“Julia, Claire replaced you.”
“She has your necklace.”
“She slept in your bed.”
“She lived in your house.”
“You should be angry with her.”
Julia looked at Claire.
For one terrifying second, Claire saw doubt.
Then Julia shook her head.
“That is what you told me about the woman before me.”
Claire stared at her.
“There was another woman?”
Julia’s eyes remained on Ethan.
“Her name was Rebecca.”
“She died at the lake house.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
Malcolm shouted from the road.
“Stop talking.”
Julia continued.
“Rebecca did not fall from the dock.”
“Ethan pushed her.”
“I saw it.”
“You were seventeen,” Malcolm said.
“You were confused.”
“She was eighteen.”
“She was pregnant.”
Ethan stepped onto the porch.
Julia fired.
The bullet struck his upper arm.
He fell against the railing.
Mercer returned fire.
Julia collapsed.
Claire caught her before her head struck the floor.
Blood spread across Julia’s shoulder.
The front door burst open.
Ethan entered holding his injured arm.
His face had lost every trace of charm.
He kicked the gun away.
Claire placed herself over Julia.
“You will have to kill me first.”
Ethan looked down at her.
“I have been trying not to.”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Mercer appeared behind him.
“We need to move.”
Malcolm entered last.
He looked at Julia’s blood, Ethan’s arm, and the approaching police lights.
Then he made a decision.
“Leave the women.”
Ethan stared at him.
“What?”
“They slow us down.”
“I am not leaving Claire.”
“She is evidence.”
“She is my wife.”
“She is the reason the state is tearing apart our family.”
Ethan raised his gun toward his father.
Mercer moved between them.
Police vehicles appeared on the ridge.
Malcolm stepped backward.
“You were always the weakest part of this family.”
He turned and ran toward the road.
Mercer followed him.
Ethan remained inside the ranger station.
Claire heard officers shouting outside.
“Put down the weapon.”
Ethan grabbed her by the hair and pulled her upright.
He pressed the gun beneath her chin.
Julia lay bleeding on the floor.
The door filled with armed officers.
Ethan dragged Claire against his chest.
“Everyone backs away,” he shouted.
“Or my wife dies.”
Then a familiar voice came through the doorway.
“Let her go, Ethan.”
Mara stepped into view.
She was unarmed.
May you like
Ethan smiled.
“Now I finally have both of you.”
