Chapter 6 - The Woman Claire Fired
By noon Daniel was sitting across from Elena Ruiz in a diner twenty minutes from Bedford.
Elena had worked at Mercer House for four years.
Then, eight months earlier, Claire fired her.
At the time Claire said Elena had repeatedly ignored household instructions.
Daniel had signed the termination payment without calling her.
He hated himself for that now.
Elena wrapped both hands around her coffee.
“I wondered when you would come.”
Daniel felt the shame immediately.
“You knew?”
“I knew something would happen.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I did.”
Daniel frowned.
“When?”
“Three times.”
“I never got—”
He stopped.
Elena opened her phone.
There were screenshots.
Three messages sent to Daniel’s number.
Mr. Mercer, please call me about Noah. It is important.
I am worried about the way Mrs. Mercer disciplines Noah when you travel.
Please, sir. I would not contact you if it were not serious.
Daniel stared.
“I never saw these.”
“She told me you did.”
“Claire?”
Elena nodded.
“She said you agreed that I was interfering with family decisions.”
Daniel looked at the timestamps.
Two messages had been sent while he was in Toronto.
At the time Claire had handled his personal phone for an afternoon after his screen broke and a replacement arrived.
It seemed small then.
Now it did not.
“What did you see?”
Elena’s eyes filled with sadness.
“Noah crying behind his door.”
“How many times?”
“I don’t know. Many.”
“Did you see Claire lock it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She said he needed to learn that tantrums did not control the house.”
“Did he have tantrums?”
Elena shook her head.
“Sometimes he cried. Sometimes he refused food. Sometimes he wanted you. Normal things.”
Daniel stared at the table.
“Did she ever say anything about Rachel?”
Elena hesitated.
“Once.”
“What?”
“Noah knocked over a picture frame.”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“Rachel’s picture?”
“Yes. It broke. He was upset.”
Elena looked away.
“Claire told him his mother had already died because of him and that breaking her picture was ‘hurting her again.’”
Daniel closed his eyes.
For several seconds the diner disappeared.
He saw Noah upstairs with the photograph on his nightstand.
Saw his hand gripping Daniel’s at the party.
When he opened his eyes, Elena was crying.
“I should have done more.”
“So should I.”
“There is something else.”
Daniel waited.
“Your brother came often.”
“I know.”
“Not like family.”
“What do you mean?”
“They would close the library doors.”
“Did you hear them?”
“Sometimes.”
“What did they talk about?”
“Shares. A trust. Your signature.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Anything specific?”
“One night they argued.”
“About?”
“You.”
Elena lowered her voice.
“Claire said, ‘If Daniel learns why Rachel changed the trust, he’ll never sign.’”
Daniel’s skin went cold.
“What did Ethan say?”
“He said, ‘Then make sure he doesn’t learn.’”
Daniel sat perfectly still.
“Anything else?”
Elena nodded slowly.
“He said your mother had kept the secret for six years. He said she could keep it another six weeks.”
Margaret.
Daniel pushed back from the table.
His phone rang.
Sarah Whitcomb.
He answered immediately.
“We have the sealed file,” she said.
“Where?”
“My office.”
“I’m coming.”
“Daniel.”
Something in her voice stopped him.
“What?”
“I opened the external storage record.”
“And?”
“Rachel added one instruction on the envelope.”
“What did it say?”
Sarah read it.
“If Daniel is reading this, then Ethan tried again.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Rachel had known.
Six years ago.
Before Noah was born.
Before she died.
Before Claire had ever entered his life.
May you like
Ethan had tried something once.
And whatever it was, Rachel had expected him to try again.
