Chapter 7
Claire heard the sentence through the comm system.
Her father.
Alive.
She stared at the speaker.
“No.”
Matteo looked at her.
“Claire?”
“My father died sixteen years ago.”
David’s laughter came through.
“Did he?”
Luca looked at Daniel.
Daniel immediately searched.
Thomas Bennett.
Mechanic.
Driver.
Car crash.
Body identified by dental records.
Same pattern.
Claire’s face went white.
“No.”
Luca took David’s phone.
“Where is Thomas?”
David smiled.
“You already met him.”
Claire stopped.
“What?”
David looked at camera.
“Every morning.”
She stared.
The estate.
Every morning.
Staff.
Delivery.
Gardener.
Then she remembered.
An older maintenance man who came Tuesdays.
Name: Tom Blake.
Always wore cap.
Always asked if she had eaten.
Always left coffee near laundry room.
Claire covered her mouth.
“No.”
David smiled.
“Thomas is terrible at staying dead around his daughter.”
Daniel called estate.
“Find Tom Blake.”
Security answered.
“He left twenty minutes ago.”
“Destination?”
“Unknown.”
Claire’s knees weakened.
Matteo took her hand.
Reversal.
Now he held her steady.
Luca saw.
Then Helena said:
“Thomas helped Sarah.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Which Sarah?” Daniel asked.
She almost smiled.
“Luca’s wife.”
Claire stared.
“My father knew her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He drove for Salvatore years ago.”
David said:
“He stole from Salvatore.”
Helena corrected:
“He stole evidence.”
“What evidence?” Luca asked.
“Vale trial records.”
Arthur Vale.
Again.
Sarah sister closed her eyes.
“My mother’s family.”
Helena nodded.
“Thomas discovered Vale Health used St. Catherine’s charity patients for unapproved drug studies.”
Claire’s face tightened.
“My dad was a mechanic.”
“He became one after disappearing.”
“So before?”
“Driver. Security. Courier.”
“For Salvatore.”
“Yes.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“Everyone knew my father except me.”
Matteo said:
“Welcome to the club.”
She actually laughed.
Then Luca asked:
“Why hide key on Claire now?”
Helena looked at Vanessa.
Vanessa frowned.
“I wrapped Claire’s bandage.”
“Yes.”
“Did you put it there?”
“No.”
Helena did.
Everyone turned.
“I did.”
Vanessa stared.
“When?”
“After you left the dressing room.”
Claire remembered.
Someone had entered after Vanessa attacked her.
She had been dizzy.
An older woman in housekeeping uniform.
She thought Mrs. Carter.
It was Helena.
“Why?”
“Because David had returned.”
“You used me.”
Helena’s face softened.
“I needed the key outside my possession.”
“So you put it on an injured maid who had no idea.”
“Yes.”
Claire stared.
“That is not protection.”
“No.”
At least she did not pretend.
Luca’s expression hardened.
“You made her a target.”
“Yes.”
Claire looked at him.
“Apparently everyone did.”
David started laughing again.
“Thomas asked her to.”
Claire froze.
Helena turned.
“No.”
David nodded.
“Thomas told Helena: if Claire is still working there, use her.”
Claire’s face emptied.
Her own father had used her too.
Maybe.
David was liar.
But Helena’s expression suggested possibility.
“Did he?”
Helena whispered:
“Thomas said you were the only person in the estate not tied to Salvatore.”
Claire stared.
“So that made me disposable?”
“No.”
“Useful.”
Helena had no answer.
Claire walked outside.
Matteo followed.
Luca started.
Daniel stopped him.
“Give her a minute.”
Outside, rain had stopped.
Claire leaned against SUV.
Her injured arm hurt.
Everything hurt.
Matteo stood beside her.
“My mom lied to protect me.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“Your mom might still be alive.”
“Yeah.”
He looked at ground.
“Doesn’t make lying better.”
“No.”
“My dad says people can love you and still hurt you.”
Claire glanced at warehouse.
“Smart.”
“He learned recently.”
She smiled.
Matteo continued.
“If your dad is alive, you can be mad before you’re happy.”
Claire looked at him.
“Thirteen?”
“Almost fourteen.”
“Terrifying.”
He smiled.
Then an SUV approached.
Security raised weapons.
It stopped.
Older maintenance man stepped out.
Cap.
Gray hair.
Tom Blake.
Claire stopped breathing.
He removed cap.
Her father.
Older.
Scar along temple.
Same eyes.
“Claire.”
She crossed distance.
Slapped him.
Hard.
Matteo whispered:
“Apparently that is how reunions work.”
Thomas accepted it.
Claire hit his chest.
“You died.”
“I know.”
“You left me.”
“I know.”
“You watched me clean this house.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make sure you were safe.”
She laughed.
“I got cut with glass today.”
His face changed.
He looked at Luca.
Luca did not defend himself.
“Vanessa did it,” Matteo said.
Thomas looked at Vanessa being escorted out.
His jaw tightened.
Claire grabbed his shirt.
“Do not change subject.”
He looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop.”
He stopped.
Good.
She asked:
“Did you tell Helena to hide the key on me?”
“Yes.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Why?”
“Because Sarah trusted you.”
“Sarah didn’t know me.”
“Sarah Moretti did.”
Luca’s wife.
Claire stared.
“When?”
Thomas looked at Luca.
“Before she disappeared, she chose three people inside the estate she believed were not compromised.”
“Who?”
“Mrs. Carter.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
Daniel raised eyebrow.
“Fair.”
“Claire.”
She frowned.
“I had worked there six months.”
“Exactly. No family ties. No old loyalties.”
“And third?”
Thomas looked toward Matteo.
“The boy.”
Matteo froze.
Sarah trusted her son.
Of course.
Thomas continued.
“Sarah wanted evidence split between people no one would connect.”
Ring with Matteo.
Key with Claire.
Another piece?
Mrs. Carter.
Luca said:
“What did Mrs. Carter get?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Sarah’s location.”
Silence.
Luca stopped breathing.
“She knows where Sarah is?”
“Knew.”
“Where is Mrs. Carter?”
Estate.
Daniel called.
No answer.
Again.
Security checked.
Mrs. Carter missing.
Of course.
Thomas swore.
“When?”
“Thirty minutes ago.”
“Who took her?”
Camera.
A black sedan.
Driver not visible.
Mrs. Carter entered voluntarily.
No struggle.
Luca looked at Thomas.
“She left willingly.”
Thomas nodded.
“That means Sarah called.”
Matteo’s face changed.
“My mom called her?”
“Maybe.”
Luca’s phone rang.
Mrs. Carter.
He answered.
Her voice was calm.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m with Sarah.”
Nobody breathed.
Matteo stepped closer.
“Mom?”
Mrs. Carter continued.
“She wants to see Matteo.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“And me?”
Silence.
Then Sarah’s voice came through.
Weak.
Familiar.
“Luca.”
He stopped breathing.
Matteo covered his mouth.
Sarah said:
“Bring our son.”
Then the line disconnected.
The coordinates arrived seconds later.
Lake Geneva.
The old Moretti summer property.
Thomas saw the address.
His face changed.
“She went back.”
Luca looked at him.
“You knew she had been there.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“You saw her?”
“Once.”
“You let me believe she was dead.”
Thomas looked at Claire.
Then Luca.
“I was trying to keep everyone alive.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“There’s that word again.”
Thomas lowered his eyes.
Matteo looked at his father.
“Are we going?”
Luca stared at the location.
“Yes.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
No more waiting.
No more dead women calling after midnight.
No more messages carried through other people.
If Sarah was alive, Matteo deserved to see her.
So did Luca.
Whether either could forgive her was another matter entirely.
Thomas did not follow Claire when she stepped away after seeing him alive.
That surprised her.
He let her choose the distance.
For once.
She turned.
“You came to Mom’s funeral.”
His face changed.
“How did you know?”
“I remember a man in the back.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me bury you?”
“Yes.”
Claire laughed through tears.
“That was cruel.”
“I know.”
“Why not come home after Salvatore supposedly died?”
“Because Victor didn’t.”
“So you traded one threat for another.”
“Yes.”
No defense.
That helped more than excuses.
Matteo approached.
“Mr. Bennett?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Did you know my mom?”
“Yes.”
“Was she scared?”
“Yes.”
“Was she brave?”
“Yes.”
“Did she want to come home?”
Thomas’s eyes filled.
“Every day.”
Matteo looked away.
That mattered.
Then he asked:
“Why did she choose Claire?”
Thomas looked at Claire.
“Sarah knew Thomas Bennett’s daughter worked in the house.”
Claire froze.
“She knew who I was?”
“Yes.”
“She never told me.”
“No.”
“Why trust me?”
“Because you had no old loyalty to Salvatore, Vale, Kane, or any Moretti branch.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“So being nobody made me useful.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Being independent made you valuable.”
That sounded nicer.
It still meant Sarah had used her without permission.
Claire filed that away for later.
Then Mrs. Carter called from Sarah’s side.
And every question became secondary to the voice waiting on the line.
Before Mrs. Carter’s call came through, Thomas handed Claire something else.
A tiny brass keychain.
Her childhood initials.
C.B.
Claire stared.
“I lost this when I was eleven.”
“I know.”
“You had it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You gave it to me the last morning I saw you.”
She remembered.
Barely.
Her father kneeling by kitchen door.
Her handing him a cheap metal charm.
“For luck,” she whispered.
Thomas nodded.
“I kept it.”
Claire closed her fist around it.
Anger remained.
So did love.
Both could exist.
Thomas said:
“I don’t expect you to trust me today.”
“Good.”
“Or tomorrow.”
“Better.”
“I’ll still be here.”
Claire looked at him.
“That would be new.”
He accepted that too.
Then Luca’s phone rang with Mrs. Carter’s name.
And Thomas’s promise immediately had a chance to become real.
Before they left the parking lot, Claire looked at Luca.
“If Thomas is really alive, don’t let Daniel interrogate him first.”
Daniel heard.
“Excuse me?”
“You interrogate like a federal tax audit.”
Matteo nodded solemnly.
“She’s right.”
Daniel looked offended.
Luca almost smiled.
“Fine.”
Claire added:
“And I ask the first question.”
“What question?” Luca asked.
She looked toward the road where Tom Blake had disappeared.
“Why he thought watching me from a distance was the same thing as being my father.”
May you like
No one had an answer.
That was why she needed his.
