Chapter 11 - Claire’s Mother
Daniel drove home with one thought in his head.
Do not confront her in front of Ethan.
He repeated it at every red light.
Do not confront her in front of Ethan.
Claire opened the front door before he reached it.
She looked at his face.
“What happened?”
“Where’s Ethan?”
“With Marcus.”
“Why?”
“I asked him to take him to the park.”
Claire frowned.
“Daniel.”
He stepped inside.
“Where’s your mother?”
Claire froze.
“What?”
“Where is she?”
“At home, I think.”
“Call her.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at the woman he had nearly married twelve days earlier.
He had never seen fear reach her face that quickly.
“Daniel.”
“Call her.”
Claire did.
Her mother answered.
“Mom, can you come over?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“Now.”
Another pause.
“No.”
“Nothing’s wrong with Ethan.”
“I need to talk to you.”
She ended the call.
Claire stared at Daniel.
“What did she do?”
Daniel sat down.
“Ruiz showed me footage from Richard Hale’s office.”
Claire’s eyes widened.
“My mom?”
“Yes.”
“What was she doing there?”
“Removing boxes.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
“Two days before our wedding.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“My mother doesn’t know Richard.”
Daniel stayed silent.
Claire stared at him.
“She said she didn’t.”
“When?”
“After the wedding.”
“She asked who he was.”
Daniel’s heart sank.
Another lie.
Claire began pacing.
“There has to be an explanation.”
“I hope so.”
“What was in the boxes?”
“We don’t know.”
“Could they have been flowers?”
“From a psychiatrist’s private office?”
Claire stopped.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not accusing her of killing Rachel.”
“Then what are you accusing her of?”
“I’m not.”
“I’m asking why she lied about knowing Richard.”
Claire folded her arms.
“This is insane.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“It is.”
Twenty minutes later, Elaine Foster arrived.
Claire’s mother had always seemed elegant and unshakable.
That afternoon she looked nervous before Daniel said a word.
She saw the detective’s still image on the coffee table.
Then she stopped.
Claire watched her.
“Mom.”
Elaine did not answer.
“Tell me that isn’t you.”
Elaine closed her eyes.
Claire’s voice broke.
“Mom.”
“Yes.”
Daniel stayed seated.
“When did you meet Richard Hale?”
Elaine looked at him.
“Years ago.”
Claire stared.
“You told me you didn’t know him.”
“I panicked.”
“Why?”
Elaine sat.
“Because I knew what it would look like.”
Daniel spoke.
“What would it look like?”
She took a breath.
“I was his patient.”
Silence.
Claire sat slowly.
“What?”
“After your father’s heart attack.”
“I had panic attacks.”
“I saw Richard for about eight months.”
Claire looked stunned.
“You never told me.”
“I was embarrassed.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Why were you removing boxes from his office?”
Elaine’s face changed.
“Because he called me.”
“Why?”
“He said he was closing his practice.”
“He asked me to collect personal records he had kept for me.”
Daniel stared.
“Two days before my wedding?”
“Yes.”
“What records?”
Elaine looked at Claire.
“Old therapy notes.”
“Letters.”
“Things I didn’t want becoming public.”
Claire frowned.
“Why would they become public?”
Elaine began crying.
“Because Richard knew about your father.”
Claire went pale.
“What about Dad?”
Elaine shook her head.
“Not what you think.”
Then she looked at Daniel.
“I need you to understand.”
“Years ago, while my husband was recovering, I made financial decisions without telling him.”
“I moved money.”
“Why?”
“To help my brother.”
Claire whispered.
“Uncle David?”
“Yes.”
Daniel knew Claire’s uncle had struggled with gambling.
Elaine continued.
“It was nearly two hundred thousand dollars.”
“I was ashamed.”
“I told Richard in therapy.”
“He kept copies of bank records because I brought them to sessions.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“And years later he used them against you.”
“Yes.”
Claire covered her mouth.
“He blackmailed you?”
Elaine nodded.
“For how long?”
“Three years.”
Daniel felt sick.
“What did he make you do?”
“Mostly introductions.”
“To people?”
“Yes.”
“Families.”
“Attorneys.”
“Private clinics.”
Daniel stared.
“You recruited patients.”
Elaine cried.
“I didn’t understand at first.”
“When did you understand?”
“About a year ago.”
“Then why didn’t you stop?”
“Because he threatened to send everything to your father.”
Claire stood.
“You let this continue because you were afraid Dad would find out about money?”
Elaine flinched.
“I was afraid of losing my marriage.”
Claire laughed through tears.
“So you helped him destroy other people’s families.”
“I didn’t know what he was doing.”
“You knew enough.”
Daniel heard his own words to Margaret echoed in Claire’s anger.
Elaine looked at him.
“Richard called me two days before the wedding.”
“He said someone had broken into his files.”
“Sophie.”
Daniel said.
Elaine nodded.
“He was afraid of an investigation.”
“He told me to collect two boxes.”
“Where are they?”
Elaine looked toward Claire.
“At my house.”
Daniel stood.
“Did you open them?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He told me not to.”
Claire stared at her mother.
“And you listened?”
Elaine whispered.
“Yes.”
Daniel pulled out his phone.
“I’m calling Ruiz.”
Elaine panicked.
“Daniel.”
“No.”
“There could be evidence in those boxes.”
“He’ll destroy me.”
Daniel looked at her.
“He already did.”
Elaine recoiled.
Claire stepped closer to her mother.
“You need to stop helping him.”
“I’m trying.”
“No.”
“You’re still trying to protect yourself.”
Elaine began crying.
Claire’s expression hardened.
“Mom.”
“You almost stood beside me while I married Daniel at a wedding where a fake suicide letter accusing him of abuse had been planted under his table.”
Elaine froze.
“What?”
Daniel studied her.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
Elaine looked genuinely horrified.
“He told me the wedding would pressure Margaret.”
“How?”
“He said Daniel would finally understand why Ethan needed to stay away.”
Claire stared at her.
“You knew Ethan had been separated from him?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing?”
“I believed the court order was real.”
Claire turned away.
Elaine stood.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire spun back.
“Stop saying that like it changes anything.”
Elaine recoiled.
Claire’s voice cracked.
“Daniel almost lost his son.”
“Ethan thought his father didn’t love him.”
“Rachel’s name was used to support a lie.”
“And you knew Richard was dangerous.”
“I knew he could be cruel.”
“Then why did you let him anywhere near us?”
Elaine whispered.
“Because I was weak.”
Claire stared at her.
Then she shook her head.
“No.”
“That answer is too easy.”
“You were afraid.”
“You made choices while afraid.”
“Those choices still belong to you.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
He loved her more in that moment than he knew how to explain.
Ruiz arrived with a warrant team ninety minutes later.
Elaine consented before they even showed the paperwork.
The boxes were recovered from her basement.
Inside were files on twelve families.
Bank records.
Audio recordings.
Copies of psychiatric notes.
Photographs.
A ledger of payments.
And a yellow notebook.
Daniel stared through the evidence bag.
Rachel’s handwriting covered the first page.
Ruiz looked at him.
“We’ll process it.”
Daniel’s hands shook.
“Can you tell me what the last entry says?”
Ruiz opened the bag only after gloves were changed.
She turned carefully to the final written page.
Her expression tightened.
Daniel waited.
“What?”
She read.
“Richard came tonight.”
“He brought the medication.”
“I told him I would not take it.”
“He became angry.”
Daniel’s face drained.
Ruiz continued.
“He said I had already ruined enough.”
“I told him Daniel was coming home.”
“He said Daniel might not believe me after he saw my file.”
“I told him I recorded everything.”
“He took my phone.”
“I still have the backup.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Claire grabbed his hand.
Ruiz read the final lines.
“I am writing this because I feel strange.”
“Very tired.”
“Richard made tea before he left.”
“I only drank a little.”
“I’m scared.”
The writing became shaky.
The final sentence trailed across the page.
Daniel stared at it.
Ruiz whispered.
“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
“Rachel didn’t accidentally combine medication.”
Claire began crying.
Daniel could not move.
For nearly two years, he had blamed a bottle in a medicine cabinet.
A mistake.
A terrible accident.
But Rachel had written the truth while the drug was entering her body.
May you like
Richard Hale had made her tea.
And hours later, she was dying.
