Chapter 6 - CLARA’S NAME
Clara slowly stood.
“Put the knife down.”
Vanessa looked at the blade as though she had forgotten she was holding it.
Then she tossed it onto the counter.
“I needed to cut the tape off the first-aid box.”
Clara didn’t believe her.
Vanessa saw the laptop.
“You opened the drive.”
“Yes.”
“What did you see?”
“Elena knew my name.”
Vanessa went pale.
“What else?”
“Who is my father?”
Vanessa looked toward the hallway.
“Not here.”
“Who?”
“Clara—”
“Tell me.”
Vanessa whispered, “Richard Blackwood.”
Clara laughed once.
It was an empty sound.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I wish it were.”
“My father died before I was born.”
“That’s what your mother told you.”
Clara felt dizzy.
Her mother, June Dawson, had raised her alone in a tiny apartment in Providence.
She had worked two jobs.
She had died six years ago.
“You’re lying.”
“Ask Marcus.”
“He doesn’t know.”
“No.”
“Then how do you?”
“Because Julian found out.”
Clara’s pulse jumped.
Vanessa leaned against the counter.
“Your mother worked for Richard in the nineties. They had an affair. When she got pregnant, he paid her to disappear.”
“No.”
“Elena discovered the payments while auditing old company records.”
Clara shook her head.
“Why would Elena care?”
“Because Richard didn’t just pay your mother. He forced her to sign away any claim you might ever have against the Blackwood estate.”
Clara laughed bitterly.
“I don’t want their money.”
“This isn’t about what you want.”
Vanessa looked toward the door.
“It’s about what Julian thinks you can take from him.”
“What does Julian have to do with the estate?”
Before Vanessa could answer, Marcus walked in.
“What are you two doing?”
Clara turned.
“Apparently, your father is my father.”
Marcus stared.
“What?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Marcus looked at Clara.
Then at the screen.
Then at Vanessa.
“Explain.”
Vanessa did.
Marcus listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he sat down.
“My father had another child.”
Clara crossed her arms.
“I’m not interested in becoming part of your family.”
Marcus looked up.
“You may already be part of this whether you want it or not.”
The laptop beeped.
A second video unlocked automatically.
Richard Blackwood appeared.
Younger.
He stared into the camera.
“If this video has been opened, Elena found the truth.”
Marcus whispered, “Dad…”
Richard continued.
“Julian Cross is not my business partner’s son.”
Marcus frowned.
Clara leaned closer.
“He is mine.”
Marcus shot to his feet.
“What?”
Richard’s recorded voice continued.
“I had two affairs. Two children outside my marriage. Julian was the first. Clara was the second.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Marcus stared at the screen in horror.
That made Julian his half-brother.
And Clara his half-sister.
Richard continued.
“I made mistakes. Then I made worse mistakes trying to hide them. Julian discovered the truth when he was twenty-eight. He believed I owed him everything.”
The screen flickered.
“He told me one day he would take the company, the house, and the family name.”
Then Richard looked away from the camera.
“And now I believe he may be willing to kill for it.”
Marcus whispered, “He already did.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Marcus answered.
“Hello?”
A man laughed.
Julian.
“Hello, brother.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“Where’s Leo?”
“Safe.”
“And my father?”
“Less safe.”
“If you hurt either one—”
“You’ll do what?”
Julian sounded amused.
“Call the police? Give them your precious ledger?”
Marcus’s eyes shifted toward the evidence table in the other room.
Julian knew.
He knew everything happening inside the house.
“There’s someone here working for you,” Marcus said.
Julian laughed again.
“Smart.”
Then his voice changed.
“Bring Clara to the old Blackwood Hotel downtown at sunrise.”
Clara’s blood turned cold.
Marcus said, “No.”
“Then I kill Leo.”
“You touch him—”
“Sunrise, Marcus.”
The call disconnected.
May you like
And from the hallway, one of the police officers quietly slipped a phone back into his pocket.
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