Chương 13
Brooke flinched.
“No.”
“Three weeks.”
“I know.”
“Christmas.”
“I know.”
“You sat at my table.”
Brooke’s mouth tightened.
“I know.”
“You opened presents from me.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying you know.”
Brooke finally looked at her.
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth would be new.”
Naomi started to intervene.
Claire lifted a hand.
“No.”
Her voice shook now.
She let it.
“I have spent years listening to everybody in this family explain why they didn’t tell me things because Grant was angry or Ryan was stressed or Diane would fall apart or somebody needed a loan or somebody made a mistake.”
Brooke’s eyes filled, but Claire did not stop.
“You knew my husband was preparing to frame you for taking money from me, and your solution was to make a secret copy and keep coming to dinner.”
“I was scared.”
“So was I last night.”
Brooke’s face changed.
The words had found the right place.
Claire immediately hated herself a little for using them.
Brooke looked toward the hole burned through Claire’s sweater.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire folded her arms across herself.
“Did you know what Grant was going to do?”
“No.”
“Did you know Ryan was going to hold me?”
“No.”
“Why were you holding your phone?”
Brooke froze.
Claire saw it.
Naomi saw it too.
“What was on your phone?” Claire asked.
Brooke swallowed.
“I recorded some of it.”
Claire stopped breathing for a second.
“How much?”
“Not the beginning.”
“Then what?”
“Dad yelling.”
“Before he touched me?”
“Yes.”
“Ryan?”
“Yes.”
Claire took one step forward.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
Claire’s anger rose so sharply she had to grip the back of the chair.
“Give me the phone.”
Brooke did.
Her hands were shaking.
Naomi took it instead of Claire.
“Where’s the video?”
Brooke unlocked the screen and opened a hidden folder.
The clip lasted one minute and fourteen seconds.
Naomi played it without sound first.
Claire watched herself standing beside the table.
Grant was already on his feet.
Ryan stood near her shoulder.
Diane remained seated.
The image wobbled because Brooke had not held the phone steadily.
Grant pointed at Claire.
His mouth moved.
Claire remembered the words.
You think because you pay for things you own everybody.
Then Ryan stepped behind her.
The video captured his hands closing around her wrists.
Brooke’s phone dipped.
Grant moved closer.
The image caught the cigarette.
Then Claire jerked violently.
The recording ended before she broke free.
Naomi stopped the video.
No one spoke.
Celeste had come into the hallway at some point.
She stood with one hand resting against the wall.
Franklin sat beside her, unusually quiet.
Claire looked at Brooke.
“You filmed it.”
“I panicked.”
“You filmed it instead of helping me.”
Brooke began crying.
Not prettily.
Her face twisted and she wiped at it with the heel of one hand.
“I thought if I stood up, Dad would turn on me.”
“He was burning me.”
“I know.”
Claire nearly told her not to say it again.
She did not have the energy.
Brooke’s shoulders shook.
“I have spent my whole life knowing exactly how far I can go with him before he turns.”
Claire stared at her.
“He already turned.”
Brooke nodded.
“That’s why I copied everything.”
For the first time, Claire saw not an ally and not an enemy.
Just another person Grant had trained to calculate survival.
It did not excuse Brooke.
It made her harder to hate cleanly.
Naomi handed the phone back.
“Do not delete that video.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not edit it.
Do not send it to friends.
Do not post it.”
Brooke looked offended through tears.
“I’m not an idiot.”
Naomi raised one eyebrow.
Brooke wiped her face.
“Okay, that was badly timed.”
Celeste left and returned with a box of tissues.
Brooke took one.
“Thanks.”
Claire sat down carefully.
The baby shifted again.
She pressed a hand below her ribs.
Brooke noticed and looked away.
“Why did Ryan think I would believe you stole the money?” Claire asked.
Brooke blew her nose and stared at the tissue afterward.
“Because I’ve taken money from you before.”
Claire’s eyes narrowed.
“The twelve thousand.”
Brooke nodded.
“For the credit cards.”
“That wasn’t what it was for?”
“Some of it was.”
“Some.”
“I owed Dad.”
Claire laughed without humor.
“Of course.”
“He covered something for me.”
“What?”
Brooke’s expression hardened with embarrassment.
“A lawsuit.”
Claire frowned.
“What lawsuit?”
“Nothing dramatic.”
“Brooke.”
“I rear-ended somebody two years ago.
I was distracted.
Their insurance came after me because my policy had lapsed.”
Claire stared.
“You told us your car was in the shop because somebody hit you.”
“Yes.”
“Ryan knew?”
“Yes.”
“Grant?”
“Yes.”
“Diane?”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt in a strange, petty place.
Not because Claire cared about the accident.
Because everyone had been allowed the real story except her.
She had existed outside the family truth while financing its consequences.
“You all lied.”
Brooke nodded.
“Most of the time, lying to you was easier than dealing with Dad.”
Claire looked at her.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does in the family.”
And there it was.
Not logic.
Training.
Naomi sat across from Brooke.
“Tell me about the drive.”
Brooke placed it on the table.
“I copied everything from Ryan’s laptop three weeks ago.”
“Everything?”
“As much as I could.”
“Emails?”
“Yes.”
“Local files?”
“Yes.”
“Browser history?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you alter anything?”
“No.”
“Did you rename folders?”
“No.”
“Did you open files?”
“Some.”
Naomi rubbed her forehead.
“Which ones?”
“The Claire folder.
A Lakewood folder.
Some tax stuff.”
“Did you forward any files?”
“Only the screenshots to Claire.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
Naomi looked at Claire.
“We need someone qualified to image this drive and document what’s on it.”
Claire nodded.
Brooke glanced between them.
“Am I in trouble?”
Naomi answered before Claire could.
May you like
“You may have exposure depending on what you signed, what you transferred, what you knew, and when.”
Brooke went pale.
