Chương 6
“I think so.”
“You think so?”
“I was a child.”
“You just said you were fifteen when Camille disappeared.”
“I was a child, Chloe.”
She gave him a look that was almost contemptuous.
“Funny how you’re a child when responsibility gets close.”
The words landed.
Julian looked at Victoria involuntarily.
Chloe noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“There it is again.”
Victoria’s contraction eased.
She leaned back and took a slow breath.
Outside, an ambulance engine idled.
Somewhere in the house, an alarm chimed because the front door had been open too long.
Nobody moved to silence it.
Chloe looked toward the foyer where the polished stone floor disappeared around the curve.
“What does any of this have to do with me?”
Julian swallowed.
“Camille was supposed to inherit something.”
Chloe’s head turned back.
“What?”
“Our grandfather’s trust.”
Victoria felt the pieces begin to shift.
Not fit.
Shift.
“Your paternal grandfather?”
Julian nodded.
“He didn’t trust Dad.”
“That seems to have been a family tradition.”
Julian ignored the comment.
“He created separate trusts for grandchildren.”
Chloe frowned.
“So what?”
“Camille was the first grandchild.”
“And?”
“There was a clause.”
Officer Reynolds shifted his weight.
Julian glanced at him.
The officer said nothing.
Chloe stepped closer.
“What clause?”
“If the first grandchild died before adulthood without descendants, her share would be redistributed among later grandchildren.”
Chloe stared at him.
Victoria’s stomach tightened again, but this time she barely noticed.
“How much?”
Julian rubbed his hands over his face.
“Originally?”
“How much, Julian?”
“Around six million.”
Chloe’s mouth opened.
“Six million dollars?”
“Assets, mostly.”
“At the time?”
“Yes.”
“What is it worth now?”
Julian did not answer.
Chloe’s voice dropped.
“What is it worth now?”
“More.”
“How much more?”
“About nineteen.”
Chloe took a step backward.
The cracked phone almost slipped from her hand again.
“Million?”
Julian nodded.
Chloe laughed.
It was not humor.
It was the sound someone made when reality became too large to hold politely.
“So Dad’s first daughter disappears, and suddenly his future children get nineteen million dollars.”
“It didn’t happen suddenly.”
“Stop doing that.”
“What?”
“Correcting the part that doesn’t matter.”
Julian’s mouth tightened.
Victoria said quietly, “Did Camille actually die?”
Julian looked at her.
“That’s the problem.”
Chloe turned.
“What problem?”
“No body was found.”
The officer near the foyer stopped pretending not to listen.
Julian continued before anyone could interrupt.
“Leah reported her missing.”
“When?”
“1999.”
“Where?”
“San Antonio.”
Chloe’s eyes narrowed.
“And Dad?”
“He told police Leah was unstable.”
“Was she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Mom help him?”
Julian did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Chloe walked away from the island and stood by the refrigerator, staring at the stainless-steel door.
The family photos on it belonged mostly to Victoria.
Ultrasound images.
A picture of Victoria’s father holding a striped bass badly.
A Christmas card from an employee’s family.
Chloe touched the edge of one ultrasound printout.
Her voice changed when she spoke.
Quieter.
“Why was I called Camille?”
Julian looked toward the front door.
“Dad made Mom do it.”
Chloe turned.
“What?”
“He was obsessed with the idea that Camille would come back.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“No, it literally makes no sense.”
“He thought naming you Camille would prove something.”
“Prove what?”
“That he wasn’t guilty.”
Chloe stared at him.
Victoria felt a chill travel along her arms.
Chloe whispered, “People don’t name babies after missing children to prove innocence.”
Julian said nothing.
“They do it because they’re guilty.”
“Chloe.”
“Did he think she was dead?”
“I don’t know.”
“You do.”
“I don’t.”
“You know something.”
Julian turned toward the sink and braced both hands on the counter.
For several seconds he stared down into the empty basin.
Then he said, “I heard them fighting once.”
“Who?”
“Mom and Dad.”
“How old were you?”
“Sixteen.”
“After Camille disappeared?”
“A year after.”
“What did they say?”
Julian hesitated.
Victoria could see him deciding whether the truth was more dangerous than silence.
Chloe saw it too.
“Say it.”
“He told Mom she had ruined everything.”
Chloe’s face hardened.
“And what did Mom say?”
Julian’s fingers curled against the countertop.
“She said, ‘You were the one who put her in the car.’”
Nobody spoke.
The ambulance engine outside seemed suddenly very loud.
Victoria felt the next contraction start low in her back and spread around her abdomen.
She breathed slowly through it.
Officer Reynolds noticed.
“We need to get you evaluated.”
Victoria nodded but kept her eyes on Julian.
Chloe said, “What car?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ask?”
“No.”
“You heard that at sixteen and never asked?”
“They scared me.”
It was the first answer from Julian that sounded entirely true.
His voice had changed.
Gone was the executive polish, the dismissive patience, the habit of controlling the emotional temperature of a room.
For a moment he sounded like a boy.
Chloe looked at him differently.
Not softer.
But differently.
“What did Dad do when he knew you heard?”
Julian stared at the sink.
“He came into my room that night.”
Victoria watched his shoulders rise.
“He sat on the edge of my bed.”
“He hit you?”
“No.”
Julian swallowed.
“That would have been easier.”
Chloe’s face tightened.
“He told me Mom was sick.”
“What kind of sick?”
“He said she sometimes confused things that happened with things she imagined.”
Victoria looked toward the front door where Eleanor had been taken away.
The same tactic Julian had used on her.
Pregnant.
Anxious.
Forgetful.
Sleep deprived.
The realization passed through her without needing words.
Chloe saw it on her face.
“He did that to you.”
Victoria nodded once.
Chloe looked at Julian.
“You learned it from him.”
Julian flinched.
“I didn’t plan this.”
“You planned something.”
“I was trying to stop the amendment.”
Victoria’s head lifted.
Finally.
“What amendment?”
Julian closed his eyes.
He had stepped into the truth and now seemed unable to find the way back.
“The trust amendment you signed last week.”
Victoria frowned.
May you like
“I didn’t sign a trust amendment.”
Julian looked at her.
