Chương 4
She looked toward the hallway.
"I was Margaret Vale's nurse."
Claire felt the air leave the room.
"Margaret is alive?"
Elena's expression tightened.
"No."
She looked back at the photograph.
"But she left something behind."
A notification appeared on Claire's phone before she could ask another question.
It was from an unknown number.
This time, the message contained a picture.
Claire opened it.
The image showed Daniel entering his apartment building that morning.
Taken from across the street.
Underneath the picture were six words.
You were warned about him.
Claire read the message until the screen dimmed in her hand.
The photograph of Daniel entering his apartment was not old.
The timestamp showed it had been taken less than an hour earlier.
She looked at Elena, then at Dr. Nolan.
Neither of them had seen the message, but both recognized the expression that crossed her face.
"Something happened," Nolan said.
Claire locked the phone.
"Someone is watching my brother."
Elena's shoulders lowered slightly, as if she had expected those words.
"Then they know you found me."
Claire turned toward her.
"Who are they?"
Elena looked away.
"I spent years asking that question."
"And?"
"I learned that some people survive by never knowing the whole answer."
Claire hated how familiar that sounded.
Everyone around the Vale family seemed to live with pieces of information they were afraid to connect.
She stood and picked up her bag.
"I need to see Daniel."
Nolan rose as well.
"That may be exactly what they want."
"What?"
"If someone is trying to control where you move, they might be trying to push you toward him."
Claire looked at the photograph again.
Margaret and Daniel.
The hospital.
The date before his birth.
The sentence written on the back.
Margaret knew the truth before anyone else did.
"What truth?" Claire whispered.
Elena looked at her carefully.
"The truth about Daniel's father."
The words were quiet.
But they changed the weight of the room.
Claire had spent two days fighting against a false DNA report that claimed Daniel was not Richard Vale's son.
She had assumed the lie was created to erase Daniel from the Vale family.
Now another possibility opened in front of her.
What if someone had created the lie because the truth was even more dangerous?
"Who was his father?" Claire asked.
Elena hesitated.
"I don't know."
Claire stared at her.
"You were Margaret's nurse."
"I was."
"You were with her."
"Sometimes."
"Then how do you not know?"
Elena folded her arms across herself.
"Because Margaret was careful."
"Careful with you?"
"Careful with everyone."
A small, bitter smile crossed Elena's face.
"Richard thought money made people loyal."
She glanced toward the hallway.
"Margaret knew fear worked better."
The sentence stayed with Claire.
She had met wealthy people before.
People who believed every problem had a price.
But fear was different.
Fear meant someone believed losing control was worse than losing money.
"Tell me what you know," Claire said.
Elena looked at Nolan.
He gave a small nod.
"Six years ago, Margaret contacted me after she became ill."
"She was sick?"
"Yes."
"Why was that never public?"
"Because Richard did not want it public."
Claire felt anger rise.
"She had a right to tell people."
Elena looked at her.
"Rights are easier to talk about when you have protection."
The answer reminded Claire of Daniel.
The hallway.
His exhaustion.
The way he had asked her to stop fighting.
She had always thought he was giving up.
Maybe he had simply learned how dangerous the fight was.
"What did Margaret tell you?" Claire asked.
Elena reached into her purse and removed a small key.
"I was supposed to give this to Daniel if anything happened to me."
Claire stared at it.
"Why didn't you?"
"Because I was afraid."
"Of Richard?"
Elena looked at the key.
"Of what would happen after Richard."
Claire did not understand.
"After?"
Elena placed the key on the table.
"Families like the Vales survive because everyone focuses on the person at the top."
She looked directly at Claire.
"But the people underneath are sometimes the ones holding everything together."
The drive back into the city felt longer than it should have.
Claire kept the key in her pocket the entire time.
She considered calling Daniel three times.
Each time, she stopped.
Not because she did not want to talk to him.
Because she did not know how to explain that she had spent the last forty-eight hours proving his life had been manipulated by people who might include his own family.
She parked outside his apartment building just after sunset.
The street was crowded with people leaving restaurants and walking dogs.
Normal life continued around her.
A man argued with a parking meter.
A teenager balanced a pizza box on one hand while texting with the other.
A woman laughed into her phone near the entrance.
Claire watched them for a moment.
She had always found comfort in ordinary things.
Ordinary meant predictable.
Ordinary meant safe.
She knew better now.
She entered the building and took the stairs instead of the elevator.
Daniel opened the door before she knocked.
His expression told her he had been expecting her.
"Someone called you."
It was not a question.
Claire stopped.
"Who?"
Daniel stepped aside.
"Come in."
His apartment was small but organized.
Not expensive.
Not impressive.
Just lived in.
A stack of books sat beside the couch.
A half-finished cup of coffee rested on the kitchen counter.
A plant near the window was dying because Daniel always forgot to water it and then apologized to it like it was a person.
Claire had teased him about that for years.
Tonight, the apartment felt different.
Like a place someone could lose.
"You knew I was coming," she said.
Daniel closed the door.
"Yes."
"How?"
He looked toward the window.
"Because someone sent me a picture of you leaving the lab."
Claire felt her stomach tighten.
"When?"
"An hour ago."
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"Why didn't you tell me?"
Daniel laughed once.
