Chương 4
“To hide it?”
“To fix what I could.”
Victoria gave him a disgusted look.
“There is no fixing twelve million dollars in forty-eight hours.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then.”
“I didn’t want to know it.”
That, at least, sounded human.
Claire looked at the bracelet.
“What does this have to do with Emily disappearing?”
Ethan’s gaze shifted toward it.
“She started collecting evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“Transfers. Emails. Trust records. Dad’s old settlement agreements.”
“And the bracelet?”
“I don’t know.”
Claire studied him.
Emily’s warning returned.
Don’t trust him just because he sounds calm.
“Try again.”
“I don’t know.”
“You share the same initials.”
“I’m aware.”
“Emily called it insurance.”
“I’ve never seen that bracelet before tonight.”
Victoria looked at Claire.
“Did Emily say anything else?”
Claire hesitated.
Ethan noticed.
“Claire.”
She ignored him.
“She asked me whether I knew where Ethan was the previous Friday.”
Ethan’s face changed.
There.
Small.
But real.
Victoria saw it too.
“Where were you?”
“Boston.”
Claire shook her head.
“That’s what you told me.”
“I was in Boston.”
“Emily said you weren’t.”
Ethan stood.
“I was.”
“Then why did you just look like that?”
“Because I know what she thought she found.”
“What?”
“My car was in New York.”
Claire stared at him.
“You drove to Boston.”
“No. I flew.”
“You told me you drove.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t want you asking why I flew.”
“That makes absolutely no sense.”
“I flew under Daniel’s name.”
Silence.
Victoria said, “Why?”
“Because I was meeting someone.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
Ethan saw it.
“Not a woman.”
“That’s reassuring in an impressively narrow way.”
“Claire.”
“Who?”
“A federal prosecutor.”
Victoria stared at him.
“What?”
“I was trying to make a deal.”
“You had already been contacted?”
“No. I contacted him.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before Emily disappeared.”
Claire stood.
“You were going to turn yourself in.”
“I was trying to find out what cooperation would look like.”
“And you didn’t tell Emily.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she would have reported everything immediately.”
“She was the foundation’s lawyer.”
“She was my sister.”
“That did not make the money less stolen.”
“I know.”
Claire looked at the man she had married.
There it was again.
I know.
As if knowledge were payment.
As if understanding damage somehow reduced the balance.
“Why did you use Daniel’s name?”
“Daniel arranged the meeting.”
Victoria whispered something.
Claire did not catch it.
“What?”
Victoria looked at Ethan.
“Daniel knew.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Everything.”
A faint sound came from the hallway.
All three turned.
Footsteps.
Claire’s heart jumped.
The conservatory door opened.
Rosa stood there holding Noah.
“I’m sorry.”
Noah was crying now.
Not loudly.
That made Claire move faster.
She crossed the room and took him.
“What happened?”
“He wanted you.”
Noah buried his face against her.
“I’m here.”
Rosa looked at the adults, at the jewelry box, at Ethan.
“I can stay.”
Claire stroked Noah’s back.
“Could you take him downstairs? The den, maybe. Farther from the glass.”
“Of course.”
Noah refused to release Claire.
“No.”
“Buddy,” Ethan said.
Noah looked at him.
For one second, Claire saw Ethan’s entire face soften.
Whatever else he was, whatever he had done, that part was real.
“Go with Rosa,” Ethan said. “I’ll bring Mommy down in a minute.”
Claire looked at him.
He corrected himself.
“Mommy will come down when she’s ready.”
Noah considered this.
Then he held out one hand toward Ethan.
“Thunder.”
Ethan approached slowly.
He touched his son’s fingers.
“It’s loud, huh?”
Noah nodded.
“It can’t get through the glass.”
Claire almost interrupted.
Ethan looked at her and seemed to understand why.
He added, “But you can still be scared.”
Noah wiped his face against Claire’s shoulder.
“Biting dinosaur.”
“I’ll find him.”
Noah finally let Rosa take him.
They left.
The door closed.
Victoria stared at Ethan.
“You’re good with him.”
Ethan looked confused.
“What?”
“You’re good with your son.”
“Mom—”
“That makes this harder.”
Ethan looked down.
Claire understood.
Monsters were easier.
People were unbearable.
Victoria walked toward the windows.
“What happened the night Emily disappeared?”
Ethan sat again.
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I don’t.”
“Then tell us what you do know.”
Ethan remained silent for several seconds.
“I met Emily at her office at eight.”
Claire knew the building. The foundation occupied two floors on Park Avenue.
“She had copies of the transfers. She told me she was going to the board in the morning.”
Victoria said, “Why didn’t she call me?”
“She thought you’d protect me.”
Victoria turned.
“Would I have?”
Ethan did not answer.
Victoria gave a small nod.
There was no satisfaction in it.
“Go on.”
“I told her about the prosecutor.”
“And?”
“She didn’t believe me.”
“Did you show her proof?”
“I couldn’t. Daniel had the communications.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“We argued.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
“Did you threaten her?”
Ethan looked at the rain.
“Yes.”
Claire’s grip tightened around the bracelet.
Victoria’s voice became very quiet.
“How?”
“I told her if she went to the board before I met the prosecutor again, she could destroy the company.”
“That is not a threat.”
“I also told her I would make sure she never worked for the foundation again.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“She was general counsel.”
“I was angry.”
“She was your sister.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
Ethan looked at her.
Victoria’s voice broke for the first time.
“Stop telling me what you know.”
Ethan’s mouth closed.
Claire watched him swallow.
“What did Emily say?” she asked.
“She told me I sounded like Dad.”
Victoria turned sharply.
Ethan laughed once, bitterly.
“I told her to go to hell.”
Claire could picture Emily’s response.
Apparently Ethan could too.
“She said?”
“She said, ‘You first. You’re better funded.’”
Despite herself, Victoria made a sound that was almost a laugh.
It collapsed immediately.
May you like
Emily had always been able to do that—put something ridiculous into a room that had no business containing humor.
Claire remembered her at Noah’s first birthday, wearing a paper dinosaur hat over a silk dress because Noah had insisted everyone needed one.
