Chương 4
Michael did not explode.
He became very quiet.
That was worse.
He put Lily down, checked her hands, her face, the damp clothes beneath Claire’s coat, then looked at Victoria.
“Did you lock my daughter outside?”
Victoria began, “Michael—”
“Yes or no?”
“Under circumstances you don’t understand.”
“Try again.”
“Yes.”
Michael nodded.
He took out his phone.
Victoria’s expression changed.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling the police.”
“Michael,” Claire said.
He looked at her.
She surprised herself.
“Wait.”
“Claire.”
“Two minutes.”
“For what?”
She touched the USB drive in her pocket.
“For Daniel.”
They moved into the bridal room.
Claire, Michael, Lily, Edward and Victoria.
Nobody else.
Rebecca had left the laptop on the desk. A half-finished glass of champagne stood beside it.
Claire sat down.
Victoria remained by the door.
“Don’t.”
Claire looked at her.
“Don’t what?”
“Open that drive on a networked computer.”
Michael stared at her.
“Why?”
Victoria said nothing.
Claire removed the USB drive.
Michael reached for it.
“Maybe she’s right.”
Claire looked at him.
“About what?”
“We don’t know what’s on it.”
“It’s Daniel’s.”
“That doesn’t make it safe.”
Lily climbed onto a chair.
“Uncle Daniel wouldn’t put a virus on it.”
Michael looked at her.
“No. Probably not.”
“Probably?”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Bad word choice.”
Edward said, “I have a laptop in my car.”
Victoria laughed quietly.
Everyone turned.
“You people really have no idea.”
Claire stood.
“Then explain it.”
Victoria looked at Lily.
“Not with her here.”
Michael took Lily’s hand.
“I’ll take her to the hotel.”
“No,” Lily said.
It came out so quickly that everyone stopped.
She looked at Claire.
“I want to hear Uncle Daniel.”
Claire crouched beside her.
“You will.”
“When?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“You always say grown-ups shouldn’t lie to make kids feel better.”
Michael looked at Claire.
Claire almost smiled.
“I do say that.”
“So don’t say I will if you don’t know.”
There were moments when parenting felt less like raising a child and more like discovering every sentence you had ever spoken had been entered into evidence.
Claire squeezed Lily’s hand.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Lily nodded.
“I want to hear him.”
“I know.”
“But?”
“But I need to see what he left first.”
“Because it could be bad?”
“Yes.”
“About Grandma?”
Victoria flinched.
Lily saw.
So did Claire.
Claire kissed her forehead.
“Go with Dad. Get dry. Eat something.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You said that at four and then ate six shrimp.”
“Those were tiny.”
Michael coughed into his hand.
Claire gave him a look.
Lily finally stood.
At the door, she turned.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Uncle Daniel said not to be scared.”
Claire felt the room change.
“In the video?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Lily concentrated.
“He said, ‘If you’re watching this, Bug, don’t be scared. Your mom will know what to do.’”
Claire could not speak.
Daniel had called Lily Bug from the day she was born.
Victoria sat down.
Not gracefully.
She simply reached for the nearest chair and lowered herself into it.
Michael took Lily upstairs to the hotel.
Edward retrieved his laptop.
Claire waited with Victoria.
Neither woman spoke.
The station staff had begun dismantling the wedding reception outside. Through the glass wall, Claire watched two men fold a linen tablecloth while a third stacked champagne flutes into plastic crates.
Victoria stared at her hands.
“You should have told me,” Claire said.
“About what?”
“Whatever this is.”
“I tried to protect you.”
Claire looked away.
“That sentence should be illegal.”
Victoria almost smiled.
It vanished immediately.
“You think everything I’ve done has been cruelty.”
“No.”
Victoria looked surprised.
Claire rubbed the wet photograph with her thumb.
“Some of it was vanity.”
“Claire.”
“Some was fear. Some was control. Some was you deciding other people couldn’t survive information you survived perfectly well.”
“You have always believed you were stronger than you are.”
“And you’ve always needed me to believe that too.”
Edward returned carrying an old laptop bag.
He set it on the desk.
“I turned off Wi-Fi.”
Claire inserted the drive.
Three folders appeared.
Harrow.
Lily.
C.M.
Claire’s initials.
Her mouth went dry.
She opened Lily first.
There was one video file.
Daniel appeared on the screen.
Alive.
Claire made a sound she did not recognize.
He sat in what looked like his apartment kitchen. His hair was too long. He wore the faded University of Michigan sweatshirt Claire had stolen twice and returned twice because Daniel complained with such theatrical misery.
He looked tired.
Not intoxicated.
Not unstable.
Tired.
He leaned toward the camera.
“Hey, Bug.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Daniel smiled.
“If you found this, then your mom ignored my extremely clear instructions about throwing away ugly picture frames.”
Claire laughed through her hand.
Edward looked down.
Victoria did not move.
Daniel continued.
“I hope you’re older when you see this. Like thirty. Forty would be better. Your mother will be unbearable at forty, so maybe you can distract her with this.”
Claire whispered, “Idiot.”
The video Daniel smiled as if he had heard her.
Then his face became serious.
“If you’re still little, listen to me. None of this is yours to fix. None of it is your fault. If adults get weird—and they will, because our family has made weird into a competitive sport—you find your mom.”
Claire shut her eyes.
“She’ll know what to do.”
The video ended.
That was all.
Edward exhaled.
Victoria stared at the blank screen.
Claire opened the folder marked C.M.
There were twelve files.
Bank statements.
Scanned letters.
Photographs.
A spreadsheet.
Two audio files.
And a text document named READ FIRST.
Claire opened it.
The first line said:
Claire, if you are reading this, I either chickened out or ran out of time.
She sat very still.
Daniel’s message was not elegant.
That helped.
He misspelled “fiduciary” twice. He complained about their father’s filing system. Halfway through, he inserted a sentence about Claire still owing him eighty dollars from 2009.
May you like
Then came Harrow Street.
Thomas Morgan had spent thirty-eight years building Morgan House Holdings, the family property company that had paid for Victoria’s houses, Claire’s education, Daniel’s rehab, Edward’s comfortable retirement, and tonight’s private train.
