Chapter 3 - The Secret Claire Left Behind
Ethan moved first.
He crossed the hallway and shut the door behind Marcus.
“Brooke,” he said quietly. “Take Sarah and go downstairs.”
The little girl shook her head.
“No.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Brooke.”
“No.”
It was the strongest refusal Sarah had ever heard from her.
Ethan looked at Sarah.
“Please.”
Sarah took Brooke's hand.
“Come on.”
But before they could leave, Marcus spoke.
“You should probably read the letter.”
Ethan turned.
“What?”
Marcus's face was unreadable.
“The truth is already out.”
Ethan slowly entered the room.
Sarah remained near Brooke.
Ethan picked up the letter.
His hands trembled.
Claire’s handwriting was unmistakable.
Ethan,
I know you will blame yourself.
I know you will believe you failed me.
But please understand something.
The accident was not an accident.
Someone inside the Whitmore organization has been moving money through shell accounts.
I found evidence.
I trusted the wrong person.
And when they realized I knew, they tried to kill me.
Ethan stopped reading.
His eyes moved toward Marcus.
“You knew.”
Marcus didn't answer.
Ethan continued.
I need you to protect Brooke.
Do not trust the people closest to you.
Not even the ones who claim to have saved your life.
At the bottom was a handwritten line.
Especially the man who tells you your enemies are outside the house.
Ethan's jaw tightened.
Marcus stepped forward.
“I wasn't the one who sent them.”
“Then who?”
“I don't know.”
Ethan turned.
“You've been security chief for eight years.”
“Yes.”
“You were in charge the night Claire died.”
“Yes.”
“And now you tell me you don't know?”
Marcus's face tightened.
“I was ordered to protect you.”
“By whom?”
Silence.
Sarah noticed something.
Marcus was afraid.
Not of Ethan.
Of someone else.
Brooke walked toward the desk.
She pointed at a photograph.
“That's Uncle Daniel.”
Ethan looked.
Daniel Whitmore.
His younger brother.
Ethan had not seen him in eighteen months.
Daniel had moved to Switzerland after a business dispute.
Sarah looked at the photograph.
In the background was the mansion.
And beside Daniel stood Claire.
Sarah looked closer.
There was another person in the photograph.
A woman.
Nancy.
Her face was blurred by sunlight.
Sarah frowned.
“That's Nancy.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“She was there.”
Marcus looked at the photograph.
His expression changed.
“That's impossible.”
Ethan turned sharply.
“Why?”
“Because Nancy told me she had never met Claire.”
Sarah's pulse quickened.
Ethan left the room.
Within minutes, Nancy was brought upstairs.
She entered with a face like stone.
Ethan held up the photograph.
“Explain.”
Nancy stared.
Then she sat down.
“I knew Claire.”
Ethan's voice was low.
“How well?”
“Well enough to know she was trying to protect you.”
“Why did you lie?”
“Because Claire made me promise.”
“Promise what?”
“That if anything happened to her, I would protect Brooke.”
Ethan looked at his daughter.
“You knew she wasn't safe.”
Nancy nodded.
“I knew someone wanted her dead.”
“Who?”
Nancy's eyes filled with tears.
“I never found out.”
Ethan slammed the photograph against the desk.
“You lied to me for two years.”
“I was protecting your daughter.”
“And you thought I couldn't?”
“You were breaking.”
The words landed heavily.
“You stopped eating.”
“You stopped sleeping.”
“You barely spoke to Brooke.”
“And you thought hiding the truth would help?”
“No.”
Nancy looked down.
“I thought the truth would destroy you.”
Silence.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Then Sarah noticed the ledger on the desk.
It had a symbol on the cover.
A silver bird.
She remembered seeing it before.
On the security office.
On Marcus's watch.
On a folder she had wiped down in the study.
“Mr. Whitmore.”
Ethan looked at her.
“The symbol.”
“What about it?”
“It’s everywhere.”
Marcus immediately stepped forward.
“What symbol?”
Sarah pointed.
“The bird.”
Marcus went pale.
Sarah saw it.
Recognition.
Fear.
She moved closer to Ethan.
“That symbol belongs to someone in this house.”
Marcus reached for his gun.
Ethan reacted faster.
He stepped between him and Brooke.
“Put it down.”
Marcus stopped.
Sarah felt Brooke cling to her.
Marcus slowly lowered his hand.
“I wasn't going to hurt her.”
Ethan's voice became deadly.
“You're leaving.”
Marcus smiled sadly.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“I'm not the person you're supposed to fear.”
Then the fire alarm sounded.
Smoke flooded the hall.
Someone had set the east wing on fire.
Chaos erupted.
Ethan grabbed Brooke.
Sarah grabbed the box.
They ran.
The secret room began burning.
Sarah looked back.
The photograph wall vanished behind flames.
Claire's face disappeared.
Ethan stopped.
Sarah pulled him.
“She's gone.”
“No.”
“Ethan!”
He looked at her.
“The truth isn't.”
They escaped through the staircase.
But outside the mansion, Ethan discovered something worse.
His security cameras had been disabled.
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His accounts had been accessed.
And Marcus was gone.
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