Chapter 2 - A Voice From Two Years Ago.
Daniel locked the office door before Caroline could leave.
He did not threaten her.
He simply placed the black handbag on the desk and told her to sit down.
Sophie stayed close to him, gripping the side of his shirt with both hands.
Caroline’s face had recovered some color, but her composure had not returned.
“That card is private,” she said.
Daniel stared at her.
“It has my dead wife’s handwriting on it.”
Caroline looked away.
“That does not make it yours.”
The answer was so cold that Daniel felt something inside him shift.
For two years, Caroline had cried whenever Claire’s name came up.
She had called Claire the daughter she never had.
She had sat in the front row at the funeral and held Sophie all afternoon.
Now she sounded like Claire had been an inconvenience.
Daniel inserted the memory card into the laptop on his desk.
There were three audio files.
The first was dated six days before Claire’s car accident.
The second was dated three days before it.
The third was recorded the night before Claire died.
Daniel’s hand hovered over the trackpad.
Caroline stood abruptly.
“You have no idea what you’re about to do.”
Daniel pressed play.
Claire’s voice filled the bright office.
It was softer than he remembered, but unmistakable.
“If Daniel hears this, then I was right to be afraid.”
Sophie squeezed his shirt harder.
Daniel froze.
Claire continued.
“I found transfers from the Mercer Family Trust into a company called Northstar Family Services.”
Daniel looked toward Caroline.
She did not meet his eyes.
“The transfers were approved under Daniel’s authorization, but Daniel did not make them.”
The recording crackled for a moment.
“I asked Caroline about it.”
At the sound of her name, Caroline shut her eyes.
“She told me I was confused.”
“She said the trust had always been handled that way.”
“But I checked the original documents.”
“Northstar did not exist until eighteen months ago.”
Daniel stopped the recording.
His mouth had gone dry.
Northstar Family Services sounded familiar.
He had seen the name on an invoice three weeks earlier, attached to Sophie’s school transportation account.
At the time, Caroline had told him it was a harmless administrative vendor.
Daniel looked at Sophie.
“Sweetheart, what did you see today?”
Sophie swallowed.
“Grandma opened the wall.”
Caroline’s head snapped toward her.
Daniel frowned.
“What wall?”
Sophie pointed toward the built-in bookcase behind the desk.
“She pushed one of Mom’s old books, and a little door opened.”
“She took the red card out.”
“She put it in her bag.”
“Then she saw me.”
Caroline’s voice became thin.
“Sophie misunderstood.”
Sophie shook her head.
“No, I didn’t.”
Daniel walked to the bookcase.
Claire’s old architecture books still occupied the bottom shelf because he had never had the courage to move them.
He pressed the thick green volume Sophie indicated.
A hidden panel clicked open.
Inside was an empty compartment and a sealed white envelope.
Daniel took it out.
His name was written across the front.
CAROLINE said, almost pleading now, “Please don’t open that in front of Sophie.”
Daniel looked at his mother.
For the first time, he wondered whether she was asking to protect the child.
May you like
Or herself.
The Bag Beside the Chair
