“Did you touch her medication?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Did Graham?”
“I haven’t spoken to Graham in months.”
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
He checked the screen.
His face changed.
“What is it?” I asked.
He did not answer.
My father saw the reaction and suddenly moved.
Not toward us.
Toward the grocery bag.
Daniel shouted, “Don’t!”
My father kicked it across the floor.
A glass jar shattered inside.
Sharp chemical fumes filled the room.
Daniel grabbed me and pulled me backward as smoke curled from the soaked paper.
The laptop sat open on the table.
The flash drive lay beside it.
My father lunged.
I reached it first.
He caught my wrist.
“Give it to me.”
“You said you were innocent.”
“I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“By destroying evidence?”
“Samuel had partners. They’re still watching.”
Daniel struck my father’s arm away and forced him against the counter.
“Richard Hale, you are under arrest.”
“For what?”
“Obstruction, evidence tampering, and assault, for a start.”
My father twisted his head toward me.
“Claire, listen. The drive contains a file Rosie never understood. If it opens, people will come for you.”
“What file?”
“The one marked LAST.”
The smoke alarm began shrieking.
Daniel handcuffed him while I opened windows.
My father shouted over the alarm.
“Do not open that folder!”
I looked at the laptop.
The drive was still connected.
The folder marked LAST waited at the bottom of the screen.
I clicked it.
Inside was a single audio recording.
My father closed his eyes.
The recording began with static.
Then Rosie’s voice.
“I’m ready.”
A man answered.
Not Ben.
Not my father.
The voice was old, rough, and strangely familiar.
“Say your full name.”
“Rosalind Evelyn Hale.”
“And state why you contacted me.”
“Because my mother is alive.”
I stopped breathing.
My father whispered, “God help us.”
On the recording, Rosie continued.
“I found the woman you have hidden for seventeen years.”
The man replied, “She isn’t hidden. She is protected.”
“From Dad?”
“From everyone.”
“Does Claire know?”
“No.”
“Does Claire know who she is?”
“No.”
“Then I will tell her.”
The man’s voice sharpened.
“If you do, you may kill your sister.”
The recording ended.
I stared at my father.
“You said Mom died.”
He looked suddenly ancient.
“The woman in the car was not your mother.”
Daniel’s grip tightened on his shoulder.
“What are you talking about?”
My father spoke to me, not him.
“The body recovered from Bellweather Ravine belonged to Dr. Laura Vale. Samuel’s wife.”
I stepped backward.
“No.”
“Your mother survived the exposure.”
“You identified the body.”
