Chapter 9
I stared at the trust document until the words blurred.
My father’s name was there.
Edward Harper.
Full legal name.
Birth date.
Even the middle initial was correct.
“This has to be another Edward Harper.”
Laura shook her head.
“The identifying information matches.”
“My father was a mechanic.”
“That does not mean he could not have been named.”
“He never knew Ryan.”
Laura said nothing.
That silence frightened me.
“What do you know?”
“I know the trust was amended twenty-eight years ago.”
“That was before Ryan and I were even born.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would my father be in it?”
“I don’t know.”
Rachel sat beside me.
“Mom might.”
I looked at her.
Our mother, Susan, lived in Arizona.
We spoke every Sunday.
She knew about the attack.
She knew Emma had been born early.
She had booked a flight to Chicago for the next morning.
But she had never mentioned the Walkers.
Not once.
I called her.
She answered immediately.
“Claire? Is Emma okay?”
“She’s stable.”
“Oh, thank God.”
“Mom, I need to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Did Dad know Michael Walker?”
Silence.
My pulse jumped.
“Mom?”
“Why are you asking?”
That was not a no.
“His name is in a family trust.”
Another silence.
Longer this time.
Rachel whispered, “She knows.”
I put the phone on speaker.
“Mom, tell me the truth.”
Susan’s voice changed.
“I was going to tell you when I arrived.”
“You already knew?”
“Claire—”
“How?”
She started crying.
“Your father worked for Walker Manufacturing.”
I stood too quickly.
Pain ripped through my incision.
Rachel caught me.
“Sit down.”
I barely heard her.
“You told us Dad worked at Peterson Auto.”
“He did. Later.”
“When did he work for the Walkers?”
“In his twenties.”
“What did he do?”
“He was an engineer.”
I stared at Rachel.
“Dad was an engineer?”
“He studied mechanical engineering. He dropped out before graduating, but Walker hired him as a technician.”
“Why did you never tell us?”
“Because he asked me not to.”
I laughed in disbelief.
“Another secret.”
“Claire, please.”
“What happened?”
Susan inhaled shakily.
“Your father discovered safety defects in one of the company’s industrial machines.”
The room went still.
“What kind of defects?”
“A pressure system could fail.”
“Did it?”
“Yes.”
My skin went cold.
“When?”
“Twenty-nine years ago.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“Three workers.”
“Did they survive?”
“Two did.”
I closed my eyes.
One died.
“What did Dad do?”
“He reported it.”
“To Michael?”
“To Diane’s father first. Then Michael.”
“And?”
“They tried to keep it quiet.”
My stomach turned.
Of course they did.
“Was Michael involved?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Did Dad?”
“He believed Michael wanted to help at first.”
“At first?”
“Then company attorneys appeared.”
“What happened to Dad?”
“He was threatened.”
“With what?”
“Losing his job. Being sued. Being blamed for the defect.”
Rachel whispered, “Same pattern.”
Always the same pattern.
Fear.
Silence.
Blame someone weaker.
“Why is Dad in the trust?”
Susan cried quietly.
“Because Michael helped him.”
I froze.
“What?”
“After the worker died, Michael secretly gave your father documents proving executives knew about the defect.”
My mind spun.
“That doesn’t sound like the man who hid bribes.”
“People are complicated, Claire.”
I hated that sentence because it was true.
“What did Dad do with the documents?”
“He went to federal investigators.”
“Was the company charged?”
“Not the way he hoped.”
“Why?”
“Diane’s father settled several cases and buried most of it.”
“Then why name Dad in the trust?”
“Michael said he wanted protection.”
“For Dad?”
“For Dad’s future family.”
I stopped breathing.
Susan continued.
“Michael knew Diane’s father might retaliate. He secretly amended part of his own family planning documents.”
“But it wasn’t his trust.”
“He had influence then.”
“Did Dad ever receive money?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He refused.”
“Then why keep his name?”
“I don’t know.”
I sat back.
“Mom, Dad died five years ago.”
Susan went silent.
A terrible feeling moved through me.
“Mom?”
Rachel stared at the phone.
Susan whispered, “Claire…”
“No.”
My heart started pounding.
“No, do not do this.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Do what?” Rachel demanded.
Susan started sobbing.
“Your father did not die five years ago.”
The room disappeared around me.
“What?”
“I told you he did because that was what he wanted.”
I could not process the sentence.
“You showed us an urn.”
“It was not his.”
Rachel stood.
“You made us hold a funeral.”
“I know.”
“You let Claire speak at it.”
“I know.”
“You let us believe our father was dead.”
“He thought it was safer.”
“For who?”
“For everyone.”
I laughed because the alternative was screaming.
“Where is he?”
Susan did not answer.
“Where is Dad?”
“Colorado.”
My breath caught.
“He’s alive.”
“Yes.”
“Does he know about Emma?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I told him.”
“Does he know what Diane did?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why hasn’t he called?”
“Because he thinks contact with you will make things worse.”
I almost threw the phone.
“Everyone decides what is best for me.”
“I am sorry.”
“I want his number.”
“Claire—”
“Now.”
Susan gave it to me.
I called immediately.
A man answered after three rings.
“Hello?”
Five years disappeared.
I knew that voice.
Older.
Rougher.
But his.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then a broken sound.
“Claire.”
I started crying so hard I could not speak.
Rachel covered her mouth.
“Dad.”
“I’m here.”
“You’re alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I know.”
“I hated myself because we argued the week before you disappeared.”
“I know.”
“You let me think those were my last words to you.”
“I am sorry.”
“No.”
I could barely breathe.
“You don’t get to say that yet.”
“You’re right.”
“Why?”
He was quiet.
Then he said, “Because Diane found me.”
My blood turned cold.
“When?”
“Five years ago.”
“What did she want?”
“The documents.”
“What documents?”
“The original safety records.”
“Why would she care after all these years?”
“Because they connect to the same shell companies she is using now.”
I stared at Laura.
She had moved closer.
My father continued.
“The old accounts never disappeared. They changed names.”
“And you still had evidence?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Did Diane threaten you?”
“Yes.”
“With what?”
“You.”
My throat closed.
“She knew where you lived. Where Rachel lived. Where your mother worked.”
Rachel started crying.
“So you disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“You could have told us.”
“I thought the less you knew, the safer you were.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That philosophy runs in every family, apparently.”
“I deserve that.”
“Do you know Michael?”
“Yes.”
“Can I trust him?”
A long silence.
“I trust the man he wanted to become.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
“Can I trust him?”
My father sighed.
“Not with everything.”
“What is he still hiding?”
“I don’t know what he has told you.”
“Tell me what you know.”
“Michael did help create the first shell company.”
“I know.”
“He also helped me expose the safety cover-up.”
“I know.”
“But there is something else.”
Of course there was.
“What?”
“Diane’s father did not amend the trust to include me.”
“Then who did?”
“Michael.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew I had something that could destroy the Walker family.”
“What?”
May you like
“Proof that Ryan is not Diane’s biological son.”
Everything inside me stopped.
