Chapter 4: The Voice on the Phone
I stared at the dead screen long after the call ended.
My mother's voice was still in my head.
Not a recording.
Not a memory.
A living voice.
Older than I remembered. Rougher. Quieter.
But unmistakably hers.
Daniel stood beneath the glass roof of the greenhouse, watching me.
"What did she say?"" he asked.
I couldn't answer.
He stepped closer.
"Claire?""
I finally looked up.
"She said she's my mother.""
Daniel exhaled slowly.
"I know.""
My stomach dropped.
"You know?""
He nodded.
"You knew she was alive.""
"I suspected.""
"Don't.""
He stopped.
"Don't give me that word.""
"What word?""
"Suspected.""
My voice shook.
"You don't accidentally suspect that a dead woman is alive.""
Daniel looked down.
"I had proof once.""
"Once?""
"Then it disappeared.""
"How convenient.""
His face tightened.
"You think I wanted any of this?""
"I don't know what you wanted.""
I stepped backward.
"I don't know who you are.""
That hurt him.
I could see it.
For the first time, I didn't care.
"You let me mourn her.""
"I was trying to keep you alive.""
"You let me stand beside her grave.""
"I know.""
"You watched me put flowers on an empty grave.""
His voice dropped.
"I know.""
"How many times did you watch me cry?""
Daniel said nothing.
I turned away from him.
The greenhouse was filled with plants my mother had once loved. Orchids climbed along the wooden shelves. The air smelled of wet soil and old leaves.
She had planted the first one herself.
I remembered that afternoon.
She'd laughed when I complained about the dirt beneath my fingernails.
Now I touched one of the leaves.
My hand trembled.
"Why would she let me think she was dead?""
Daniel walked toward the greenhouse door.
"Because someone tried to kill her.""
I looked at him.
"Who?""
"We're not safe here.""
"Answer me.""
He glanced toward the house.
"They'll search the property.""
"Who are they?""
"The people your mother was trying to expose.""
I shook my head.
"That's too vague.""
"I don't have time to explain everything.""
"You've had three years.""
He flinched.
I stepped closer.
"Start with one thing.""
"What?""
"Why me?""
Daniel's eyes met mine.
"Because your mother hid something inside you.""
I felt a chill crawl along my arms.
"What does that mean?""
"She knew they would search her office. Her house. Her accounts.""
He paused.
"So she made sure the final piece would be somewhere nobody would think to look.""
I swallowed.
"And where is that?""
Daniel looked toward my face.
"With you.""
I laughed bitterly.
"You expect me to believe my dead mother hid some secret inside her daughter?""
"Not inside you.""
He pointed toward the blue file in my hands.
"In something she gave you.""
I thought of birthdays.
Christmases.
The jewelry box.
The old silver locket she had given me when I turned twenty-five.
My mother's last birthday before she disappeared.
The locket.
I touched my neck.
Daniel noticed.
"What?""
"The locket.""
His expression changed.
"You still have it?""
I pulled the chain from beneath my shirt.
The silver locket rested against my chest.
Daniel stared at it.
"Where did you get that?""
"My mother gave it to me.""
"When?""
"About two months before she died.""
He stepped closer.
"Open it.""
I frowned.
"I've opened it before.""
"No.""
His voice became urgent.
"Open it properly.""
I turned the small latch.
The locket clicked.
On one side was an old photograph of my mother and me.
On the other was an empty compartment.
I had always assumed there had once been another photograph inside.
Daniel took the locket gently.
"Do you see this?""
He ran his thumb along the inner edge.
"There's a second layer.""
"What?""
"Hold the hinge.""
I did.
He pressed a tiny point beneath the frame.
The back panel popped loose.
Something tiny slid into his palm.
A microSD card.
I stared.
"I didn't know that was there.""
"Neither did I.""
He held it up.
"Your mother did.""
I took the card.
It weighed almost nothing.
Yet suddenly it felt heavier than the entire house.
"What's on it?""
"I don't know.""
"Can we find out?""
"Yes.""
"Where?""
"Not here.""
A loud crash echoed from the house.
We both turned.
Glass shattered somewhere inside.
Daniel grabbed my wrist.
"Move.""
We ran toward the far end of the greenhouse.
Another crash.
Then a man's voice.
"Search every room!""
Daniel pulled open a narrow wooden door at the back.
Behind it was a maintenance path leading toward the rear garden.
We ran.
The cold air hit my face.
"Where are we going?"" I whispered.
"There's a car two streets away.""
"Whose car?""
"Mine.""
"Your sedan?""
"No.""
He pulled a key from his pocket.
"Another one.""
We cut through the garden.
My breath came hard.
I looked back once.
Three silhouettes moved inside the greenhouse.
One of them stopped.
He turned toward us.
"Claire!""
I kept running.
Daniel pushed open the rear gate.
We crossed the alley.
A black SUV waited beneath a broken streetlamp.
He unlocked it.
I climbed into the passenger seat.
He got behind the wheel.
The engine started.
We drove.
Neither of us spoke for several blocks.
Then I looked at the microSD card in my hand.
"Where are we going?""
"Somewhere they can't trace.""
"Does that place exist?""
"Yes.""
"Do you trust it?""
Daniel tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"I trust the person who owns it.""
"Who?""
"My sister.""
I stared at him.
"You have a sister?""
"Half-sister.""
"Does she know about me?""
"She knows enough.""
"Does she know my mother is alive?""
"Not until tonight.""
He took a sharp turn.
"Why?""
"Because if she knew, she'd become a target.""
"Daniel.""
He looked at me.
"What?""
"Your sister. What's her name?""
He hesitated.
"Emma.""
I repeated it quietly.
"Emma.""
My phone suddenly buzzed.
A new message.
Unknown number.
*DON'T GO TO EMMA'S HOUSE.*
I showed Daniel.
His face went white.
A second message appeared.
*HE HAS A TRACKER.*
Daniel immediately checked beneath the dashboard.
"What are you doing?""
"Looking.""
"Can they track us?""
He reached beneath the steering column.
"Not with my phone.""
He pulled his phone out.
Then looked at me.
"Not with yours either.""
"Then how?""
He scanned the mirrors.
"I don't know.""
My phone buzzed again.
*LOOK UNDER THE PASSENGER SEAT.*
I froze.
"Daniel.""
He glanced at me.
"Read it.""
He did.
Then he slammed on the brakes.
The car stopped at an empty intersection.
"Don't move.""
He opened his door.
Ran around to my side.
He reached beneath the passenger seat.
His fingers found something.
He pulled it out.
A small black tracking device.
Neither of us spoke.
Daniel stared at it.
Then at me.
"They knew where we were before we left.""
My heart pounded.
"Who put it there?""
He looked at me strangely.
"It wasn't there when I picked you up.""
My skin went cold.
"What?""
"I checked this car yesterday.""
"Then who put it there?""
He didn't answer.
He inspected the device.
There was a tiny label on the back.
A sequence of letters and numbers.
I recognized the format.
"Daniel.""
He looked up.
"That's a hospital code.""
He frowned.
"How would you know?""
"Because my mother had one.""
He stared at me.
"What kind?""
"A patient identification code.""
His eyes narrowed.
I turned the device over.
The code had been handwritten.
Three letters.
A date.
And one final number.
My mother's birthday.
I whispered, "This was attached to something that belonged to her.""
Daniel's phone rang.
He answered without speaking.
A woman's voice came through immediately.
"Daniel?""
He stiffened.
"Emma.""
My chest tightened.
His sister.
"Where are you?"" Emma asked.
Daniel looked at me.
"We're on the west side.""
"Don't come here.""
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Why?""
"Because somebody is already here.""
He gripped the steering wheel.
"Who?""
Emma's breathing became uneven.
"I don't know.""
"Emma, listen to me.""
"I found something in Dad's study.""
"What?""
"A photograph.""
Daniel waited.
Emma whispered, "It's from the night your mother supposedly died.""
I stared at him.
Daniel's face changed.
"What about it?"" he asked.
Emma swallowed.
"There's a man standing beside the car.""
"Who?""
"I enlarged the picture.""
Her voice dropped.
"I think it's you.""
Daniel went completely still.
"That's impossible.""
Emma began to cry.
"Daniel, it gets worse.""
"What?""
"The man isn't looking at the camera.""
A pause.
"He is looking at your mother.""
The call went silent.
Then Emma whispered one final sentence.
"And Mom isn't the only person in the photograph.""
The line disconnected.
Daniel looked at me.
I could see fear in his eyes again.
Real fear.
I lifted the microSD card.
"What did she mean?""
He shook his head.
"I don't know.""
Then headlights appeared behind us.
One pair.
Then another.
Then a third.
Three black vehicles rolled slowly into the intersection.
Daniel locked the doors.
A figure stepped from the first SUV.
Then another from the second.
The third vehicle stopped directly behind us.
Its headlights flooded the car.
Daniel whispered, "They found us.""
My phone buzzed one last time.
A message appeared.
*CLAIRE, DO NOT GET OUT OF THE CAR.*
May you like
Then a second message followed.
*THE PERSON DRIVING THE THIRD SUV IS YOUR FATHER.*
