CHAPTER 6 — HER MOTHER’S WARNING
Claire walked toward the service corridor without running.
Daniel followed at a measured pace.
The woman on the phone guided her past the kitchen, through a laundry area, and toward an emergency exit.
“Push the red door.”
“Who are you?”
“Someone who made a promise to your mother.”
Claire shoved the door open.
A silver sedan waited in the alley.
The passenger door swung outward.
“Get in.”
Claire hesitated.
Daniel entered the service corridor behind her.
She climbed into the car.
The driver accelerated before Claire had fully closed the door.
The woman behind the wheel looked to be in her late sixties.
Her gray hair was cut neatly at her jaw.
She wore a navy coat and leather gloves.
“My name is Evelyn Shaw.”
Claire gripped the door handle.
“How did you know where I was?”
“I’ve been watching Daniel.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother asked me to.”
Claire stared at her.
“My mother died two years ago.”
“I know.”
Evelyn drove three blocks before turning into an underground parking garage.
She parked beside a concrete wall and switched off the engine.
“Your mother hired me four months before her death.”
“To do what?”
“To investigate Mason.”
Claire’s anger rose immediately.
“My mother liked Mason.”
“No. She pretended to.”
Evelyn removed a sealed envelope from the glove compartment.
Claire’s name was written across the front in her mother’s handwriting.
For a moment, Claire could not touch it.
Her mother’s handwriting made the loss feel new again.
“When was this written?”
“Two weeks before she died.”
Claire opened the envelope.
Inside was a brass key and a short letter.
Claire,
If you are reading this, Mason has moved money from the Bennett trust or attempted to gain control of North Harbor Point.
Do not confront him alone.
Do not trust Daniel.
And no matter what Mason tells you, my death was not an accident.
Claire read the final sentence three times.
Her mother had died after driving off a coastal road during heavy rain.
The police concluded she had fallen asleep behind the wheel.
Mason had identified the body.
Daniel had handled the estate.
Olivia had arranged the funeral.
Claire looked at Evelyn.
“What does she mean?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“You investigated him.”
“I found enough to frighten her.”
“Such as?”
“Mason had used three different names before moving to Port Haven.”
Claire stared at her.
“He changed his name?”
“More than once.”
“Why?”
“The records were sealed.”
“Criminal records?”
“Possibly. Or marriage records.”
The word struck Claire strangely.
“Marriage?”
Evelyn looked at the wedding ring still on Claire’s hand.
“I found evidence that Mason lived with a woman named Rebecca Cole eight years before he met you.”
“That doesn’t mean they were married.”
“No.”
Evelyn handed her a photograph.
Mason stood outside a courthouse beside a blond woman.
He looked younger but unmistakable.
Both were smiling.
The woman held a marriage certificate.
Claire turned the photograph over.
A date had been written on the back.
The ceremony took place two years before Claire married Mason.
“Did they divorce?”
“I couldn’t find a divorce record.”
Claire’s hand began to shake.
“My marriage may not be legal.”
“That is one possibility.”
“What is the other?”
“That Rebecca Cole disappeared.”
Claire looked up.
“Disappeared?”
“She was last seen eleven months after this photograph was taken.”
Evelyn pointed toward the brass key.
“Your mother rented a storage unit under my name. Everything she collected is inside.”
“Why didn’t you contact me sooner?”
“Because your mother gave me specific conditions.”
“What conditions?”
“I was to wait until Mason touched the Bennett trust.”
“He transferred money fourteen months ago.”
“I didn’t know until three days ago.”
“The forty thousand dollars.”
Evelyn nodded.
“That transaction triggered an alert your mother arranged before her death.”
Claire thought of the memo.
Phase One.
“What did Mason buy from Olivia?”
“I don’t think he bought anything.”
“Then why pay her?”
Evelyn started the engine.
“I think he was rewarding her.”
“For sleeping with him?”
“For helping him create a custody crisis.”
Claire looked toward the garage exit.
“Lily is with them.”
“I know.”
“I need to get her back.”
“You will.”
“When?”
“When we understand what they’re trying to force you to do.”
Claire’s phone vibrated.
A video message from Mason appeared.
Lily sat beside him on Olivia’s sofa.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
Mason looked directly into the camera.
“Claire, Lily wants you to cooperate.”
He placed a folder on the table.
“Sign the North Harbor authorization, resign from Bennett Coastal Design, and agree to temporary custody.”
Claire’s blood turned cold.
“You have until noon tomorrow.”
The video ended.
Evelyn glanced at the screen.
“He’s rushing.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows someone triggered the trust alert.”
Claire looked at the brass key.
“Take me to the storage unit.”
Evelyn did not move.
“There is something else you need to understand.”
“What?”
“Your mother believed someone inside your family had helped Mason long before Olivia became involved.”
Claire thought of every person who had access to her accounts, medical records, and mother’s estate.
“Who?”
Evelyn met her eyes.
“She never found out.”
May you like
Then she placed the car in reverse.
“But she believed it was someone you trusted more than Mason.”
