Chapter 10 - THE RANSOM FOR CLAIRE
The ledger revealed what Richard had never told her.
When Claire was sixteen, the kidnapping had not lasted six hours, as she remembered.
It had lasted three days.
Her memory had been fractured by drugs and fear. Richard paid twelve million dollars to get her back, then spent years hunting the network responsible.
Thomas Cole had organized it.
Claire sat in a federal interview room, gripping the edge of the table.
"Why would my mother tell me to hide from Dad?"
Grace unfolded a copy of Margaret Hale's letter, recovered from the bank floor.
The final paragraph had been torn away.
"Someone altered the warning," Grace said. "Your mother may not have been warning you about Richard. She may have been warning you about someone close to him."
The door opened.
Richard entered without handcuffs. The murder charge had collapsed the moment Thomas was confirmed alive.
Claire stood, but neither of them knew how to cross the distance between them.
"You paid twelve million for me," she said.
"I would have paid everything."
"You let me believe it was over in one night."
"You couldn't sleep. You couldn't eat. The doctors said forcing the memories could hurt you more."
Claire's anger softened but did not disappear.
Richard placed an old silver locket on the table.
"Your mother wore this the night she died."
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Grace inserted it into a secure laptop.
Margaret appeared on the screen, tired but steady.
"Richard, if you're watching this, Thomas has already moved against us. Do not trust my brother."
Claire looked at Richard. "Mom had a brother?"
Richard nodded slowly. "Samuel Bennett."
The surname Claire had used her entire hidden life.
The man who had arranged her new identity.
The man who had known where she lived every day for eight years.
May you like
Then Claire's phone rang.
Uncle Samuel's name lit the screen.
