“You put her in the trunk.”
“No.”
“Stop lying!”
“I was trying to save her.”
My anger faltered.
“What?”
He looked at Daniel.
“Put the weapon away. I’ll explain.”
“You’ll keep your hands where I can see them,” Daniel said.
My father raised both palms.
“Your mother was alive when we carried her out.”
I stared at him.
“She had collapsed in the laboratory.”
“Why didn’t you call an ambulance?”
“Because of what was in her blood.”
The room became silent except for the rain.
“What was in her blood?” I asked.
“A compound Hale Medical had developed under a classified federal contract.”
Daniel’s gun remained trained on him.
My father continued. “Your mother discovered the company’s research director had been testing it illegally. She confronted him. There was a struggle. She was exposed.”
“Who was the research director?”
My father looked at me.
“Your biological father.”
The words made no sense.
“My what?”
“Dr. Samuel Vale.”
I remembered the name from childhood only vaguely. A family friend. A man with silver-rimmed glasses who brought Rosie and me elaborate science kits at Christmas.
He had died in prison twelve years ago after being convicted of fraud.
My father swallowed.
“Evelyn had an affair with Samuel. You were born the following year.”
I heard Ben’s voice again.
Richard Hale is Rosie’s father. But he may not be yours.
My father’s eyes glistened.
“I knew you weren’t biologically mine. I raised you anyway.”
“That doesn’t explain the ravine.”
“Samuel exposed Evelyn to a neurotoxin. Graham Voss was working private security for us. He helped me move her because Samuel threatened to report the compound stolen and blame Evelyn. We intended to take her to a physician we trusted.”
“In the trunk?”
“We needed to avoid cameras.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No,” he said quietly. “But it’s true.”
“Then why did her car go over the ravine?”
His face crumpled.
“Graham was driving. Someone forced him off the road.”
“Who?”
“Samuel.”
I laughed in disbelief.
“You blamed a dead man who can’t defend himself.”
“He wasn’t dead then.”
“You changed reports. You paid Graham for seventeen years.”
“To keep quiet about the classified work and protect you from Samuel.”
Daniel spoke. “Why did Claire have to give you an alibi?”
“Because Samuel had already told the board I was embezzling research funds. If police focused on me, he would gain time to destroy the evidence.”
“You let your daughter lie.”
“I made a terrible choice.”
“You let her believe her mother died in an accident.”
“I believed the truth would destroy both girls.”
I picked up Rosie’s letter.
“She says you murdered Mom.”
“Rosie saw fragments and formed a conclusion.”
There it was.
The same dismissal.
The same polished contempt.
“Rosie does not ‘form conclusions’ because she’s confused,” I said. “She investigates. She remembers. She understands.”
My father’s expression hardened.
“She also trusts Ben Carter, which may cost her everything.”
“Did you cause her medical emergency?”
His eyes widened.
“No.”
“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.
