Chapter 12 - SOPHIE'S CHOICE
Celeste reached the dock.
Daniel turned the boat.
Ethan grabbed her arm and pulled her aboard.
Richard stopped at the edge of the water.
His face was twisted with rage.
“You can’t run forever!”
Ethan looked back at him.
“I don’t need forever.”
“I need one night.”
The boat disappeared into darkness.
Across the lake waited another road.
Daniel had arranged for state police to meet them.
For the first time since opening the suitcase, Ethan felt Sophie’s body begin to relax.
Then Celeste handed him her phone.
“I recorded him.”
Ethan stared at her.
“When?”
“Just now.”
She had activated the recorder before walking toward Richard.
His voice played clearly.
“You were supposed to put the girl on the plane.”
Celeste’s recorded voice answered.
“And then what?”
Richard said, “Once she reached Switzerland, Dorn would freeze the trust notification.”
“You’d make Ethan look unstable.”
“And Sophie would stay overseas until the guardianship changed.”
Celeste asked, “What if Ethan found Claire’s recording?”
Richard laughed.
“He should have found it six years ago.”
Then came the most important part.
Celeste asked, “You were there when Claire died, weren’t you?”
Silence.
Richard answered.
“She forced my hand.”
Ethan stopped the audio.
That was enough.
More than enough.
Police lights appeared across the distant road.
Sophie looked up.
“Are the police taking Celeste away?”
Celeste lowered her eyes.
Ethan answered carefully.
“She has to tell them what happened.”
Sophie nodded.
Then she surprised everyone.
“I want her to tell the truth.”
Celeste looked at her.
“So do I.”
At the dock, officers surrounded them.
Daniel immediately turned over copies of the documents.
Samuel began explaining the trust scheme.
Celeste offered her phone without being asked.
Ethan gave a detective Claire’s recordings.
The detective listened to less than one minute before calling for additional units.
Richard’s men were detained at the lake property.
Richard himself was gone.
He had disappeared into the woods.
By dawn, roads throughout the county were being watched.
Ethan sat inside the back of an ambulance while a paramedic checked Sophie.
She was tired.
Frightened.
But physically okay.
She leaned against Ethan.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can we go home?”
Ethan thought about the mansion.
The suitcase.
The blue room.
Celeste’s betrayal.
Richard standing on the staircase.
“No.”
Sophie looked surprised.
Ethan kissed her forehead.
“We’re going somewhere that feels like home.”
Then Daniel approached.
His expression was serious.
“Ethan.”
“They searched Richard’s SUV.”
“What did they find?”
Daniel handed him a photograph.
It showed Ethan leaving his office two days earlier.
Another showed Sophie at school.
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Another showed Claire at the lake house six years ago.
Someone had been watching their family far longer than Richard had admitted.
