Chapter 15 - Marianne Hayes
Clara did not cry.
That scared Adrian more than if she had screamed.
She sat in the palace library staring at her mother’s photograph.
Evelyn sat beside her.
“I know her.”
Clara looked up sharply.
“What?”
Evelyn touched the photograph.
“Marianne.”
“You knew my mother?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She worked at Beaumont Medical.”
Clara felt the room tilt.
“My mother was a receptionist.”
“That’s what she told you.”
Clara stared.
Evelyn continued.
“She was a clinical records coordinator.”
“For Trial 17?”
Evelyn nodded.
Clara stood.
“No.”
“Clara.”
“No.”
“My mother hated hospitals.”
“She never even wanted to talk about them.”
“Because of what happened.”
Evelyn’s voice was gentle.
Clara walked away.
All her life, Marianne Hayes had been predictable.
Church on Sundays.
Coupon envelopes.
Old movies.
Overcooked chicken.
A woman who apologized when other people stepped on her foot.
Not someone connected to secret medical trials and billionaire families.
“What did she do?” Clara asked.
Evelyn looked down.
“She tried to expose the deaths.”
Clara turned.
Evelyn continued.
“Charles found her copying records.”
“He could have fired her.”
“He didn’t.”
“He listened.”
“That was the beginning of his break with Victor.”
Clara stared at Charles’s photograph.
“So my mother helped him?”
“Yes.”
“And Victor knew?”
“Eventually.”
Clara’s blood went cold.
“What happened?”
“Charles arranged for Marianne to leave the company.”
“He helped her find another job.”
“He promised her the evidence would eventually go to investigators.”
“Did it?”
Evelyn’s eyes filled with regret.
“No.”
Clara laughed bitterly.
“So Charles protected the Beaumont name.”
“Yes.”
“And my mother kept waiting?”
“I think so.”
Clara turned away.
All those years.
All those secrets.
Her mother had not simply known the truth.
She had lived beside it.
Adrian entered.
“Daniel found footage.”
Clara stood.
“Of my mother?”
“A black SUV left her street at 6:42.”
“Plate?”
“Stolen.”
“Anything else?”
“One traffic camera caught the driver.”
He showed her the image.
Calvin Reed.
Clara frowned.
“He’s cooperating with police.”
“He disappeared from protective custody three hours ago.”
Evelyn stared.
“Why?”
Adrian shook his head.
“Either Victor got to him.”
“Or Calvin was never cooperating.”
Clara’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
Adrian nodded.
“Answer.”
Clara put it on speaker.
Calvin’s voice came through.
“Hi, maid.”
Clara’s face hardened.
“Where is my mother?”
“She’s alive.”
“I want to hear her.”
A pause.
Then Marianne’s voice.
“Clara.”
Clara’s knees nearly gave out.
“Mom.”
“I’m okay.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
Calvin returned.
“You have one hour.”
“For what?”
“The box.”
Adrian shook his head.
Clara ignored him.
“Where?”
“Vanessa will send the location.”
The line went dead.
Adrian took Clara’s phone.
“You’re not going.”
Clara stared at him.
“She has my mother.”
“They will take the box and kill the leverage.”
“I don’t care about leverage.”
“I care about your mother too.”
“No, you care about evidence.”
The words landed hard.
Adrian stepped back.
Clara immediately regretted them.
But she was too frightened to apologize.
Evelyn spoke.
“There’s another copy.”
They both turned.
“What?”
Evelyn looked toward the opened wooden box.
“Charles never trusted one hiding place.”
She pointed to the blue cloth.
Inside its stitched hem was a second flash drive.
Adrian stared.
Evelyn smiled sadly.
“My husband was paranoid.”
Clara took the original box.
“So we give them what they want.”
Adrian understood.
“After copying everything.”
“Yes.”
Clara looked at him.
“And I go.”
Adrian started to object.
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“Vanessa wants to see me frightened.”
“Let her.”
“Because while she’s looking at me, she won’t be looking at you.”
Adrian stared at her.
Then slowly nodded.
For the first time, Clara was not simply reacting to Vanessa’s attack.
She was setting the trap.
May you like
And if Vanessa wanted another confrontation, Clara intended to make sure this one ended differently.
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