Chapter 7 - The Rabbit
Claire drove to Rebecca’s house with Daniel and two police officers.
The stuffed rabbit sat untouched on the porch.
Inside, Lily was watching cartoons, unaware of the panic surrounding her.
Police collected the toy and note as evidence.
There were no fingerprints.
Daniel checked security footage.
A man wearing a baseball cap had approached from outside camera range.
He had never shown his face.
Claire called Ethan.
He answered immediately.
“What did you send to Rebecca’s house?”
“What are you talking about?”
“A rabbit.”
Silence.
“Claire, I didn’t send anything.”
“Someone threatened me using our daughter.”
Ethan’s voice changed.
“Is Lily okay?”
It was the first genuine fear Claire had heard from him.
“Yes.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“And you watched your mother abuse her.”
Ethan went quiet.
Claire continued.
“You don’t get to become protective because somebody else scared her.”
“Claire.”
“I made mistakes.”
“Mistakes?”
“You forged my signature.”
“I didn’t forge it.”
Claire froze.
Ethan lowered his voice.
“My mother handled the paperwork.”
“I signed documents I shouldn’t have signed.”
“But I never copied your signature.”
“Then who did?”
“I don’t know.”
Claire almost laughed.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to understand something.”
“My mother is afraid of someone too.”
“Who?”
“Victor.”
Claire looked at Daniel.
Ethan continued.
“Victor financed the development.”
“When costs exploded, he started demanding collateral.”
“My mother offered your property.”
Claire felt fury rise.
“She offered my home?”
“I told her you would never agree.”
“So she forged my signature.”
“I think so.”
“You think?”
Ethan’s voice cracked.
“I stopped asking questions months ago.”
Claire stared through Rebecca’s window.
“You’re a coward.”
“I know.”
The answer surprised her.
Then Ethan said something quieter.
“Victor was at the party because he expected the final transfer today.”
“When Lily grabbed that paper, my mother panicked.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Everything returned.
The food.
The insult.
Margaret’s rage.
“She humiliated a four-year-old to hide a crime.”
“I know.”
“And you defended her.”
Ethan did not answer.
Claire ended the call.
Daniel had been taking notes.
“Do you believe him?”
“About Victor?”
Claire looked at the rabbit.
“Maybe.”
“About being innocent?”
“No.”
Then a police officer entered.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
“We checked the camera network.”
“The man who delivered the rabbit left in a vehicle registered to Whitmore Holdings.”
Claire stared at him.
Ethan’s company.
Either Ethan was lying.
Or someone inside his company wanted Claire to believe he was.
Before she could decide which possibility was worse, her phone received a video.
It showed Lily’s bedroom.
May you like
Live.
Someone was inside Claire’s house filming her daughter’s empty bed.
