Chapter 12 - What Happened on the Cliff
Grant nearly entered the room.
Claire stopped him.
“Keep listening.”
Richard poured himself more wine.
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“He remembers fragments.”
“He said my name.”
Richard swore.
“You told me the sedation would stop the nightmares.”
“It did.”
“Until the maid interfered.”
Claire’s hands curled into fists.
Richard looked toward the hallway.
“What exactly did the boy see?”
Vanessa remained silent.
“Vanessa.”
She finally answered.
“He saw me before Laura left.”
Grant stared at the monitor.
Claire barely breathed.
Vanessa continued.
“He was sitting in the back seat.”
“I thought he was asleep.”
Richard’s face tightened.
“You told me the boy didn’t see you.”
“He saw me near the wheel.”
Claire understood.
Noah had been inside the SUV when Vanessa tampered with it.
That was why his memory centered on the garage.
Richard whispered.
“And at the cliff?”
Vanessa looked down.
“I followed them.”
Grant’s face changed.
Claire felt dread.
Richard stared at Vanessa.
“Why?”
“Because Laura called Grant from the car.”
“She said she was going to tell him everything.”
“She was still alive after the crash?”
Vanessa did not answer immediately.
Then she whispered.
“For a few minutes.”
Grant made a sound Claire had never heard from another human being.
A strangled breath of grief.
Richard leaned back.
“You went down there?”
Vanessa looked toward the dark windows.
“I reached the wreck before emergency services.”
“And?”
“She was conscious.”
Grant shut his eyes.
Claire gripped his arm.
Richard looked horrified.
“What did you do?”
Vanessa’s voice dropped almost beyond the microphone.
“I took her phone.”
Richard stared.
“You could have called an ambulance.”
“She was going to destroy us.”
“So you left her?”
Vanessa’s eyes were empty.
“She was already dying.”
Grant turned away from the monitor.
Claire could see his entire body shaking.
Then Vanessa added one more sentence.
“Noah saw me standing beside the car.”
Claire looked at Grant.
There it was.
The truth behind six years of silence.
Noah had not stopped speaking because he could not remember.
He stopped because he remembered too much.
Grant stepped into the dining room.
Vanessa and Richard froze.
May you like
Grant placed the hidden microphone receiver on the table.
“You just told my son’s story for him.”
