Chapter 7 — The Recording Julianne Deleted
Chapter 7 — The Recording Julianne Deleted
Julianne deleted the recording at 11:43 p.m.
She thought that was the end of it.
She was wrong.
Because she didn't know the phone had already synchronized with another device.
And she definitely didn't know someone had been watching the entire time.
The federal evidence room was colder than the rest of the building.
I sat across from Agent Moore while a technician connected Julianne's recovered phone to a forensic workstation.
The screen remained black.
“Are you sure this is her phone?” I asked.
Moore nodded.
“Recovered from the yacht.”
“Then why isn't there anything on it?”
“There was.”
He looked at the technician.
“Until Julianne wiped it.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did she delete?”
“Everything.”
“Everything?”
“Messages. Photos. Videos. Cloud credentials. Call logs.”
I stared at the phone.
“She knew.”
“Yes.”
“She knew investigators were coming.”
“Apparently.”
“How?”
Moore didn't answer.
The technician interrupted.
“We have something.”
Everyone turned.
A progress bar appeared.
Twenty percent.
Thirty.
Forty.
Then stopped.
The technician frowned.
“Encrypted partition.”
“Can you open it?”
“Eventually.”
“How long?”
He looked at Moore.
“Could be hours.”
I stood.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“No what?”
“I don't have hours.”
Moore studied me.
“What are you going to do?”
I looked at Julianne's phone.
“Find the recording.”
The technician finally opened the partition at 2:16 a.m.
A single file appeared.
No name.
No extension.
Created:
December 23, 11:39 p.m.
Modified:
December 23, 11:43 p.m.
Deleted:
December 23, 11:44 p.m.
I stared.
“That was four minutes.”
“Yes.”
“Four minutes of what?”
The technician pressed play.
Static.
Then voices.
Julianne.
David.
And another man.
My heart stopped.
I knew the third voice.
It was Dr. Lane.
David sounded nervous.
“You said the medication wouldn't kill her.”
Dr. Lane answered:
“It wasn't supposed to.”
Julianne interrupted.
“You said she'd be unconscious.”
“She should have been.”
David's voice became sharper.
“Then why did she die?”
Silence.
Then Julianne whispered:
“Because somebody changed the dosage.”
I closed my eyes.
Moore stopped the recording.
“That's enough.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Play it.”
He did.
This time, I listened carefully.
Dr. Lane spoke again.
“I didn't change anything.”
Julianne laughed.
“Then somebody did.”
David asked:
“Who?”
No answer.
Then a sound.
A door opening.
Someone entering the room.
The recording ended.
I stared at the screen.
“That's it?”
The technician nodded.
“The file was damaged.”
“Can you recover the rest?”
“Maybe.”
“How?”
“There's another copy.”
I turned.
“Where?”
He pointed toward the metadata.
“External synchronization.”
“What device?”
He read the information.
“Julianne's smartwatch.”
I almost laughed.
“The watch?”
“Yes.”
“Recover it.”
The smartwatch was in evidence storage.
A small black device.
Harmless.
Almost ridiculous.
But inside it was the missing four minutes.
The technician extracted the audio.
This time there was no static.
The conversation continued.
David:
“Tell me what happened.”
Dr. Lane:
“I don't know.”
Julianne:
“You're lying.”
Dr. Lane:
“I swear.”
Julianne:
“Then explain why the dosage was triple.”
Silence.
David:
“Triple?”
Julianne:
“Yes.”
David:
“Who authorized that?”
Another silence.
Then Dr. Lane said:
“Someone with your access code.”
My blood ran cold.
David's voice dropped.
“Who has my code?”
Julianne answered.
“I do.”
Silence.
Then:
“So does Claire.”
I looked at Agent Moore.
“Claire.”
He nodded.
David asked:
“Which one of them accessed the system?”
Dr. Lane whispered:
“Both.”
I stared at the screen.
“Both?”
Moore raised a hand.
“Wait.”
The recording continued.
David:
“Claire was supposed to be in Boston.”
Julianne:
“She wasn't.”
“Where was she?”
“At the hospital.”
My heart tightened.
“When?”
“The night Lily died.”
I stood so quickly my chair fell backward.
“Find Claire.”
Moore was already making a call.
“She's missing.”
“Since when?”
“Since yesterday.”
I looked at the technician.
“Anything else?”
He shook his head.
Then his eyes widened.
“There is one more file.”
“Play it.”
The screen displayed a video.
No sound at first.
A hospital hallway.
December 23.
11:12 p.m.
Claire walked into the frame.
She was carrying a small black bag.
She looked around.
Then entered Lily's room.
My breath caught.
The video continued.
Claire approached the IV stand.
She removed something from her bag.
A syringe.
I covered my mouth.
“No.”
Moore stared.
Claire injected something into the IV line.
Then she stepped back.
She looked at Lily.
For several seconds, she simply stood there.
Then she whispered something.
The audio was faint.
The technician enhanced it.
Claire said:
“I'm sorry.”
Then she walked out.
I couldn't breathe.
Moore looked at me.
“Do you recognize what she injected?”
“No.”
The technician zoomed in.
The label became visible.
A medication.
The same compound Dr. Reed had identified.
Triple concentration.
My knees weakened.
“That killed her.”
Moore nodded.
“Probably.”
I stared at the screen.
Claire had been inside Lily's room.
Claire had access.
Claire had the code.
Claire had disappeared.
And Julianne had known.
But there was something else.
Something that made no sense.
I looked at the timestamp.
11:12 p.m.
Lily died at 11:31.
Nineteen minutes.
“Why did she wait?”
Moore looked at me.
“What?”
“If Claire wanted Lily dead, why did she wait nineteen minutes?”
He didn't answer.
I replayed the video.
Claire injected the drug.
Then looked at Lily.
Then left.
But just before she exited, she turned.
And looked directly toward the camera.
She knew it was there.
I froze.
“She wanted someone to see her.”
Moore stepped closer.
“Why?”
I stared at the screen.
“Because she wasn't hiding.”
We found Claire at dawn.
Not in Boston.
Not at an airport.
Not overseas.
She was in a motel forty miles outside Chicago.
Alive.
Alone.
And waiting.
When the agents entered the room, she didn't resist.
She simply said:
“I've been waiting for Maya.”
They brought her to the federal building.
She looked different without David beside her.
Smaller.
Older.
Afraid.
I sat across from her.
“You killed my daughter.”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
“You injected her.”
“Yes.”
“You used a triple dose.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she would die.”
“No.”
I slammed my hand against the table.
“Then why?”
Claire flinched.
“Because I was trying to save her.”
I stared at her.
“You poisoned her to save her?”
“Yes.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
She looked toward Agent Moore.
“May I tell her?”
Moore nodded.
Claire took a breath.
“Lily had already been poisoned.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Before I entered the room.”
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“The medication I injected was an antidote.”
Silence.
I stared at her.
“An antidote?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Lily die?”
“Because it was too late.”
Claire's voice broke.
“Someone had already given her the wrong compound.”
“When?”
“Earlier that evening.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why did you disappear?”
“Because David told me to.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because he was terrified.”
“Of what?”
Claire looked at Moore.
Then back at me.
“Of being blamed.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He should have been.”
“I know.”
“Did he order you to destroy the evidence?”
“Yes.”
“Did Julianne know?”
“Yes.”
“Did she record you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Claire looked at me.
“Because Julianne wanted protection.”
“From whom?”
“David.”
I stared.
“Julianne was afraid of David?”
Claire nodded.
“He had been threatening her.”
“For what?”
“She wanted to leave.”
“Then why stay?”
“Because she knew too much.”
Claire leaned forward.
“David wasn't the only person Julianne was afraid of.”
“Who else?”
She looked at me.
“Eleanor.”
My stomach tightened.
“David's mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor hired her.”
“To do what?”
Claire hesitated.
“Watch you.”
I felt cold.
“Watch me?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Three years.”
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor wanted to know if you would discover the trust.”
I stared at her.
“But David knew about the trust.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Eleanor need Julianne?”
“Because David was no longer obeying her.”
That surprised me.
“David had stopped obeying his mother?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After Lily was born.”
“Why?”
Claire's voice dropped.
“Because he started loving your daughter.”
I almost laughed.
“David?”
“Yes.”
“He ignored fifty calls while she was dying.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“Then don't tell me he loved her.”
“He did.”
“Then why?”
“Because fear was stronger.”
“Fear of what?”
Claire looked at me.
“Eleanor.”
The room went silent.
“Tell me everything.”
Claire swallowed.
“Eleanor told David that if he ever tried to leave the family operation, Lily would disappear.”
My blood froze.
“She threatened my daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Lily was the key to the trust.”
“The trust again.”
Claire nodded.
“Everyone wanted it.”
“Who?”
“Eleanor.”
“David.”
“Your father.”
“Nathaniel Sterling.”
I stared.
“You know Nathaniel?”
Claire looked frightened.
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why does everyone keep saying his name?”
“Because he's the only person who can override the trust.”
I felt cold.
“Why?”
“Because he created the original security protocol.”
I remembered the DNA report.
Lily.
Nathaniel.
The trust.
Everything connected.
Then Claire said:
“And because he isn't Lily's father.”
I stared.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“The DNA report was falsified.”
My heart stopped.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“Then who is Lily's father?”
Claire looked at me.
“David.”
I couldn't speak.
“What?”
“David is Lily's biological father.”
“But the DNA report—”
“Fake.”
“Who created it?”
“Your father.”
“Why?”
Claire lowered her eyes.
“To make everyone believe Lily belonged to Nathaniel.”
I felt the room spinning.
“Why would my father do that?”
“Because Nathaniel was protecting the trust.”
“And David?”
“He wanted control.”
I stared at her.
“My father made a fake DNA report to protect Lily?”
“Yes.”
“And he made me believe—”
“He wanted David to think Lily could never inherit directly through him.”
I closed my eyes.
Everything I thought I knew was collapsing.
My daughter was David's.
The trust belonged to Lily.
My father had built an elaborate deception around her.
And somewhere inside it was a person who knew the truth.
Someone who had been watching all of us.
I opened my eyes.
“Where is Nathaniel?”
Claire looked terrified.
“I don't know.”
“Who does?”
She whispered:
“Your mother.”
I froze.
“My mother is dead.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“She isn't dead.”
The room went silent.
Claire leaned forward.
“Your mother disappeared.”
“That's not possible.”
“I saw her.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“Where?”
Claire looked toward the door.
“On the yacht.”
My blood ran cold.
“Whose yacht?”
She whispered:
“David's.”
I couldn't breathe.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
Stop looking for Lily's killer.
Another appeared.
You are looking for the wrong dead woman.
Then the final message.
Your mother is waiting for you.
I stared at the screen.
For fourteen days, I had believed the worst thing that happened to me was losing my daughter.
Now I understood.
Lily's death had been only the beginning.
And somewhere out there, my mother—whom I had mourned for twenty years—was alive.
Watching.
May you like
Waiting.
And apparently, she knew exactly who killed my daughter.
