Chapter 7 — The Girlfriend Who Knew
Chapter 7 — The Girlfriend Who Knew
Kendra knew.
That was the first thing I understood when Margaret finished reading Claire's message.
She hadn't simply known about Daniel's money.
She hadn't merely known that he had stolen from me.
She knew about Thomas.
She knew about the surveillance.
And most frightening of all, she knew about the night he died.
But she had never told me.
We found Kendra at the airport.
She was standing beside a luggage cart with two suitcases, a designer handbag, and a phone pressed against her ear.
She looked nothing like the woman who had screamed at Daniel three days earlier.
She looked calm.
Almost relieved.
Then she saw us.
Her face changed.
She turned around.
Benjamin stepped in front of her.
“Kendra.”
She stopped.
“I don't have anything to say.”
“You do,” Margaret said.
Kendra looked at me.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered:
“I'm sorry.”
I felt something tighten inside my chest.
“Why?”
She looked down.
“Because I should have told you.”
“Told me what?”
She glanced around the terminal.
“Not here.”
Margaret pointed toward a private conference room.
“You're coming with us.”
Kendra didn't resist.
Inside the room, she sat across from me.
Her hands trembled.
“You think I was with Daniel because of the money.”
“Weren't you?”
“At first.”
The honesty surprised me.
She looked at me.
“I knew he was rich. I knew his mother had money. I knew he would eventually inherit everything.”
“And?”
“I didn't know how far he would go.”
I stared at her.
“Then when did you know?”
Kendra swallowed.
“The night he sold your wheelchair.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I knew before that.”
“How long?”
“Almost two years.”
My stomach dropped.
“Two years?”
“Yes.”
“What did you know?”
She looked at Margaret.
“Everything.”
Kendra began talking.
Daniel had met her at a private business dinner.
He told her he was the heir to a fortune.
He told her his mother was ill.
He told her she was confused.
He told her the trust was essentially his.
“He said you were going to die soon,” Kendra said quietly.
I closed my eyes.
“He said you wouldn't even know what happened.”
I opened them again.
“What else?”
“He showed me documents.”
“What documents?”
“Medical evaluations.”
My hands tightened around the wheelchair.
“They weren't real.”
“I didn't know that.”
“You should have.”
“I know.”
Kendra looked ashamed.
“He said you had early dementia.”
“I don't.”
“I know.”
“When did you find out?”
“After I moved in.”
She looked at me.
“You were nothing like what he described.”
That almost made me laugh.
“That's when you realized?”
“Yes.”
“Yet you stayed.”
She lowered her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because by then I was afraid of him.”
Kendra told us about the first threat.
She had confronted Daniel after discovering he had been altering my medication schedule.
“What are you doing?” she had asked him.
He told her it was necessary.
“He said you needed to be dependent on him.”
My stomach turned.
“Why?”
“So you couldn't live without him.”
I remembered those years.
The medication.
The exhaustion.
The dizziness.
The appointments I couldn't remember.
The moments when I wondered whether my mind was failing.
Daniel hadn't been helping me.
He had been weakening me.
Kendra wiped her eyes.
“I asked him why.”
“And?”
“He said, ‘Because once she's afraid to be alone, she'll sign anything.’”
Silence filled the room.
Benjamin's fists tightened.
I looked at him.
He looked away.
“There was another woman,” Kendra said.
“Who?”
“Claire.”
My heart stopped.
“What about her?”
“She wasn't working with Daniel.”
“Then why was she involved?”
“She was trying to expose him.”
“Why didn't she come to me?”
“Because Daniel told her you'd never believe her.”
I looked at Margaret.
That sounded like something Daniel would do.
Kendra continued.
“Claire discovered that Daniel had been meeting Victor Hale.”
“For what?”
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
Kendra shook her head.
“I heard them once.”
“What did they say?”
She looked frightened.
“They were talking about Thomas.”
The room went silent.
“What about him?”
Kendra's voice became almost inaudible.
“They said his death had been necessary.”
I felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath me.
“Who said it?”
“Victor.”
“And Daniel?”
“He didn't deny it.”
My hands began shaking.
“Was Daniel involved in Thomas's death?”
Kendra stared at me.
“I don't know.”
“You heard them.”
“I heard enough to be afraid.”
“Tell me exactly what you heard.”
She closed her eyes.
Then she repeated the words.
“Victor said, ‘Your father should have signed the papers.’”
Kendra swallowed.
“Daniel said, ‘He wasn't going to.’”
Victor replied:
“Then you knew what had to happen.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What did Daniel say?”
Kendra looked at me.
“He said, ‘I know.’”
Benjamin stood.
“I need air.”
He walked toward the window.
I understood.
Thomas had been killed because he refused to sign something.
But what?
Margaret opened the trust file.
“Maybe we already know.”
She pointed to the beneficiary amendment.
“Claire was added six months before Thomas died.”
“Why would Thomas give her anything?”
“Because she may have been holding something.”
“Something valuable?”
“No.”
Margaret looked at me.
“Something dangerous.”
Kendra whispered:
“The recording.”
We all turned toward her.
“What recording?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Then why did you say that?”
“Because Daniel told Victor the recording had to be destroyed.”
I felt cold.
“What recording?”
Kendra stared at me.
“Thomas's final recording.”
We had already found recordings.
But perhaps we hadn't found the final one.
Daniel had been hiding something else.
Kendra knew where.
“His old office.”
“What office?”
“A private office in the hotel.”
“Which hotel?”
“The Caldwell Grand.”
Margaret immediately called security.
“Get there before Daniel.”
But Kendra shook her head.
“He won't go there.”
“Why?”
“Because he already knows we know.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
“Because I warned him.”
“You warned Daniel?”
“I told him I was leaving.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“What did he say?”
Kendra looked at me.
“He said, ‘If you talk, your mother dies.’”
I froze.
“Your mother?”
Kendra nodded.
“She lives in Arizona.”
“Is she safe?”
“I don't know.”
We moved quickly.
By the time we reached the hotel, Daniel was already there.
Security footage showed him entering the building at 8:43 a.m.
He wasn't alone.
Victor Hale's former assistant was with him.
The two men entered the private office.
Then the cameras went dark.
Margaret stared at the monitor.
“Someone disabled them.”
I looked at Kendra.
“Can you get us inside?”
She nodded.
“I still have a key.”
The office was exactly as I remembered it.
Dark wood.
Leather furniture.
Thomas's old photograph on the wall.
Daniel had never removed it.
I wondered why.
Perhaps because even after Thomas died, Daniel had still wanted his father's approval.
Or perhaps the photograph was simply a reminder of what he had taken.
Kendra went directly to the bookshelf.
She removed three books.
Nothing happened.
Then she removed a fourth.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a small recorder.
Kendra stared at it.
“That's it.”
Margaret took it.
Before she could press play, the office door slammed shut.
Daniel stood outside.
His face was pale.
He had heard us.
“Give it to me.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
He stared at me.
“Mom, you don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“You're in danger.”
“From whom?”
He didn't answer.
I rolled toward him.
“Did you kill your father?”
His face crumpled.
“No.”
“Did you help someone kill him?”
“No.”
“Did you know it was going to happen?”
Silence.
That was enough.
I looked at him.
“You knew.”
He closed his eyes.
“I knew something was going to happen.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I was twenty-nine.”
“So was I when I became your mother.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I was scared.”
“You should have been.”
Then Kendra spoke.
“You weren't scared of Victor.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You were scared of the person above him.”
His face changed.
I felt the room become colder.
“What person?”
Daniel looked at me.
Then at Kendra.
Then at the recorder.
He whispered:
“Ask your mother.”
I froze.
“My mother?”
“Your mother knew.”
“My mother died twelve years ago.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That's what you were told.”
I stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
He stepped backward.
“Your mother didn't die when you think she did.”
Margaret's face went pale.
“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
“You know.”
Margaret didn't answer.
I turned toward her.
“Margaret?”
She looked at me.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“When we found Claire.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother wasn't the person you believed she was.”
I couldn't speak.
Daniel suddenly reached for the recorder.
Kendra grabbed his arm.
He shoved her away.
She fell against the desk.
I shouted.
“Stop!”
Daniel froze.
Then the recorder slipped from his hand.
It hit the floor.
The battery cover came loose.
And beneath it was a tiny handwritten label.
I picked it up.
The handwriting was Thomas's.
Only four words.
Evelyn, trust no one.
The recorder clicked.
A voice began playing.
Thomas.
His voice was weak.
But clear.
“If you're hearing this, Daniel has already failed.”
I closed my eyes.
The recording continued.
“Evelyn, there is one thing I never told you.”
A pause.
“Your mother is alive.”
My eyes opened.
Margaret stopped breathing.
Benjamin whispered:
“No.”
Thomas continued.
“She has been living under another name.”
Then the recording ended.
No explanation.
No location.
No warning.
Only one final sentence appeared on the recorder's tiny screen:
ASK HER WHY SHE LEFT.
I looked at Margaret.
“Find her.”
Margaret nodded.
But before she could move, her phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed instantly.
“What?”
She listened.
Then looked at me.
“Evelyn…”
“What happened?”
Margaret swallowed.
“They found Claire.”
“Where?”
“Outside the city.”
“Is she alive?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Yes.”
Relief hit me.
Then she added:
“But she was found beside a second body.”
My heart stopped.
“Whose?”
Margaret looked at Daniel.
May you like
Then at me.
“Your mother's.”
