Chapter 7 - THE ATTORNEY WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Rebecca Sloan was not dead.
But someone had clearly wanted Claire to believe she was.
Six days before the funeral, Claire had received an email saying Rebecca had died in a highway accident.
The message appeared to come from Rebecca’s law firm.
Claire had been devastated.
Rebecca was the only person outside the family who knew everything.
She had copies of Richard’s financial records.
She had recordings.
She had prepared divorce papers.
She had also drafted an emergency petition preventing Richard from accessing Ethan’s trust.
Detective Ortiz called Rebecca’s law office from the hospital.
Rebecca answered herself.
Claire began crying the moment she heard her voice.
“Rebecca?”
There was a long silence.
“Claire?”
Rebecca sounded confused.
Then frightened.
“Claire, where are you?”
“In the hospital.”
“What happened?”
“You never died.”
“No.”
Rebecca’s voice sharpened.
“Who told you I did?”
Ortiz took the phone.
Within an hour, Rebecca arrived with two security guards and a hard black case.
She looked at Claire, then at Ethan.
“I tried contacting you all week.”
Claire shook her head.
“My email stopped working.”
“Your number too.”
Richard had taken control of Claire’s digital accounts.
Rebecca opened the black case.
Inside were copies of everything Claire had given her.
But there was more.
Rebecca had discovered that Richard was preparing to petition the court for permanent control over Daniel Parker’s estate.
The petition could only succeed if Claire was dead or declared legally incapable.
Richard had prepared both routes simultaneously.
“If she died,” Rebecca explained, “he would claim rights through the marriage.”
“And if she lived?” Megan asked.
“He would use Dr. Vale’s records to argue she was incompetent.”
Ethan understood.
Richard had built two traps.
Claire had almost fallen into both.
Rebecca removed another document.
“This is what frightened me most.”
It was a guardianship petition concerning Ethan.
Richard had filled it out eleven days earlier.
He had not filed it yet.
But the paperwork requested full legal authority over Ethan’s finances.
Megan stared at the signature line.
“He was going after a twelve-year-old’s money.”
“Approximately eleven million dollars by the time Ethan turns eighteen.”
Ethan felt sick.
Rebecca looked at Claire.
“I also found evidence of an offshore transfer scheduled for September 18.”
The same date written on Paul Mercer’s photograph.
Ortiz leaned forward.
“How much?”
“Everything they could move.”
“So burial was only step one.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Step two was emptying the estate.”
“And step three?”
Rebecca looked at Ethan.
“Leaving the country.”
A technician entered the room before anyone could respond.
“We traced Claire’s phone.”
Ortiz stood.
“Where?”
The technician handed her a map.
The final signal had not come from the house.
It had come from a motel near Interstate 84.
Police reached the motel twenty minutes later.
They found Claire’s phone inside Room 17.
They also found blood on the bathroom sink.
But there was no Dr. Vale.
No Paul Mercer.
Only a handwritten message on the mirror.
May you like
YOU SAVED HER ONCE.
YOU WON’T DO IT TWICE.
