Chapter 11 - THE RED ENVELOPE
Ethan had seen the envelope.
He remembered it clearly now.
Thick red paper.
No writing on the front.
He had never opened it because his grandfather told him not to.
“What was inside?”
Claire hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Ethan frowned.
“But Grandpa told you about it.”
“Only once.”
Samuel had called Claire three weeks before his death.
He sounded frightened.
“If anything happens,” Samuel told her, “Ethan has the last piece.”
Claire assumed he meant the silver key.
Now she realized he meant something else.
Richard had the envelope.
Or someone working with him did.
Detective Bennett returned from the quarry.
Rebecca was in custody.
Cole had escaped.
When Bennett heard about the messages, she immediately traced the number.
Disposable phone.
No location.
Rebecca was brought to the hospital under guard.
The moment Claire saw her sister, years of silence filled the room.
Rebecca looked older than Claire remembered.
Harder.
But unmistakably the same woman.
Claire stood.
“You put me in a coffin.”
Rebecca looked away.
“I didn’t put you there.”
“You helped.”
“I thought you were unconscious.”
Claire laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You planned my funeral.”
Rebecca’s eyes flashed.
“You got everything.”
“What?”
“Dad’s company.”
“His money.”
“His trust.”
“He left me nothing.”
Claire stepped closer.
“You stole from him.”
“He chose you before that.”
Rebecca’s resentment had survived fourteen years.
Ethan watched from beside the door.
He suddenly understood something important.
Rebecca didn’t think she was the villain.
She thought she had been cheated.
That made her dangerous.
Bennett placed the photograph of the wooden box on the table.
“What’s in the red envelope?”
Rebecca stared at it.
“I don’t know.”
“Richard does.”
Rebecca looked surprised.
Bennett noticed.
“You didn’t know he had it.”
Rebecca said nothing.
Bennett leaned forward.
“Richard has been keeping secrets from all of you.”
Rebecca’s confidence cracked.
“Where is he?”
“We were hoping you’d tell us.”
Rebecca looked toward Claire.
Then she whispered.
“He has a storage unit.”
“Where?”
“Outside Boulder.”
Police obtained the address.
Inside the unit, investigators found Ethan’s wooden box.
But the red envelope was gone.
On the table lay a note.
CLAIRE WILL UNDERSTAND.
Beneath it was a time.
11:00 P.M.
And a location.
Samuel Parker Memorial Bridge.
Claire stared at the note.
“He wants me there.”
Bennett shook her head.
“He wants something from you.”
Claire looked at Ethan.
“No.”
Ethan understood immediately.
“He wants the key.”
“Which key?”
“The one Grandpa gave me.”
Bennett frowned.
“You used that key at the bank.”
May you like
Ethan reached into his pocket.
“That wasn’t the only one.”
