Chapter 3 - The Red Box
Claire didn't tell Ethan about the red box.
She waited until he left to speak with Detective Reed.
“I need to go home.”
“You're not ready.”
“I need to see what's missing.”
Reed agreed to take her.
When Claire entered the bedroom that evening, everything looked normal.
Too normal.
The closet was untouched.
The drawers were closed.
The bed was made.
But underneath it, the red box was gone.
Claire stared at the empty space.
Someone had known exactly where to look.
Reed noticed her expression.
“What was inside?”
“My mother's letters.”
Claire's mother had died when she was nineteen.
The letters were the only things she had left.
Except one.
A letter Claire had never opened.
It had been sealed for fifteen years.
She had always been afraid of what it contained.
Now it was gone.
Reed asked, “Why would someone steal old letters?”
“I don't know.”
Then Claire noticed something on the floor.
A tiny silver button.
She picked it up.
Her fingers went cold.
It matched the coat Ethan had worn that afternoon.
When Ethan returned, Claire placed the button on the table.
His face changed.
“Where did you find that?”
“In our bedroom.”
He stared at it.
Then he said, “Vanessa.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“You're going to blame her again?”
“She was wearing that coat.”
“No.”
Claire stepped closer.
“You were.”
Ethan didn't deny it.
For the first time, he looked exhausted.
“I went into the bedroom.”
“When?”
“After you collapsed.”
“Why?”
“To find the letter.”
Claire's heart slammed against her ribs.
“You knew about it?”
“I knew your mother left something.”
“How?”
Ethan sat down.
“Because she contacted me before she died.”
Claire couldn't breathe.
“What did she say?”
“That she was afraid you would never believe the truth.”
“What truth?”
Ethan looked toward the doorway.
“About your father.”
Claire's knees weakened.
Her father had died when she was six.
She had spent her entire life believing he died in a car accident.
Ethan reached into his pocket.
He pulled out an old photograph.
It showed Claire's parents standing beside a house.
And behind them stood Vanessa's mother.
Claire stared.
“This is impossible.”
Ethan whispered, “Your mother knew her.”
“Why?”
“Because they were involved in the same investigation.”
“What investigation?”
Ethan didn't answer.
A phone rang.
It was Lily's.
Claire grabbed it.
There was no number.
Only a message.
ONE OF THEM IS LYING ABOUT YOUR FATHER.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
ASK ETHAN WHO WAS DRIVING THE CAR.
