Chapter 12 - Page Forty-Seven
The missing page was not missing from Daniel's journal.
That was the first thing Leah confirmed.
She called Helena at the shop and told her to count every sheet twice.
Page forty-seven sat exactly where it belonged between forty-six and forty-eight.
The problem was what had been written on it.
Helena photographed the page and sent it through an encrypted message.
Willow opened the image inside a secure conference room provided by federal agents.
Daniel's handwriting covered only half the paper.
Claire says she found the secondary authorization.
It is not Richard's signature.
If she is right, Marion has been signing for him through Kendrick since Father's death.
I do not know whether she is helping him or trying to survive him.
Claire says not to confront Marion until she copies the original.
Below the paragraph, Daniel had written an account number and three initials.
M.E.S.
Willow stared at the page.
“Marion Eleanor Sterling.”
Michael nodded slowly.
Leah's expression was grim.
“So the text wasn't random.”
“They want the original secondary authorization.”
“Do we have it?” Willow asked.
Michael shook his head.
“I have never seen it.”
“Could Claire have hidden it?”
“She hid everything.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It is the only one I have.”
Willow paced the small room.
Federal agents were searching for Amanda and Marion.
Traffic cameras had captured Marion's sedan leaving the hotel with Amanda in the passenger seat.
No one appeared to be forcing either woman.
Ten minutes later, the car disappeared beneath an expressway overpass.
Its license plates were found abandoned in an alley.
Willow stopped pacing.
“What if they aren't hostages?”
Leah looked up.
“What?”
“What if Marion took Amanda somewhere on purpose?”
Michael frowned.
“The threat photo?”
“Could be staged.”
Leah considered it.
“Why?”
“Page forty-seven implicates Marion.”
Willow looked at the image again.
“What if she came to us because she knew the journal was coming?”
Michael folded his arms.
“She confessed to Richard threatening Claire.”
“Confessing to one thing can hide another.”
Leah's eyes sharpened.
“Go on.”
“Marion told us Richard controlled everything.”
“She made herself sound frightened and passive.”
“But Daniel thought she was signing payments through Kendrick.”
Michael looked troubled.
“She may have been forced.”
“Maybe.”
Willow remembered Marion's perfect composure arriving at the shop.
Her tears had looked real.
Real emotion did not guarantee complete truth.
“What did Claire think?” Willow asked.
Michael stared at the photograph of the page.
“I don't know.”
“You knew her best.”
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
Willow frowned.
Michael looked toward the darkened window.
“Claire knew parts of herself she never gave me.”
His voice was quiet.
“She wanted to protect me too.”
The sentence softened Willow's anger toward him.
Secrets had passed through this story like inheritance.
Claire hid things from Michael.
Michael hid things from Willow.
Amanda hid the journal.
Marion hid her friendship with Claire.
Lucas hid surveillance.
Richard hid everything he could reach.
Silence had not protected anyone.
It had simply given the most powerful liar more room.
Willow's phone rang.
Unknown number again.
Leah motioned for her to put it on speaker.
Willow answered.
“Hello?”
Breathing came through the line.
Then Amanda's voice.
“Willow?”
Willow gripped the phone.
“Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you yet.”
Michael stepped closer.
“Is Marion with you?”
“Yes.”
Leah spoke.
“Amanda, federal agents are looking for both of you.”
“I know.”
“Did Marion force you to leave?”
“No.”
Willow closed her eyes.
“Then what are you doing?”
Amanda breathed out.
“Trying to find what Claire hid.”
Willow stared at Michael.
“You sent the threats?”
“No.”
“The photographs?”
“No.”
“Then somebody followed you.”
“We know.”
“Where are you?”
Amanda hesitated.
“Claire's old storage unit.”
Michael went white.
“What storage unit?”
Amanda answered slowly.
“Cicero.”
Michael shook his head.
“She never had one.”
Marion's voice came through in the background.
“Yes, she did.”
Willow's anger surged.
“Marion, get on the phone.”
A rustle followed.
Marion spoke.
“I’m here.”
“You lied to us.”
“Yes.”
Michael swore.
Marion continued quickly.
“Claire rented the unit under my maiden name.”
“Why?”
“Because she did not trust Richard.”
“Did she trust you?”
A pause.
“Not completely.”
“Smart woman.”
Marion accepted the insult.
“She told me there was one document she could not keep at home or work.”
“The secondary authorization?” Leah asked.
“I think so.”
“Why didn't you tell us at the shop?”
“Because I was afraid Michael would go there immediately.”
Michael leaned toward the phone.
“And?”
“And Richard has watched that facility on and off for years.”
Everyone went still.
“You took Amanda there anyway?” Willow asked.
“We did not go directly.”
“That does not answer the question.”
Marion's voice shook.
“I needed to know whether the document still existed before I confessed what it says.”
Willow looked at page forty-seven.
“What does it say?”
Marion began crying quietly.
“I signed payments.”
The room went silent.
“How many?” Leah asked.
“Dozens.”
“To Kendrick?”
“Yes.”
“Under Richard's authority?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Marion's voice nearly disappeared.
“Sometimes without it.”
Willow stared at the phone.
“Why?”
“Because Richard used the account for things he did not want on Sterling books.”
“Bribes?”
“Yes.”
“Dr. Voss?”
“Yes.”
“After Arthur died?”
“Yes.”
Michael gripped the edge of the table.
“What about Claire?”
Marion did not answer.
Michael's voice rose.
“What did you pay after Claire died?”
Marion began sobbing.
“Tell me.”
“Michael,” Leah warned.
“No.”
He stared at the phone as though Marion stood in front of him.
“What did you pay?”
Marion finally answered.
“A towing company.”
Michael went still.
Willow felt dread rise.
“What towing company?”
“Westline Recovery.”
Michael whispered the name like he knew it.
“That was the company that removed Claire's car.”
Marion cried harder.
“Yes.”
Willow's voice became cold.
“Why did you pay them?”
“Richard told me it was for cleanup.”
“Did you believe him?”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Willow closed her eyes.
“Then why did you sign?”
“Because Lucas was fourteen.”
“Stop using him as an excuse.”
Marion went silent.
Willow's hands trembled.
“You were scared.”
“Yes.”
“You were also protecting your life.”
“Yes.”
“Your house.”
“Yes.”
“Your name.”
“Yes.”
“Your money.”
Marion's voice cracked.
“Yes.”
Willow swallowed hard.
“Then say that.”
A long silence followed.
“I protected myself.”
Willow looked at Michael.
He turned away.
Amanda returned to the phone.
“We found a box.”
Leah stood.
“What is inside?”
“Bank copies.”
“Old photographs.”
“A cassette tape.”
Michael turned back.
“A cassette?”
“It has your name on it.”
Willow stared at him.
“What does it say?”
Amanda read the handwritten label.
MICHAEL - IF I DON'T COME HOME.
Michael's face collapsed.
For twenty-three years he had believed Claire died without leaving him an answer.
Now her voice was sitting inside a plastic cassette in a storage unit he never knew existed.
Willow whispered, “Play it.”
“No,” Leah said immediately.
“Not there.”
Amanda agreed.
“We're leaving.”
A loud metallic bang came through the phone.
Everyone froze.
Amanda gasped.
“What was that?” Willow asked.
No answer.
Another bang.
Then Marion whispered, “Someone's outside the unit.”
Leah grabbed her second phone and called federal agents.
“Amanda, do not open the door.”
Footsteps sounded through the speaker.
Slow.
Measured.
Then a man's voice came from somewhere beyond Amanda.
“Mrs. Sterling.”
Willow recognized it.
Evan Cole.
Marion began to breathe rapidly.
Cole spoke again.
May you like
“Richard would like his property back.”
The call went dead.
