Chapter 5 - What Charles Whitmore Knew
Dominic's wound was superficial.
Claire's wasn't.
At dawn, she still sat in the library.
“You haven't slept,” Dominic said.
“You got hurt because of me.”
“I got hurt because someone made a mistake protecting us.”
“You pushed me away from the shot.”
“I would do it again.”
Claire looked at him.
“Don't say that.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know what you expect me to do with it.”
“Nothing.”
Dominic sat opposite her.
“It means exactly what it means.”
Claire's heartbeat betrayed her.
Before she could answer, investigators arrived.
Patrick's accounts showed hundreds of thousands in payments from WPM Strategic Holdings.
Rebecca's company.
The funding originated inside Whitmore Freight.
Charles had approved many of the transfers.
Claire paced.
“Maybe he didn't know.”
Dominic said nothing.
“He loved my mother.”
Still nothing.
“I remember them dancing in the kitchen.”
Her voice cracked.
“He brought her flowers.”
Tears came.
“I thought he became cruel because losing her destroyed him.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“What if I spent fifteen years grieving a man who never existed?”
“You need the truth.”
“From him.”
Dominic objected.
Claire went anyway.
He went with her.
Eight security officers entered the Whitmore mansion.
Charles waited in the foyer.
Rebecca beside him.
Claire dropped financial records onto the table.
“WPM.”
Rebecca became still.
Charles went pale.
“You knew,” Claire said.
“Claire—”
“You knew.”
Rebecca whispered toward Charles.
“Don't.”
Claire heard fear.
For the first time, Rebecca Price Whitmore looked afraid.
Claire held up Anne's letter.
“Mom found Victor.”
Rebecca's jaw tightened.
“She found you.”
Charles sank into a chair.
“Tell me,” Claire said.
Charles looked suddenly old.
“I never ordered Anne's death.”
“Did you work with Victor?”
Silence.
“Dad.”
“Yes.”
Claire stepped backward.
Dominic's hand caught her elbow.
Charles began explaining.
Whitmore Freight had been collapsing.
He'd made terrible private investments.
He borrowed from Victor.
Victor demanded shipping access.
Charles allowed it.
Anne found out.
“I was trying to save the company,” Charles whispered.
“You were trying to save yourself.”
Rebecca laughed.
“At least say it properly, Charles.”
Claire turned toward her.
“What did you do to my mother?”
Rebecca's expression hardened.
“I did what was necessary.”
Dominic's security moved slightly.
Charles looked at Rebecca in horror.
“She wasn't supposed to die.”
Claire's entire body froze.
“What?”
Charles began crying.
“Victor said he only wanted the files.”
“You knew Victor was going to stop her?”
“I thought he'd frighten her.”
“You knew she was in danger.”
“I told her not to leave that night.”
“But you didn't tell police.”
“If police came, everything would've been exposed.”
Claire's eyes burned.
“The money.”
“The routes.”
“The loans,” Charles whispered.
“You chose yourself.”
“No.”
“You chose yourself!”
Her voice echoed through the mansion.
A movement came from upstairs.
Emily appeared.
“Stop!”
She was crying.
In her hands was a small recorder.
Rebecca's face changed.
“Emily, give me that.”
“No.”
Emily descended.
“I heard you last night.”
Rebecca moved forward.
Dominic's guards blocked her.
Emily handed Claire the recorder.
“I found it hidden in Mom's things.”
“What is it?”
“Old conversations.”
“With who?”
Emily looked at Rebecca.
“Victor.”
Dominic pressed play.
Static.
Then Rebecca's younger voice.
“Anne leaves the fundraiser at eleven.”
A man's voice.
“And Charles?”
“He thinks we're only taking the documents.”
Charles covered his face.
The recording continued.
“After the crash, he'll do what we need.”
Claire could no longer feel her hands.
Then Victor asked:
“And the girl?”
Rebecca answered:
“Claire can be useful later.”
Silence.
Rebecca looked around the foyer.
The perfect house.
The wealthy family.
The lie she'd built for fifteen years.
For the first time, there was nowhere left to hide.
Claire looked at Charles.
“You didn't kill her.”
Charles looked up desperately.
“No.”
“But you knew enough to save her.”
His face collapsed.
May you like
Claire's voice became quiet.
“And you chose not to.”
