Chapter 5: The Call From My Dead Father
My phone kept ringing.
I stared at the screen.
The number was unfamiliar, but Daniel's reaction told me it wasn't random.
“It can't be,” I whispered.
Daniel shook his head.
“Don't answer.””
I looked at him.
“You said that number belonged to my father.””
“It did.””
“My father has been dead for twenty years.””
“I know.””
The phone continued buzzing in my hand.
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Claire, please.””
I looked at her.
“Please what?””
“Don't answer it.””
“Why?””
She glanced at Daniel.
He looked away.
That frightened me more than anything.
I pressed the green button.
“Hello?””
For three seconds, there was only static.
Then a man's voice came through.
Low.
Distorted.
But unmistakably familiar.
“Claire?””
My knees weakened.
I gripped the edge of the table.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it in old home videos.
On answering-machine recordings.
In a birthday tape my mother had kept hidden in a drawer.
My father's voice.
“Dad?””
Nobody moved.
The ballroom seemed to disappear around me.
“Dad, is that you?””
The voice breathed softly.
“You shouldn't have gone to the wedding.””
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Who is this?””
A pause.
Then:
“You have your father's courage.””
Daniel stepped toward me.
“Put it on speaker.””
I did.
The voice came through the phone again.
“Daniel.””
Daniel froze.
The color drained from his face.
“You know who I am?”” he asked.
“I've always known.””
Daniel looked at me.
Then at my mother.
She was shaking so badly that Graham had to steady her.
I raised the phone.
“If you're really him, tell me something only my father would know.””
Silence.
Then the voice said:
“When you were nine, you broke the kitchen window throwing a baseball. You blamed Vanessa.””
My breath caught.
Vanessa looked at me.
“That happened?””
I nodded.
I had completely forgotten it.
But my father hadn't.
The voice continued.
“You cried in the laundry room because you thought I would be angry.””
I closed my eyes.
I could see it.
The blue laundry basket.
The smell of detergent.
My scraped knee.
My father's old brown work boots beside me.
He had found me hiding there.
Instead of punishing me, he'd sat on the floor.
“Claire?””
I whispered.
“Yes.””
I was crying now.
“Where are you?””
“Not where you think.””
“What does that mean?””
“You opened the wrong door tonight.””
I frowned.
“What door?””
“The one your sister has spent years trying to keep closed.””
I looked at Vanessa.
She backed away.
“What did you do?”” I asked her.
“I didn't—”
My father's voice interrupted.
“Vanessa knows.””
She shut her eyes.
“Knows what?””
“She knows why I died.””
My entire body went numb.
“Then tell me.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
“Because they're listening.””
I looked around the ballroom.
Three hundred guests.
Security guards.
Waiters.
My mother.
Graham.
Daniel.
Everyone looked at everyone else.
“Who is listening?””
The call crackled.
Then the voice said something so quietly I almost missed it.
“Look at the chandelier.””
I looked up.
The giant crystal chandelier above the dance floor glittered in the emergency lights.
“Why?””
“Third crystal from the center.””
Daniel suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“Don't.””
I pulled away.
“Let me see.””
He looked up.
Then his expression changed.
“There.””
High among the crystals was a tiny black object.
A camera.
My stomach turned.
Someone had been recording us.
Daniel whispered, “We're being watched.””
Graham immediately turned toward the security staff.
“Shut this building down.””
One of the guards hurried over.
“Sir?””
“Lock the entrances. Nobody leaves.””
The guard hesitated.
Then another guard whispered something into his radio.
His expression changed.
“Sir…”
“What?””
“The security system is offline.””
Graham stared at him.
“When?””
“About ten minutes ago.””
Ten minutes.
Right before the lights went out.
Right before Daniel appeared.
Right before my father's number called.
Someone had planned this.
My phone crackled again.
“Claire.””
“I’m here.””
“Do you have the key?””
I looked at Lily.
She was still holding the tiny brass key.
“Yes.””
“Good.””
My father's voice dropped.
“Do not give it to anyone.””
My mother suddenly rushed toward us.
“Hang up!””
I stepped back.
“Why?””
“Because it's not him.””
“How do you know?””
She looked at the phone.
“Because your father is dead.””
The voice on the phone replied immediately.
“Eleanor.””
My mother stopped breathing.
Nobody had called my mother Eleanor since my father died.
Not even me.
The voice continued.
“You lied to her for twenty years.””
My mother's legs gave out.
She collapsed into a chair.
“John?””
The ballroom went silent.
My father's name.
She had said it like a prayer.
I felt dizzy.
“Mom…”
She covered her face.
“I’m sorry.””
I lowered the phone.
“Who is this?””
No answer.
“Who are you?””
Then came a different sound.
A door slamming.
Heavy footsteps.
Someone breathing.
And then the line went dead.
I stared at the screen.
“Call him back,” Daniel said.
“I can't.””
The number disappeared from my recent calls.
Not blocked.
Not disconnected.
Gone.
Graham took my phone.
“That isn't possible.””
He checked the call log.
“There is no incoming number.””
I looked at him.
“I saw it.””
“So did I,” Daniel said.
Graham looked at him.
“Then somebody spoofed it.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
“You can't know that.””
“I know my father.””
Graham frowned.
“You never met him.””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“I knew his voice.””
I looked at him.
“Daniel…”
He turned toward me.
“That wasn't a recording.””
“How do you know?””
“Because he called me too.””
My breath caught.
“When?””
“Three years ago.””
“What?””
Daniel looked ashamed.
“He contacted me after I found the first box.””
“There was another box?””
“Yes.””
I stepped closer.
“What was in it?””
“Your father's personal records.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I wanted to be certain.””
“Certain of what?””
“That you were safe.””
I shook my head.
“Everyone keeps saying they're protecting me.””
I looked around the ballroom.
“My mother. Vanessa. You.””
My voice broke.
“But nobody ever tells me what I'm supposed to be afraid of.””
Daniel stared at me.
“Your father had evidence against someone powerful.””
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
“You said he called you.””
“He told me not to trust anyone.””
“Did he tell you your mother's involved?””
Daniel looked toward her.
“Yes.””
My mother lowered her head.
“What did he say?””
Daniel hesitated.
“He said the person closest to him was the reason he couldn't escape.””
I stared at my mother.
She started shaking her head.
“No.””
Daniel continued.
“He said he loved her.””
My mother began crying.
“But he didn't trust her.””
The words tore through the room.
I could barely hear myself speak.
“Was he talking about Mom?””
Daniel didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Vanessa suddenly said, “He was.””
My sister stood behind us.
Her face was drained of color.
“Dad thought Mom was involved.””
My mother looked at her.
“Vanessa.””
“You told me not to tell Claire.””
“I was trying to protect her.””
“You were protecting yourself.””
My mother stood abruptly.
“Stop.””
Vanessa stepped forward.
“No.””
For the first time that night, my sister looked stronger than afraid.
“You made me lie.””
My mother slapped her.
The sound cracked through the ballroom.
Everyone froze.
Vanessa touched her cheek.
A red mark appeared.
She looked at our mother.
Then she laughed.
A broken, bitter laugh.
“You still think you can control us.””
She reached into her purse.
Pulled out a folded envelope.
And handed it to me.
“What is that?”” I asked.
“Something I've kept since the night Dad died.””
My hands trembled as I opened it.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
My father's handwriting.
The first line made my stomach drop.
*If Claire ever discovers the truth, tell her that Evelyn did not die.*
I stopped breathing.
I looked at Daniel.
He went completely still.
“What does that mean?””
He stared at the page.
“It means my mother is alive.””
Vanessa nodded.
“That was the secret.””
My mother whispered, “No.””
I looked at her.
“You told me she was dead.””
“She was supposed to be.””
“Supposed to be?””
My voice rose.
“What does that mean?””
My mother backed away.
Daniel snatched the letter from my hand.
He scanned the rest.
Then his face changed.
“What?””
He read silently for several seconds.
“Daniel…”
He looked at me.
“She was kept somewhere.””
“Where?””
He handed me the letter.
A final sentence was written near the bottom.
*The woman you think is your mother is not the only one who survived that night.*
I stared at it.
“What does that mean?””
Nobody answered.
Then Lily spoke from behind me.
“Mom?””
I turned.
She was looking toward the ballroom doors.
“What is it?””
She pointed.
“There’s someone outside.””
Everyone looked.
A shadow stood behind the glass doors leading to the gardens.
Tall.
Still.
Watching us.
Graham moved toward the entrance.
“Stay here.””
The shadow disappeared.
He pulled the doors open.
Rain blew into the ballroom.
Nobody was there.
Except for a small package lying on the stone steps.
Wrapped in brown paper.
My name was written across it.
*CLAIRE BENNETT*
I stared at it.
“No.””
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“Don't touch it.””
But Lily was already staring at the package.
“Mom…”
“What?””
She swallowed.
“That’s my grandmother's handwriting.””
I looked at the name again.
And suddenly I realized something.
The handwriting wasn't my mother's.
It was the handwriting from an old birthday card I'd kept since I was a child.
A card signed by a woman I had never met.
A woman my mother had always told me was dead.
Evelyn.
May you like
And beneath my name, someone had written:
*OPEN THIS BEFORE YOUR MOTHER DOES.*
