Chapter 10 - Evelyn Chose Them Over Lily
Sarah did not raid the lake house immediately.
She wanted surveillance.
Connections.
Evidence.
I wanted Evelyn dragged away from Lily forever.
Those were different goals.
Three hours later, Sarah called me into the family consultation room.
“We obtained audio.”
“How?”
“I can’t discuss operational details.”
“Then play what you can.”
She did.
The recording was imperfect.
Wind.
Water.
Footsteps on wooden boards.
Then Evelyn’s voice.
“You said the injector would still be there.”
Charles Mercer answered.
“I said Andrew would handle it.”
“That isn’t what happened.”
“Because Thomas interfered.”
Evelyn sounded furious.
“Lily almost died.”
Mercer replied, “But she didn’t.”
I gripped the edge of the table.
Sarah watched me.
The recording continued.
Evelyn: “That was never the agreement.”
Mercer: “The agreement changed when Daniel arrived.”
Evelyn: “You put the second device there.”
Mercer: “Andrew did.”
Evelyn: “With Daniel’s name.”
Mercer: “Insurance.”
Evelyn: “Against what?”
Mercer laughed.
“Against Daniel becoming difficult.”
I felt nausea rise.
Then Martin Vale spoke.
“You’re both missing the problem. The Rachel document is compromised.”
Evelyn: “Daniel saw it.”
Martin: “That’s not what I mean.”
Mercer: “Then what?”
Martin lowered his voice.
“The original signature page still exists.”
Silence.
Evelyn: “Where?”
Martin: “Rachel kept it.”
Mercer cursed.
Evelyn: “Rachel is dead.”
Martin: “The paper isn’t.”
The recording stopped.
I looked at Sarah.
“There’s an original.”
“Apparently.”
“Original what?”
“We don’t know.”
“That document in Evelyn’s car has Rachel’s forged signature.”
“Correct.”
“So there may be another version she actually signed.”
“Possible.”
“What did it authorize?”
“We need the document.”
I thought about Rachel.
She had kept boxes of foundation records in our home for years.
After her death, Evelyn had insisted on helping me clean them out.
I had been numb.
I let her.
“What if Evelyn already took it?”
“She seemed surprised it existed.”
That was true.
Which meant Rachel had hidden it from her mother.
My phone rang.
Claire Jensen.
Rachel’s closest friend from college.
I had not spoken to Claire in nearly a year.
“Daniel?”
“Claire?”
“I heard about Lily.”
“She’s stable.”
“Oh, thank God.”
Her voice shook.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Rachel left an envelope with me.”
My entire body went still.
“When?”
“Four days before she died.”
Sarah moved closer.
“What was in it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You never opened it?”
“She made me promise.”
“Promise what?”
“That I would only give it to you if something happened to her and Evelyn started asking about Lily’s inheritance.”
I closed my eyes.
“Claire, Rachel died eighteen months ago.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Evelyn never asked me anything.”
“She didn’t have to. She was doing it behind my back.”
Claire started crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“Where is the envelope?”
“In a safe-deposit box.”
“Can you get it?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Before I could answer, another call appeared.
Unknown number.
The mysterious caller.
I put Claire on hold and answered.
“Who are you?”
The man ignored the question.
“Evelyn is with Mercer.”
“I know.”
This time he paused.
That surprised him.
“Then Sarah is better than I expected.”
“Who are you?”
“Ask Claire Jensen why she waited eighteen months.”
I stared at the phone.
“How do you know Claire called me?”
No answer.
“Are you watching me?”
The man’s voice softened.
“No, Daniel.”
“Then how?”
“Because Claire called me first.”
The line disconnected.
I returned to Claire.
“Who did you call before me?”
Silence.
“Claire.”
“I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Who?”
She whispered a name.
“Thomas.”
I looked across the room.
Rachel’s father—or the man who had raised her—was standing in the doorway.
His phone was in his hand.
And suddenly I realized something.
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I had never heard the mysterious caller and Thomas speak at the same time.
📖 Find out whether Thomas was the anonymous caller guiding me through the investigation—and why Claire’s hidden envelope made me doubt him in CHAPTER 11. 👇
