Chapter 13 - The File Margaret Could Not Explain
The password worked.
Margaret sat down.
Daniel stared at his mother.
"How did you know Grace's name?"
Margaret said nothing.
The folder opened.
Inside were videos dated within the past year.
The first showed Margaret entering a clinic.
The second showed her meeting David.
David immediately objected.
"That meeting wasn't what it looks like."
Daniel ignored him.
The third video had audio.
Margaret sat across from a woman whose face remained hidden.
Margaret said:
"Daniel cannot know yet."
The woman answered:
"He deserves to."
Margaret:
"If he learns Claire is alive before we know who is watching Noah, he'll go after her."
The room became silent.
Daniel stopped the video.
He looked at his mother.
"Claire is alive."
Margaret cried.
"Yes."
Daniel's knees almost failed.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"You've known?"
"Since Richard died."
"Nine years."
"I knew she survived. I didn't know where she was."
"Then why did you tell me she was probably dead?"
"Because I was trying to keep you from searching."
Daniel laughed through tears.
"You kept my sister from me."
"To protect Noah."
"Noah wasn't born when Dad died."
Margaret closed her eyes.
"To protect you first."
"From whom?"
She pointed toward the computer.
"Keep watching."
The video continued.
The hidden woman said:
"Helix knows the Carter marker returned in the next generation."
Margaret:
"Noah."
The woman:
"Yes."
Margaret:
"Then we move Emily and Noah to the mansion."
Emily stared.
The move had been planned.
Margaret continued in the recording:
"It's the only property where Richard installed independent security."
The hidden woman replied:
"Unless someone inside is compromised."
Margaret:
"I'll watch him myself."
Emily looked toward Margaret.
"You brought us here to protect Noah."
Margaret nodded.
"Yes."
"Then why terrorize him?"
"I didn't."
Noah began crying.
"You put me in the washer!"
Margaret stood.
"Noah, listen to me."
Emily blocked her.
"Don't come near him."
Margaret's voice broke.
"I did not put him there."
Everyone froze.
Emily stared.
"I saw you standing beside him."
"Yes."
"You were reaching for the start button."
"No."
"You said you were going to press it."
"I said that because someone was listening."
Daniel frowned.
"Who?"
Margaret looked toward the ceiling.
"Cameras."
Security searched.
Behind a ventilation grille they found one.
Not part of the mansion system.
A hidden wireless camera aimed directly at the washing machine.
Emily felt sick.
Margaret continued.
"I found Noah in the machine."
Noah shook his head.
"You told me to get inside."
Margaret stared.
"No."
"You did."
"I told you to hide."
"In the machine."
"Noah."
The boy was confused now.
Emily crouched.
"Tell me exactly what happened."
Noah wiped his eyes.
"Grandma came in."
"Which Grandma?"
He pointed at Margaret.
"She said someone was coming and I had to hide."
Margaret nodded.
"Yes."
"Then she said get in there."
Margaret froze.
"No."
Noah insisted.
"Yes."
Margaret whispered, "I told you to get behind it."
The room went silent.
Emily looked at the hidden camera.
Someone had manipulated events.
Then Noah said:
"There were two Grandmas."
Nobody understood.
"What?"
"One Grandma told me to hide."
He pointed at Margaret.
"Then she left."
"And?"
"Then Grandma came back."
He looked terrified.
"But she sounded different."
Daniel slowly turned toward the video screen.
The hidden woman's face had never been shown.
Emily whispered:
"Someone dressed like Margaret."
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Claire."
Daniel stared.
"No."
Margaret looked at him.
"If Claire came into this house, she could look enough like me from behind to fool Noah."
Daniel's breathing changed.
"Why would my sister put Noah in a washing machine?"
David answered from across the room.
"Because Claire doesn't trust any Carter."
Then the laptop chimed.
A new file appeared on the USB.
Uploaded remotely.
They had disconnected it from the internet.
That should have been impossible.
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The file name contained one sentence:
YOU STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHO PUT NOAH THERE.
