by B. Groves
She didn’t care what anyone thought, she needed this confession and she wanted to put her brother’s soul to rest.
She would keep this a secret from Mac until it was time to contact him.
Claire thought about all the possible scenarios as she drove home. Jack called Sue a dangerous woman and voiced his suspicions about her possibly murdering her own husband.
Claire didn’t want to think of the possibility that Sue might suspect that Claire recognized her and would try to hurt her. Claire wanted to take her by surprise her, so she had to be ready in case the situation deteriorated. She would risk it to bring justice to her family and especially for her brother.
Claire pulled into her driveway and cursed when she saw the Mustang and the work van sitting in the driveway.
May and Bishop were here, too. Her palms were sweaty thinking if they happened upon her secret in the basement, this would all be over.
Claire shook her head and growled out loud, forgetting she’d scheduled them to come and help her fix up the house today.
What was Mac doing here?
She didn’t need this right now. She would pay May and Bishop to make them go away. She didn’t want distractions and the last person she wanted to talk to was Mac.
Claire didn’t see Mac or the couple standing on her porch, so she wondered where they were.
Determined to make them leave, Claire got out of her car and walked over to the porch trying to listen for voices.
She sighed when she heard their voices around the corner knowing they saw the holes she’d dug into the ground before she discovered where her brother had been buried.
She tensed thinking that if they peered into a window inside the basement, then her plan would be over.
She wanted… no, she needed to confront Sue in private before she called the police. She wanted to hear it from Sue’s own lips that she murdered her brother and abused two small children who lost their parents in a tragic accident for no apparent reason.
She wanted to ask one question: Why?
If they discovered David’s body then Claire might never know why Sue murdered her brother and abused her own niece and nephew.
She wanted the confession raw and straight from the horse’s mouth. Not some whitewashed version because a criminal lawyer intervened.
Sweat formed on her skin from the possibility of them knowing there was a tiny body in the basement of her home.
She gritted her teeth knowing that Mac was a cop and he would call the authorities to do a criminal investigation since she found her brother.
She did not want this.
Inhaling a shaky breath, Claire walked around the corner and confronted the people staring at the holes in the ground.
She was relieved when their surprised looks turned to her, and the apologies started about snooping around from Bishop and May.
They didn’t know. Mac was standing off to the side… quiet and thoughtful.
Claire shut down her initial anger and apologized for abandoning the couple.
She offered everyone to come inside and said she would write a check for the couple who only wanted to help her out.
Thankfully, they accepted although she could see the suspicion in their eyes as they walked inside the house.
Claire inhaled an even deeper breath knowing she locked the basement door from the inside and the outside.
May kept turning to Mac who quietly followed them inside, but she didn’t voice her emotions.
Claire ignored the looks shooting between the three and wrote a check while Bishop fetched his laptop to reschedule another appointment.
At first, May turned down the money, but Claire insisted she accept it for not fulfilling her part of the job.
Mac stayed in the corner waiting for Claire to finish her business.
She didn’t explain the holes, and deep down she knew she didn’t need to. Based on the silent exchanges happened right before her eyes, May and Bishop knew she was looking for something or someone.
How much they knew, she might never know.
31.
C laire froze when Mac explained his suspicions. No, he couldn’t do that. How did he know about Shirley? How did she stop him?
“Claire, hadn’t you noticed the resemblance between the two of you?” Mac asked.
Claire knew it now, although she didn’t recognize the woman last week. She remembered her Aunt Sue having long, chestnut hair, and being at least seventy pounds thinner.
Not the older, heavier woman she met by chance when she needed directions.
“No, I didn’t,” Claire said, with her eyes narrowing on Mac. “How did you find this out?”
Mac sighed and said, “Jack didn’t show up today and the guys were loose-lipped about Rose’s long-lost first daughter. Shirley’s face…” He adjusted in the chair. “It was so obvious.”
He adjusted in the chair. No matter what happened she would always keep Jack’s part in this a secret unless he wanted to confess on his own.
“Shirley’s been acting weird around you, and when she turned her head a certain way I couldn’t deny it,” he explained.
Claire knew all this already, but she kept tight-lipped. She didn’t want to give away her plans, and she wanted Mac to back off until she confronted her aunt on her own.
“I went digging through pictures the other day, and found a picture of her with my mom when they were young,” Claire explained.
Claire took a deep breath like she was grieving her grandparents all over again. “She knew who I was right away. She never said a word. Why?”
Mac’s look softened and Claire had to hide her smile as she plastered a look of betrayal on her face.
“The question is why wouldn’t she say anything?” Mac asked.
“I don’t know. Unless… ”
Mac got up and walked over to Claire. His chocolate brown eyes were intense on her.
“If you remember anything, anything at all, I need you to tell me, because this will be a tough one to present to the department,” Mac said. “But I know it will put Kevin to rest, too.”
“Kevin?”
“The lead detective on your brother’s case. He died without solving one case…”
“David’s case,” Claire finished with a sorry look in her eyes. “He is the one who questioned me. He had glasses and a thick mustache. That much I remember.”
“Yes, and said you were coached.”
Claire exhaled again, she tried to blink back tears, but they welled in her eyes. They weren’t just for acting out her part. They were for real.
“I knew all along, but I can’t jog these memories. They’re fuzzy and when I saw her picture… ”
Claire didn’t have to finish her sentence as big, strong arms wrapped around her shoulders.
She leaned into Mac’s chest and buried and her face on his shoulder and tried to sound like the whole scenario shocked her.
“Do you think… ”
“Kevin says in his notes that Rose had a housekeeper living with her named Sue and that she moved out before David went missing. Does that ring a bell?”
Instead of answering, Claire would give Mac a carrot on a stick, so she walked over to purse and produced the picture she held of her mother and Sue.
Mac gazed at it and turned it over when Claire prompted him.
“Sue,” Mac affirmed.
Claire nodded and said, “Rose lied because she wanted to cover for her and besides Sue was adopted by her father’s side of the family.”
Mac looked up from the picture and frowned. “How do you know all this? A memory?”
“No. The father told me,” Claire said. “But that’s all he knows.”
“It’s Jack, isn’t it?”
Claire was a terrible liar. But she would try her best to continue to stall Mac from reporting what evidence he had.
“Yes,” Claire answered, she had to confirm it.
“Do you think she did something to your brother?” Mac asked.
“If she did, I have yet to find the evidence for it,” Claire said, trying to keep her gaze from straying over to the basement door. “It makes sense that she didn’t reveal her identity to me when she knew exactly who I was.”
“Did Jack say anything?”
“No,” Claire said. “He told me the truth, but he said that whatever Rose’s secrets were, she took to her grave.”
A lie. She didn’t want Jack questioned.
Mac sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “This is never going to fly. There is no way we could bring her in for questioning unless you have new evidence.”
“I don’t, Mac,” Claire said.
She kept her voice steady, and she made sure she looked him straight in the eye when she said she didn’t have the evidence.
Claire knew she was falling hard for Mac, and could only hope he could find it in his heart to forgive her once the truth came out. He’d been through so much in his life and that’s why she hoped he would sympathize with her.
She didn’t want to lose him, but she didn’t want the opportunity to put David to rest slip through her fingers either. She was torn on the inside, but she already knew which path she’d take and that would mean confronting her aunt in private.
Mac’s shoulders slumped from her answer. “Shirley not telling you she’s your aunt is not probable cause. Rose lying and saying she was a housekeeper instead of her own daughter is not probable cause either. She has no obligation to reveal a thing about your family.”
Mac’s eyes pleaded with Claire’s. “I need you to think, Claire. You’re the only living witness to a possible murder.”
Claire turned away and inhaled a breath. Her lies would come back and bite her in the ass, but she would take that risk.
“I’ve tried, and I can only picture a shadow of a person. That’s not enough,” Claire said. “It may have been her or it might have been someone else.”
Mac played with his keys while he paced around the kitchen.
He ran a hand through his hair and said, “I’m going to talk to the chief anyway.” He turned to face Claire and pointed his finger. “I want you to cancel your lunch with her.”
“But if I do, she might become suspicious,” Claire argued. “Wouldn’t it be better to have lunch with her and act like nothing’s wrong?”
“No, because you could potentially give your suspicions away. You’re not a professional, and it’s too much of a risk,” Mac said. “Until I can come up with probable cause and convince the chief and the detectives to question her, I want you to stay away from her.”
Claire nodded in resignation, although she didn’t mean it.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“I’ll stop by the coffee shop while I’m working so I don’t give anything away,” Mac said.
“Why do you get to do that, and I don’t?” Claire asked defiantly.
Mac tilted his head and lifted an eyebrow, but ignored her question. “If they agree they’ll want to talk to you.”
Claire nodded. “I know.”
“We need something,” Mac said.
Mac quieted and turned the picture over in his hand like he was deep in thought.
Claire motioned for Mac to follow her. She opened the door to the servant’s staircase and turned back to see his surprised look.
“It only leads to the second floor,” she said.
“I didn’t know this was here, even when investigators were going in and out the day I found Rose,” Mac said.
Claire smirked. “It’s convenient.”
Claire walked up the staircase telling Mac to be careful. She forgot what a big guy he was and felt bad when he struggled to ascend the stairs.
“Remind me not to do that again,” he muttered in annoyance.
Claire led him into the hallway and stopped in front of the family photos adorning the walls.
“I remember these,” he said.
“But did you notice the empty spots?” Claire asked.
Mac’s eyes followed Claire’s and he noticed the spaces on the wall, but the hooks still in place.
“They were gone when you moved in?”
Claire nodded. “I think they may have been pictures of Shirley because there is no other reason for the pictures to be missing.”
Claire turned back to Mac and said, “I searched from top to bottom of this house. I can’t find any other picture of her. No birth certificate, no driver’s license, and no clothing. It’s like her imprint was purposely erased, but I don’t know if she took them down or if Rose did.”
Claire then led Mac to her room. While Claire went through her papers from George, Mac stood in the doorway taking in the room.
“How come you didn’t move into the master bedroom?” He asked.
Claire shrugged. “I didn’t feel comfortable in there.”
Claire handed Mac the bank statement. She already connected the dots, but she wanted to act like she just remembered this piece of the puzzle.
She pointed to the letters on the deposits. “As we were talking, I remembered receiving this from George in the packet with Rose’s assets.”
Mac read over the bank statement. “What is S.S.B.C.S.C. Charitable Foundation?”
“It’s all coming together,” Claire said. “Think about it.”
Mac took a few steps as he read the bank statement again. He mumbled as he read the letters again. His face tightened from confusion. He sounded out the letters one more time and looked up at Claire.
The realization came over his features. “Sweet Spot Bakery and Coffee Company. What are the two last letters?”
“It has to be Susan Carpenter,” Claire said.
Mac mouthed the word “wow” and stared at the bank statement. “Kevin’s notes said the housekeeper’s name was Susan Baker.”
Claire nodded. “I’m not surprised. My aunt was adopted under the name Baker because Jack’s sister’s married name is Baker. It’s confusing.”
Mac put his hands on both sides of his temples. “Jesus Christ. I hate people that use aliases. It takes forever to sort them out. She must have changed her name back to Jack’s last name when she moved back in with Rose and then changed her name several other times before she came back to town.”
“I don’t know,” Claire said.
He moved closer to Claire and pointed to some dates. “This date was around the time Shirley bought the shop.”
Claire leaned over to get a better view. “Why yes, it is.”
Mac scoffed as he read the amount out loud. “That explains the Mercedes. Shirley lost all her businesses before coming back to Lingate but no one questioned her financial status and how she could afford to buy that shop.”
“It’s all a cover,” Claire said wearily while Mac put a hand on her shoulder.
“We’ll do this, okay? I know the wheels of justice are slow and unfair, but if you remember any kind of detail, it will change the whole game,” he reassured her.
Or she could make the wheels turn at high speed and confront her aunt herself, she thought.
“I know and thank you,” she said.
Mac pulled away and placed his hands on her cheeks to look her straight in the eyes.
“You don’t need to thank me, but you need to have patience,” he said.
Claire agreed, but it was a lie so Mac wouldn’t suspect her plans. She kept him away from the basement door while they were in the kitchen earlier and now she had to think of a way to get him out of the house.
Mac pulled away and asked another question, one that Claire didn’t want to hear. “I know you’ve been exploring this house up and down. Is there any sign of your brother buried in here? Anything that you can pinpoint?”
Claire swallowed. She hoped that Mac wouldn’t want to snoop around, especially inside the basement.
Claire ran a hand through her hair. “I need to tell you something.”
Mac cocked his head in question. “What?”
Claire lo
oked up at the ceiling and tried to brush it off. “Never mind. It’s crazy.”
Claire’s little deviant plan worked because she had Mac’s full attention. The night they went out on their first official date Mac kept looking at the balcony as if he was seeing something there. He never said a word about it, but Claire knew because she saw her brother before they pulled out of the driveway.
“No. I want to hear it,” Mac said. “If it’s a memory.”
“It’s not,” Claire said, placing a hand on his arm. She pulled it away and paced around in a small circle with her fingers at her chin. Claire made her way down the hallway and stopped in front of the balcony doors beckoning Mac to follow her. “I’ve been having dreams of my brother, and he told me to dig.” Claire turned her eyes back to Mac. This wasn’t a lie. It was a play on what happened when she found her brother’s body.
Mac turned to face the balcony. He shook his head several times as he walked up to the glass door and ran a hand over his face.
He turned back to Claire and with one hand, tapped on the glass with his fingers.
Mac cleared his throat and said, “I don’t think you’re crazy. I saw someone on the balcony when we went on our date.”
Claire raised her eyebrows in surprise, although she wasn’t surprised. She hid her smile.
Mac exhaled as if he was trying to convince himself what he was telling her was real. “When I found Rose, I found the curtains inside the bay window closed. I walked over to the front door to knock…” Mac exhaled again. “I turned to see they were open. I know they were closed when I first approached the house. When I found them opened, I spotted Rose’s feet.”
Mac looked at Claire for some kind confirmation. “This house has always creeped me out ever since I found Rose.”
Again, Mac looked to Claire for reassurance.
“You’re not alone,” Claire said. “I’ve experienced a lot here since I returned.”
Did she have him? Would he forget about looking around for her brother with these revelations?
Mac rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m supposed to go by facts, but our department has never been above using psychics when needed, but this makes me question everything.”