Chapter 7 - The Girl in the Blue Coat
Claire climbed the stairs before anyone could stop her. The bookstore was dark except for the light from the front window. Wren stood beside the register wearing a blue coat too large for her.
Her hair was tangled. A bruise colored one wrist. Behind her stood Vivian Vale.
Vivian’s face was calm, but her eyes were not. Two men in county uniforms waited near the door. Silas Venn stood between the shelves with one hand inside his coat.
“Mommy,” Wren whispered.
Claire crossed the room. Vivian caught Wren’s shoulder.
“Do not move.”
Claire stopped.
“She is frightened,” Claire said.
“She is frightened because you have filled her head with accusations.”
“Take your hand off her.”
Vivian’s expression hardened.
“You have no idea what Nolan was capable of.”
“I know what you are capable of.”
Silas lifted a small syringe.
“This does not need to become dramatic.”
Daniel came up the stairs behind Claire.
“Put that away.” “You have chosen the wrong side,” Vivian said.
“No. I chose a side.”
The first county officer reached for his weapon. Nora shattered the lights by throwing a bookend through the electrical box. Darkness dropped over the bookstore.
Claire heard Wren scream. She moved toward the sound and collided with Vivian. Someone grabbed her coat.
Daniel shouted. A shelf crashed. Then Rosa’s hand found Claire’s.
“This way.”
They ran through the narrow aisle and into the storage room. Wren was between them, crying silently. Rosa kicked open the rear door, and the three of them spilled into the alley.
Daniel stayed behind. Claire turned back.
“Daniel!”
His voice came through the darkness.
“Go!”
The alley led to the old drainage channel. Rosa carried Wren when her legs gave out. Claire ran beside them, one hand on her daughter’s back.
They did not stop until they reached an abandoned greenhouse outside town. Wren clung to Claire’s waist.
“They told me you were sick.” “I am not sick.” “They said Daddy knew.” Claire went still.
“What did they say about Daddy?”
Wren pulled a small bluebird pin from her pocket.
“They said he left it for me.”
The pin was warm from her hand. Claire recognized it. Nolan had worn the same symbol on the inside of his watch.
Rosa examined it beneath a flashlight.
“There is a memory chip inside.”
Claire looked at Wren.
“Where did you get this?”
“Grandma Vivian gave it to me. She said it would make you tell the truth.”
Rosa removed the chip with a knife. The file on it contained only one sentence. IF CLAIRE IS READING THIS, THE BLUEBIRD IS NOT A PLACE.
IT IS A PERSON. Daniel appeared at the greenhouse door. He was bleeding from a cut over his eyebrow.
Claire raised the pistol she had taken from Nora’s basement.
“Stay where you are.”
Daniel lifted both hands.
“I got away.”
“You brought them to us.”
“No.”
“How did they know we were at the bookstore?”
He looked at Wren.
“Because someone inside the bookstore called them.”
Nora’s face appeared behind him. Claire lowered the weapon slightly. Nora was crying.
“I am sorry,” she said.
“They threatened my grandson.”
Wren pressed against Claire’s side. Daniel stepped inside.
“The chip is not a person. It is a key. Nolan used the word Bluebird for anyone who carried the evidence outside the trust.”
Rosa shook her head.
“There was only one original Bluebird.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
“You,” he said.
Claire felt the world narrow to the sound of Wren’s breathing. Rosa opened the file again. A hidden line appeared beneath Nolan’s message.
BLUEBIRD REMEMBERS WHAT CLAIRE FORGOT. Claire touched her temple. For weeks, she had been waking from the same dream: a hospital room, a red light, and Nolan saying,
“You have to sign.”
May you like
The memory had always ended before she could see the paper. Now the rest returned. She had signed something in the clinic.
Not a medical consent. A land transfer. And Nolan had been holding the pen with her hand.
