Chapter 13 - What Robert Told ClaireDaniel forgot about Margaret's invitation for almost thirty seconds.
Claire's words consumed everything else.
“My father came to you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he didn't trust anyone inside the family company.”
Daniel stared.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Claire's eyes closed.
“He made me promise not to until he spoke to his lawyer.”
“He died three days later.”
“I know.”
“And you still didn't tell me?”
“I tried after the funeral.”
Daniel stood.
“No. Don't say I forgot.”
“You didn't forget.”
That stopped him.
Claire looked up.
“Margaret was in the room.”
Daniel remembered.
The funeral week existed in broken images.
Relatives.
Flowers.
Food nobody ate.
Margaret constantly beside him.
“What happened?”
“I asked you to speak privately. Margaret said you were exhausted. You told me we'd talk later.”
Daniel's anger redirected toward himself.
Again.
Always later.
“What did Dad tell you?”
Claire took a breath.
“He said money was missing from the trust.”
“How much?”
“He didn't know yet.”
“What else?”
“He said Margaret had become more controlling since you got engaged.”
Daniel waited.
“He believed she was trying to stop you from inheriting enough control to investigate the company.”
“So she wanted me away from the trust?”
“She wanted you dependent on her version of it.”
Daniel paced.
“And you?”
“Robert thought I made that harder.”
Because Claire pushed Daniel to build his own business.
To use independent accountants.
To question family assumptions.
Claire wasn't the threat because she wanted the Mercer fortune.
She was the threat because she made Daniel less controllable.
“What about the pills?”
Claire's expression tightened.
“Robert said he'd been feeling strange.”
Daniel stopped.
“Strange how?”
“Dizzy. Tired. Forgetful.”
His skin prickled.
“He suspected Margaret?”
“Not at first.”
“What changed?”
“He found crushed medication in a drink.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The same method Claire suspected.
The same method Sophie described.
“Did he test it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He was going to.”
Daniel whispered a curse.
Claire continued.
“He said if something happened to him before he reached his attorney, I should make sure you questioned the estate documents.”
“And you never—”
He stopped himself.
Claire had tried.
Maybe not perfectly.
Maybe not forcefully enough.
But Daniel was done pretending only other people had failed him.
“What did Margaret mean by asking me to ask you?”
Claire looked toward his phone.
“She must know Robert came here.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
The cameras.
Recordings.
Maybe Margaret had been watching even then.
Daniel picked up his phone and called Ross.
He told her about the motel message.
Ross's instructions were immediate.
“You are not going alone.”
“Agreed.”
“You are not going inside before officers establish surveillance.”
“Agreed.”
Claire stared at him.
“You're going?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel.”
“She has the notebook.”
“And a history of drugging people.”
“I know.”
“She may have hurt Robert.”
“I know.”
“She attacked Sophie yesterday.”
Daniel looked at her.
“That is exactly why I'm going.”
Not for revenge.
For evidence.
For answers.
For the chance to stop Margaret from disappearing again.
Ross arranged an operation.
Daniel would go to the motel under observation.
Officers would remain nearby.
He would wear a recording device.
At 11:52 p.m., Daniel parked outside the Lakeview Motor Inn.
Room 214 was upstairs.
Lights on.
Curtains closed.
Daniel climbed the exterior stairs.
Every step felt heavier.
He knocked.
Margaret answered.
No dark-blue sweater now.
She wore a beige coat.
Her gray hair was neatly styled.
She looked exactly like the mother Daniel remembered from childhood.
Composed.
Elegant.
In control.
“You brought police.”
Daniel didn't react.
Margaret smiled.
“You always touch your left wrist when you're lying.”
Daniel looked down.
He hadn't realized he was doing it.
“Where's the notebook?”
“Come in.”
“No.”
“Then leave.”
Daniel entered.
Margaret closed the door.
The black notebook sat on the bed.
Daniel stared at it.
“Give it to me.”
“You think everything becomes simple if you have this?”
“I think Sophie deserves justice.”
Margaret rolled her eyes.
“Such dramatic language.”
“You held an eight-year-old child on the floor.”
“She was hysterical.”
“You tried to drug her.”
“I tried to calm her.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“You threatened her.”
Margaret shrugged.
“Children exaggerate.”
Daniel looked at the notebook.
“What did you give Dad?”
Her face changed.
Barely.
“Your father had heart disease.”
“What did you give him?”
“I cared for him.”
“You drugged him.”
“I managed him.”
Daniel felt cold.
“Managed?”
“He was destroying everything.”
“What?”
“The company. The trust. Our family.”
“It wasn't your decision.”
Margaret laughed.
“You sound like Claire.”
“Good.”
That hit her.
For the first time, genuine hatred crossed her face.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“She has you again.”
“No, Mom.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You lost me yourself.”
Margaret's expression hardened.
Then she picked up the notebook.
Daniel tensed.
“Put it down.”
She held it over the small metal wastebasket beside the desk.
A lighter appeared in her other hand.
Daniel's heart stopped.
“You take one step,” she said, “and the only honest record I've kept in twenty years disappears.”
Daniel froze.
Margaret smiled.
Then she said:
“You want to know whether I killed your father?”
Daniel stared at her.
Margaret flicked the lighter.
A flame appeared.
“Ask the right question.”
“What question?”
May you like
Her smile widened.
“Ask why he was still alive long enough to threaten me.”
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