Chapter 2 - Claire’s Last Repair
Claire had lost her battle with cancer three years earlier.
Sophie had lost her lower leg two years before that after complications from a rare bone infection.
Claire had managed nearly every prosthetic appointment herself.
Ethan worked long hours.
He had always believed Claire knew Sophie’s medical equipment better than anyone.
Now he wondered what else she knew.
The prosthetic itself had been replaced once since Claire died.
That should have made the hidden compartment impossible.
Except Sophie corrected him.
“This isn’t the new leg.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“Maya switched them.”
Maya immediately snapped:
“That’s ridiculous.”
Sophie pointed.
“The new one has the little butterfly sticker inside.”
Ethan checked.
No sticker.
He called Sophie’s prosthetist.
Serial number confirmed.
The leg in Ethan’s hand was not Sophie’s current prosthesis.
It was the older one Claire had ordered shortly before death.
How had it returned?
Maya said Sophie found it in storage and started wearing it again because “she likes drama.”
Sophie shook her head violently.
“Maya told me Dad couldn’t afford the new one.”
Ethan looked at Maya.
“I paid for it.”
Maya’s jaw tightened.
There.
A lie.
The new prosthetic had cost over $18,000 after insurance.
Where was it?
Maya claimed she had sent it for adjustment.
No work order existed.
Then Ethan found it in the garage.
Inside a sealed moving box.
Undamaged.
Maya had deliberately swapped Sophie back into old equipment.
Why?
The hidden compartment.
That seemed obvious.
But then why strike the leg?
To break it open?
Or destroy whatever was inside?
Maya refused to answer.
Ethan called police and separated Sophie from her immediately.
He did not open the compartment yet.
Not because Maya wanted that.
Because Claire’s warning mattered.
“If Maya sees it, leave first.”
He took Sophie to his sister’s house.
Then, alone with attorney Daniel Hart, he examined the prosthetic.
The hidden panel contained a slim black capsule.
No label.
No obvious opening.
Too small for money.
Too small for ordinary documents.
Daniel asked:
“Did Claire ever mention this?”
“No.”
“Any safe deposit box?”
“No.”
“Any secret accounts?”
Ethan almost laughed.
Claire had been a physical therapist.
They had lived comfortably.
Not secretly wealthy.
Then Daniel noticed one thing.
The capsule had an engraved date.
Not Claire’s death.
Not Sophie’s surgery.
The date of Sophie’s amputation.
May you like
And beneath it:
DON’T LET THEM BILL HER TWICE.
