Chapter 4 - MY MOTHER’S SECOND LIFE
Claire sat down because her legs stopped cooperating.
“My mother has never met Victor Kane.”
Serena’s expression held sympathy.
That made Claire angrier.
“You’re wrong.”
“I wish I were.”
Roman stood beside the window.
“Kane keeps trophies.”
Claire looked at him sharply.
“You knew about the bracelet?”
“Not until tonight.”
“Where did Serena get it?”
“I stole it from Kane three days ago,” Serena said.
Claire stared at the little gold bracelet.
Her own baby bracelet.
Something her mother once held while feeding her.
Something Victor Kane had locked inside a safe.
“Why would he have it?”
Serena shook her head.
“That’s what I was trying to learn when Kane realized I’d been inside the safe.”
“The attack.”
“Yes.”
Claire understood another piece.
The gunmen had not attacked because Roman’s fake affair had failed.
They attacked because Serena had stolen something.
Roman looked at Claire.
“That’s why I carried her out.”
Claire’s face hardened.
“Careful.”
Roman stopped.
“I’m not asking you to forgive it.”
“You saw me bleeding.”
“I did.”
“And you left.”
His jaw clenched.
“Yes.”
Serena looked between them.
“Claire—”
“No.”
Claire pointed toward her.
“This isn’t your fault.”
Then toward Roman.
“But his choice was.”
Roman accepted it.
That made her almost angrier.
“I knew Marco was reaching you,” he said.
“You didn’t know he would.”
“I saw him two steps away.”
“You still chose.”
“Yes.”
Claire’s eyes burned.
Roman stepped closer.
“If Kane recovered what Serena carried, every Rinaldi location connected to you would have become a target before morning.”
“What did she have?”
Serena reached into her bag.
Not the bracelet.
A hotel room key.
Old-fashioned brass.
Stamped with the number 614.
Claire frowned.
“What is that?”
“The Marlowe used real keys before they renovated fifteen years ago,” Serena said. “Kane kept this with your bracelet.”
Claire remembered the first photograph.
Roman and Serena leaving the Marlowe Hotel.
“That’s why you were there.”
“Yes.”
Roman nodded.
“Room 614 no longer exists. The sixth floor was redesigned.”
“Then what does it open?”
“We don’t know.”
Claire took the key.
A strip of faded blue thread was tied around the ring.
Her breath caught.
Her father used blue thread to mark keys.
He had done it her entire childhood.
House key.
Shed key.
Storage cabinet.
Always blue.
“This belonged to my father.”
Roman looked at her.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Another memory surfaced.
After Daniel’s funeral, Claire’s mother had packed his belongings into brown boxes.
One box contained dozens of loose keys.
Claire remembered reaching for one tied with blue thread.
Her mother slapped her hand away.
It was the only time Evelyn Mercer had ever struck her.
Claire told them.
Roman’s face changed.
“She knew.”
Claire nodded slowly.
“She knew this key mattered.”
They drove to Claire’s mother’s house that afternoon.
Evelyn Mercer lived north of Miami in a modest home surrounded by hibiscus.
She was sixty-two now.
Silver beginning at her temples.
When she opened the door and saw Roman beside Claire, she stopped smiling.
Then she saw the brass key.
The blood drained from her face.
“Where did you get that?”
Claire’s heart broke a little.
Not because her mother knew.
Because her mother had answered too quickly.
“Victor Kane’s safe.”
Evelyn stepped backward.
“Come inside.”
They sat in the living room Claire had visited dozens of times.
Family photographs covered the walls.
Daniel smiling beside a fishing boat.
Claire at graduation.
Claire and Roman on their wedding day.
Evelyn looked at that photograph longest.
“I tried to stop you from marrying him.”
Claire blinked.
“You told me he frightened you.”
“He did.”
Roman remained silent.
Evelyn turned to him.
“You look like your father.”
Roman’s expression hardened.
“You knew him too.”
“Yes.”
Claire felt exhausted.
“How many lies are there?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Enough to ruin everything.”
“Start with the bracelet.”
Her mother looked at it.
“I gave that bracelet to Daniel the night he disappeared.”
Claire stared.
“Why?”
“Because he needed Kane to believe he had something valuable to me.”
Roman leaned forward.
“A bargaining chip.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Daniel was trying to trade information for someone.”
“Who?” Claire asked.
Evelyn looked toward Serena.
“Luca.”
Serena’s breath caught.
“My brother was sixteen.”
“I know.”
“You knew him?”
“Yes.”
Serena stood.
“My brother disappeared fourteen years ago. Claire’s father died fourteen years ago.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Same night.”
The room went silent.
Evelyn explained.
Daniel discovered Kane was preparing to eliminate Luca because the boy had copied names from a shipping ledger.
Daniel tried to save him.
Raffaele Rinaldi agreed to help.
But someone warned Kane.
By the time they arrived, both Daniel and Luca were gone.
“Then why did everyone say Daniel drowned?” Claire asked.
“Because Kane threatened you.”
Claire stared.
“Me?”
“You were nineteen.”
Evelyn’s voice shook for the first time.
“He sent your baby bracelet back to me three days later.”
Claire looked at the gold chain.
“No.”
“Yes. With a note.”
“What did it say?”
Evelyn swallowed.
Next time I keep the girl.
Roman stood so quickly the chair scraped.
Claire touched her stomach.
Her unborn son kicked.
A coldness spread through her.
“But Serena found the bracelet in Kane’s safe.”
Evelyn frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
Roman looked at Serena.
“You said you stole it.”
“I did.”
Evelyn stood.
“No. Kane sent that bracelet back fourteen years ago. I burned the note and hid the bracelet.”
“Where?”
“In Daniel’s old lockbox.”
Claire looked around the room.
“Where is the lockbox?”
Evelyn’s face changed.
“Gone.”
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
Roman went still.
“Who knew where it was?”
Evelyn hesitated.
Claire saw it immediately.
“Mom.”
“Your uncle.”
Claire blinked.
“My father didn’t have a brother.”
“Not Daniel.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
Evelyn looked at Claire.
“Mine.”
Claire knew only one maternal relative who had remained around after Daniel’s death.
Uncle Peter.
Peter Vale.
The friendly retired insurance broker who sent birthday cards every year.
The man who walked Claire down the aisle when she married Roman.
Roman said slowly, “Peter Vale handles insurance for three companies connected to Kane.”
Claire stared at him.
“You knew that?”
“I knew the companies. I never knew Peter was Evelyn’s brother.”
Evelyn sank into her chair.
“He always said Daniel was paranoid.”
Serena whispered, “Maybe because Daniel suspected him.”
Roman pulled out his phone, but Claire stopped him.
“No calls.”
He looked at her.
“If Peter is involved—”
“He’s been invited into my mother’s house for fourteen years. He held me at my wedding.”
Roman understood.
Claire wanted the truth face-to-face.
They found Peter at his condo near Coconut Grove.
No guards.
No dramatic confrontation.
He opened the door wearing golf clothes.
“Claire?”
Then he saw Evelyn.
His smile vanished.
Claire held up the bracelet.
Peter stared at it.
For three long seconds, nobody spoke.
Finally he whispered, “You weren’t supposed to find that.”
Roman moved forward.
Claire blocked him.
“Why was my baby bracelet in Kane’s safe?”
Peter looked at Claire.
Shame settled over his features.
“I gave it to him.”
Evelyn made a wounded sound.
Peter turned toward his sister.
“Because if I hadn’t, he would have killed Claire.”
Claire’s anger faltered.
“What?”
Peter’s eyes filled.
“You all think Daniel was Kane’s target that night.”
He shook his head.
“He wasn’t.”
Claire felt Roman go still beside her.
May you like
Peter looked directly at Claire.
“Victor Kane came that night for you.”
