Chapter 10 - The Man Who Watched Her
Owen Pike looked older than Clara remembered.
He stood beside an aging pickup in the church parking lot.
Snow threatened but had not begun.
Clara wore a recording device under her sweater.
Hannah’s unmarked car sat two blocks away.
Daniel waited inside another vehicle where Clara could see the roof through bare trees.
She had insisted on that.
Owen raised both hands when she approached.
“I’m not armed.”
Clara stopped ten feet away.
“You followed my son.”
Pain crossed his face.
“Yes.”
“You watched him outside preschool.”
“Yes.”
“You watched my husband.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me sleep in motel rooms.”
“I watched the doors.”
“Don’t make it sound protective.”
“I won’t.”
Clara’s hands shook.
“Why were you on the street yesterday?”
“Because Kelly found you.”
Clara froze.
“What?”
“I saw her two days earlier.”
“Where?”
“Near the shelter.”
“You’ve been following me again.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep Richard from finding you.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
The answer surprised her.
Owen continued.
“I expect you to believe evidence.”
He opened his truck slowly.
Clara tensed.
He removed a small lockbox and placed it on the hood.
“What is that?”
“Everything I kept.”
“Why keep anything?”
“Because Richard scared me too.”
“You worked for him.”
“I did.”
“You threatened me.”
“I did.”
“You told me Leo would be taken away.”
“Yes.”
Clara’s eyes filled.
“You knew what that did to me.”
“I know now.”
“No. You knew then.”
Owen looked down.
“You’re right.”
Clara wanted to strike him.
Instead she asked, “Did Richard order you to hurt Leo?”
“No.”
“Did he threaten Leo?”
“He told me to make you believe returning would create consequences for your family.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Owen forced himself to meet her eyes.
“He said, ‘She loves the boy more than herself. Use that.’”
Clara’s knees weakened.
The microphone beneath her sweater captured every word.
“What about Daniel?”
“Richard wanted him dependent.”
“On you?”
“On Richard.”
Owen opened the lockbox.
Inside were flash drives, notebooks, printed emails and a phone.
“I recorded some instructions.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
“Everyone says that.”
“I was afraid he’d blame me if things collapsed.”
“Did you know the body wasn’t mine?”
“Yes.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“When?”
“After the fire.”
“Who was she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Richard kill her?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the body came from somewhere else.”
Clara stared.
“Where?”
“County morgue.”
Her breathing changed.
Owen continued quickly.
“I never saw the woman alive.”
“Explain.”
“Brennan told Richard they had an unidentified female brought in after an overdose. No confirmed family. Similar build.”
Clara felt sick.
“The fire?”
“They moved the body.”
“Who?”
“Brennan and another man.”
“Where?”
“To the warehouse.”
Clara covered her mouth.
“They burned a dead woman.”
“Yes.”
“To make Daniel think she was me.”
“Yes.”
Tears formed in Clara’s eyes.
Not only for herself.
For the unnamed woman turned into a prop.
“Elaine?”
“She altered dental records.”
“Did Richard pay her?”
“Yes.”
“Did he kill her?”
Owen looked away.
“I don’t know.”
“Her car accident?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about Eleanor?”
“Richard didn’t know she talked to you at first.”
Clara frowned.
“Then how did you find me?”
“Eleanor told me.”
“She sent you.”
“Yes.”
Clara had known.
Still, hearing confirmation hurt.
“Why?”
“She thought I worked for Daniel too.”
“You didn’t.”
“Not then.”
“What changed?”
“Your mother-in-law realized Richard was lying.”
“When?”
“Months later.”
“Why didn’t she tell Daniel?”
“She was afraid Richard could destroy the company.”
Clara laughed bitterly.
“That family worshipped that company.”
Owen nodded.
“Yes.”
“More than us?”
“I think Eleanor eventually understood what it cost.”
Clara looked toward Daniel’s distant car.
“Did Richard order you to keep me gone for three years?”
“No.”
She turned back.
“What?”
“Six months.”
Clara stared.
Owen continued.
“After that, he told me to stop spending money on you.”
“But you kept following me.”
“For another year.”
“Why?”
“At first because I thought you might go to police.”
“And later?”
Owen’s voice dropped.
“Because I realized Richard had started asking Kelly to track you.”
Clara frowned.
“Kelly knew I was alive?”
“About eighteen months ago.”
“How?”
“She found an email Eleanor wrote but never sent.”
Clara’s skin chilled.
“What email?”
“To Daniel.”
“What did it say?”
“The truth.”
Daniel’s mother had written a confession.
And Kelly intercepted it.
“Where is that email?”
Owen pointed to the lockbox.
“Printed inside.”
Clara moved toward it.
Owen stopped her.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
“Richard has a contingency plan.”
Clara’s body stiffened.
“For what?”
“If Daniel challenges the proxy.”
“What plan?”
Owen’s face became grim.
“He plans to claim Daniel is mentally unfit to lead the company.”
Clara almost laughed.
“How?”
“Three years of therapy records.”
Daniel had attended grief therapy.
Richard knew.
Owen continued.
“Medication history. Missed meetings. Bereavement leave.”
“That proves grief.”
“Richard doesn’t need to prove incapacity forever.”
Clara understood.
“Only long enough to close the sale.”
Owen nodded.
She looked toward Daniel’s car.
“Why tell us now?”
Owen closed the lockbox.
“Because yesterday I saw Leo run toward you.”
His voice changed.
“And I realized every excuse I made for three years sounded disgusting next to a seven-year-old who recognized the truth in four seconds.”
Clara took the box.
Then asked the question she had carried longest.
“Can Richard still reach my family?”
Owen looked toward Daniel’s distant car.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because the person helping him most…”
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Owen swallowed.
“…is already inside Daniel’s house.”
