Chapter 2
The heavy oak front door clicked shut, sealing out the damp autumn wind and the bitter echoes of the confrontation. Clara exhaled a breath she felt she had been holding for months. She knelt down to look at Lily, who was still clutching her backpack like a shield.
"Hey, sweetie," Clara said softly, softening her expression entirely as she smoothed back a stray lock of the girl's brown hair. "You're safe. I'm right here. They can't hurt you, and they certainly can't take your home away."
"Are we going to have to move, Aunt Clara?" Lily asked, her voice cracking with the vulnerability that broke Clara's heart. "Grandma said Daddy needs the money to pay off the men from the golf club."
Clara stood up, taking Lily’s small hand in hers. "Your father is a grown man who makes terrible choices, Lily. And my money, and this house, are not his personal ATM. Come on, let's get you some hot cocoa in the kitchen. We have a lot of work to do."
As they walked past the kitchen island, Clara’s mind raced. The blue USB drive in her pocket felt heavy, like a lead weight pressing against her thigh. She had pulled it from the concealed wall safe in her father's old home office just before walking down the stairs. Helen and David had obviously broken the combination—or guessed it using a sentimental family birthday—and had been in the middle of downloading encrypted financial records when Clara walked through the front door.
She sat Lily down at the marble counter, heated milk on the stove, and watched the steam rise. Her phone buzzed relentlessly on the counter. It was David, calling repeatedly, followed by a barrage of aggressive text messages demanding the return of the thumb drive. Clara ignored every single notification, her thumb sliding over the silent toggle switch.
"Aunt Clara, what's on that little blue thing?" Lily asked, blowing gently on the mug of cocoa.
"Truth, Lily," Clara answered truthfully. "Sometimes truth is very uncomfortable, and sometimes it's dangerous. But it's the only thing that keeps us safe in the end."
May you like
After getting Lily settled into her bedroom with a comforting book, Clara retreated to the home office. She locked the heavy wooden door behind her, sat down at the mahogany desk, and plugged the blue USB drive into her encrypted laptop. The screen flickered, demanding a secondary decryption key. Fortunately, Clara knew her father's mind better than anyone. She typed in the date of the family's old cabin in Maine, the one David had forced their father to sell under suspicious circumstances five years ago.
The folder opened. What stared back at her from the illuminated display made her breath catch in her throat.
