Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN OUTSIDE THE CLINIC
Claire did not call Mark.
That surprised even her.
Nine years earlier, a photograph like that would have shattered her.
Now it simply felt like another locked door inside a house already burning.
She replied to the unknown number.
Who are you?
The response came quickly.
Someone Lorraine hurt before she hurt you.
Claire stared at the screen.
Name.
Five minutes passed.
Then:
Rachel Pike.
Gregory’s daughter.
Claire’s pulse jumped.
Gregory had a daughter?
Priya joined the call twenty minutes later.
Rachel sounded nervous but determined.
“My father has been helping Lorraine for years.”
“Why contact me now?” Claire asked.
“Because he’s scared.”
“Of what?”
“Of losing everything.”
Rachel explained that Gregory had quietly approved questionable loans for Lorraine’s businesses several times. Usually smaller amounts. Usually repaid before anyone looked too closely.
But this time Lorraine had expanded too quickly.
Arizona property.
Short-term rentals.
A wellness retreat.
A restaurant project.
Several investments were losing money.
“She needed cash constantly,” Rachel said.
“So they used me.”
“Your income made you valuable.”
Claire felt sick.
“What about the photograph?”
Rachel went silent.
“That woman is Natalie Greene.”
“Who is she?”
“She worked for one of your husband’s vendors.”
“Worked?”
“She quit.”
“Why?”
Rachel hesitated.
“Because she was pregnant.”
Claire’s jaw tightened.
“Is the child Mark’s?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer sounded truthful.
Claire appreciated it more than certainty without evidence.
“Why was Mark at the clinic?”
“That’s what you should ask him.”
Claire did.
She sent the photograph.
No message.
No accusation.
Just the photograph.
Mark called in less than thirty seconds.
“Where did you get that?”
Interesting.
Not Who is she?
Not This isn’t what it looks like.
Where did you get that?
Claire answered calmly.
“Who is Natalie?”
“She was having a difficult time.”
“With your baby?”
“No!”
The answer came too fast.
Claire waited.
Mark lowered his voice.
“She was pregnant by someone else.”
“Then why were you at a private clinic with her?”
“I was helping her.”
“Financially?”
Silence.
Claire’s heart hardened.
“How much?”
“I don’t remember.”
Elena remembered.
By midnight, she had identified six payments to Natalie Greene totaling $74,000.
All routed through one of Lorraine’s companies.
Claire stared at the numbers.
Then Elena found one memo attached to a transfer.
CONFIDENTIAL FAMILY RESOLUTION.
Claire read the phrase twice.
“What does that mean?”
“We don’t know.”
But Rachel did.
When Claire sent her the memo, Rachel immediately called back.
“That phrase came from my father.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he used it twenty-six years ago.”
“For what?”
May you like
Rachel’s next words turned the entire mystery upside down.
“When Lorraine paid my mother to disappear.”
