Chapter 7 - THE MOTHER WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Claire couldn't breathe.
“My mother?”
Samuel nodded.
“Your mother is alive.”
“That’s impossible.”
“She was never buried.”
Claire stared at him.
She had been told her mother died when Claire was six.
A heart attack.
A closed casket.
A funeral she barely remembered.
Samuel handed her a photograph.
Claire recognized the woman immediately.
Older.
Gray hair.
But unmistakably her mother.
Claire's knees nearly gave out.
“Where is she?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because Meridian Circle has been looking for her for thirty years.”
Claire's voice broke.
“Why?”
Samuel looked at the flash drive.
“Because she knows who the Architect really is.”
They drove for hours.
Eventually they arrived at a small farmhouse outside Albany.
An elderly woman opened the door.
Claire stopped.
Her mother stared at her.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then the woman whispered:
“Claire.”
Claire began crying.
“Mom?”
Her mother opened her arms.
Claire ran into them.
The hug lasted so long that no one spoke.
When they finally separated, Claire asked:
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
Her mother closed her eyes.
“Because your father made me promise.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“From whom?”
Her mother looked at Samuel.
Then away.
“From the people who killed your father.”
Claire froze.
“Dad was murdered.”
“Yes.”
“Who killed him?”
Her mother sat down.
“Your father discovered Meridian Circle when you were a child.”
“What did he discover?”
“That they weren't just stealing businesses.”
Claire listened.
“They were arranging marriages.”
Claire frowned.
“What?”
“They identified wealthy families with vulnerable heirs.”
Then they placed people inside those families.
Assistants.
Friends.
Employees.
Sometimes spouses.
Claire felt sick.
“Mark.”
Her mother nodded.
“Mark was assigned to you.”
Claire's heart broke.
“He didn't marry me because he loved me.”
“He may have loved you.”
“But he was assigned to me.”
“Yes.”
“Who assigned him?”
Her mother looked at Samuel.
“The Architect.”
Claire clenched her fists.
“Who is it?”
Her mother whispered:
“Your father.”
Claire stared.
“What?”
“Your father was the Architect.”
Silence.
Claire stepped backward.
“No.”
Her mother shook her head.
“Not the man you knew.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your father took over Meridian Circle after your grandfather died.”
Claire couldn't process it.
“He was one of them?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he try to expose them?”
“Because he wanted out.”
Her mother explained.
He had spent years helping Meridian Circle acquire companies.
Then he discovered they were targeting families.
He tried to dismantle the network from inside.
That's when they turned against him.
Claire asked:
“Why did he protect me?”
“Because you were the only thing he had left.”
Claire cried.
“What about Mark?”
Her mother shook her head.
“Mark was ordered to monitor you.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
Claire closed her eyes.
All those years.
Every vacation.
Every conversation.
Every time Mark asked where she was going.
Every time he wanted to know what her father had told her.
He had been collecting information.
Then her mother said:
“But Mark eventually fell in love with you.”
Claire opened her eyes.
“How do you know?”
“Because he tried to leave Meridian Circle.”
“That's why he lost his job.”
“Yes.”
“And Patricia?”
“Patricia is loyal to the Architect.”
“Which Architect?”
Her mother looked at her.
“The original.”
Claire frowned.
“My father?”
“No.”
Her mother reached into a drawer.
She pulled out a photograph.
A man stood beside Claire's grandfather.
Claire recognized him.
Richard Morgan.
Her breath caught.
Richard wasn't merely her father's adviser.
He had been there from the beginning.
Her mother said:
“Richard created Meridian Circle.”
Claire stared.
“But you said my father was the Architect.”
“He became the face of it.”
“And Richard?”
“He was the mind.”
Claire finally understood.
Richard had manipulated everyone.
Her father.
Mark.
Patricia.
Voss.
Even Claire.
Her mother continued:
“Your father tried to expose Richard.”
“And Richard killed him.”
“Yes.”
“Then why is Richard still alive?”
Her mother smiled sadly.
“Because your father didn't leave the evidence with the police.”
“Where did he leave it?”
“With you.”
Claire looked at the pendant.
Her mother nodded.
“The archive was designed to expose Richard.”
Claire held the microchip.
“Then why does Richard still have people protecting him?”
“Because the archive isn't complete.”
“What is missing?”
Her mother looked at her.
“One final file.”
“What file?”
“The confession.”
Claire stared.
“Whose confession?”
Her mother whispered:
“Richard's.”
Suddenly, headlights appeared outside.
Several vehicles.
Her mother stood.
“They found us.”
Samuel looked outside.
“We need to leave.”
Claire grabbed her mother's hand.
“Come with us.”
Her mother shook her head.
“No.”
“Mom!”
“If I leave, they'll follow you.”
She kissed Claire's forehead.
“I waited thirty years to see you again.”
Claire cried.
“I just found you.”
Her mother smiled.
“And now you know why your father did what he did.”
She pushed the flash drive into Claire's hand.
“Find the confession.”
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot shattered the window.
Samuel pulled Claire to the floor.
Her mother disappeared into the darkness.
Claire screamed:
“Mom!”
No answer.
Only footsteps.
May you like
And from outside came Richard's voice.
“You should have listened to your father.”
