Chapter 5
The fifth recording started with Claire laughing.
I had always hated that laugh.
Too delicate.
Too polished.
The sound of someone who enjoyed cruelty more when it looked civilized.
Ryan:
“Gavin wants confirmation.”
Claire:
“Tell him yes.”
Ryan:
“He says once is enough.”
Claire:
“Then he doesn't understand Emily.”
Pause.
“She survives everything.”
Ryan laughed.
“Not a bridge.”
Claire:
“Exactly.”
Static.
Then a third voice.
Male.
Low.
“After the crash, I want no calls from either of you.”
I stopped the recording.
Ryan's face went still.
Claire looked away.
I stared at them.
“Who?”
Nothing.
I replayed the voice.
Older.
Calm.
Familiar enough to bother me.
Not enough to place.
Nathan frowned.
“I know that voice.”
Ryan snapped:
“No, you don't.”
Nathan looked at him.
There.
Confirmation.
I pressed PLAY.
Third voice:
“If Emily dies, Ryan steps in publicly.”
Claire:
“And privately?”
Man:
“Privately, the council votes after mourning.”
Ryan:
“You promised me command.”
Man:
“I promised you opportunity.”
Present-day Ryan's face changed.
Interesting.
He hadn't liked that answer then either.
The recording continued.
Claire:
“And me?”
Man:
“You remain adviser.”
Claire's voice sharpened.
“I remain?”
Man:
“Do you want a crown too?”
Static.
Then silence.
Present-day Claire looked furious.
Not at me.
At the recording.
As if old disrespect could still offend her.
I smiled.
“You weren't partners.”
Neither answered.
“You were applicants.”
Ryan glared.
“Stop.”
The third man had been above them.
Not necessarily officially.
But in the plan.
I looked at Nathan.
“Voice?”
He thought.
Then:
“Malcolm Shaw.”
My stomach tightened.
Malcolm.
Sixty-two.
Senior Carter capo.
My father's oldest friend.
The man who gave a speech at my wedding.
The man who held Ethan at his baptism.
Ryan stared at Nathan.
“You're wrong.”
Nathan looked at him.
“No.”
Claire snapped:
“Malcolm wasn't here.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“I never said he was.”
Claire froze.
Too late.
Again.
I looked at her.
“So Malcolm.”
Silence.
Ryan stood.
“This isn't a courtroom.”
“No.”
I looked at my signet ring.
“It's worse for you.”
Ryan's jaw tightened.
Claire laughed.
“You think Malcolm will walk in and confess because you woke up?”
“No.”
“What then?”
“I'll ask why he missed twelve days of hospital visits.”
Claire's smile faded.
Malcolm visited every major Carter illness.
Every birth.
Every funeral.
He hadn't visited me.
Not once.
I had noticed.
Even unconscious, apparently some part of me had kept count.
Nathan said:
“He sent flowers.”
I looked at the enormous arrangement near the window.
White lilies.
Malcolm's card.
Wishing strength to the Carter family.
Not to me.
The family.
Interesting.
I turned toward Claire.
“How long has he been planning this?”
She smiled.
“Planning what?”
I held up Ethan's phone.
“Do you want me to keep going?”
Her smile disappeared.
Ryan said:
“Enough.”
I looked at him.
He leaned forward.
“You want names?”
“Yes.”
“You think names save you?”
“No.”
I stared.
“They save me time.”
His expression hardened.
Then he laughed.
“Still arrogant after twelve days in a bed.”
I looked at the overturned trolley.
“And you're still on the floor after one punch.”
His smile vanished.
Good.
Claire stepped closer.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“You were supposed to be gone before the council ever met.”
I waited.
“But when you survived…”
She shrugged.
“We adapted.”
“How?”
Claire smiled.
“You became useful unconscious.”
That sentence chilled me.
“What does that mean?”
Ryan looked at her.
“Don't.”
She ignored him.
“For twelve days, every man in your organization got to see what happened when Emily Carter wasn't there.”
I stared.
Claire continued.
“Meetings happened.”
Another step.
“Orders went out.”
“Collections continued.”
Her smile sharpened.
“And nobody died because Mommy wasn't home.”
Ryan laughed.
“They learned.”
“What?”
“That they didn't need you.”
Silence.
There.
The coma was no longer a medical state.
It was a demonstration.
A trial run.
They were using my absence to normalize Ryan's control.
I looked at Nathan.
“When was the council?”
“Tonight.”
Ryan's face changed.
Claire closed her eyes.
Nathan continued.
“Midnight.”
I looked at the clock.
8:42 p.m.
Just over three hours.
Ryan smiled again.
“Even if you crawl out of this room, half the family has already accepted me.”
“Accepted?”
He leaned closer.
“Expected.”
I looked at my signet.
Then at Ethan.
Then at Claire.
“Good.”
Ryan frowned.
“What?”
“I want them all in one room.”
His smile weakened.
“Why?”
May you like
I slipped the ring fully onto my finger.
“So I can see which ones were waiting for me to die.”
