Chapter 6: The Voice Chloe Could Not Erase
Detective Shaw crouched in front of Lily.
“What does pressing the cloud do?”
“It sends my talking to Daddy’s computer,” Lily said.
“Mommy showed me before the boat.”
Elena pressed both hands to her mouth.
“I taught her the emergency setting.”
Chloe reached for the watch.
Ruth stepped between them and raised her phone.
“Touch that child, and everyone watching my live video will see it.”
“You’re broadcasting this?” Chloe demanded.
“To my nephew at the district attorney’s office.”
The child welfare officer lowered her papers.
“Until we verify these documents, Lily stays where she is.”
Chloe turned on Grant.
“Get the boat started.”
Grant didn’t move.
“You heard me.”
“You said there were no other recordings.”
“There weren’t supposed to be.”
Shaw’s phone rang again.
He put it on speaker.
“Detective,” a technician said, “the child’s cloud account contains multiple files.
The newest recording includes Ms.
Mercer discussing forged documents and unlawful confinement.”
Chloe stepped backward toward the boat.
“My attorney will explain the context.”
“There’s more,” the technician continued.
“A file from fourteen months ago begins on a boat.
Two women are arguing.”
Elena’s hand found mine.
A child’s watch had been tucked inside Elena’s travel bag that day, recording until its battery failed.
Chloe’s voice played through Shaw’s phone.
“Sign the trust transfer, Elena.”
“No.”
“Then Marcus will spend the rest of his life believing you abandoned him.”
Grant’s voice followed.
“Chloe, the sedative is wearing off.”
Elena shut her eyes.
I held her upright.
On the recording, she cried, “Marcus will look for me.”
Chloe answered, “Not after he reads the messages I sent from your phone.”
Grant jumped onto the boat and turned the key.
The engine coughed but did not start.
“Grant!” Chloe screamed.
He threw the keys into the water.
“You were going to blame all of it on me.”
“You built the chamber.”
“You planned it.”
Chloe grabbed Elena’s arm and pulled her toward the edge of the dock.
“Tell them to back away, or she goes into the water.”
I moved forward.
“Let her go.”
“You couldn’t save her the first time, Marcus.”
Elena drove her heel down on Chloe’s foot and tore free.
Shaw caught Chloe’s wrist before she could run.
“No!” Chloe twisted against him.
“Grant forced me!
He wanted the trust!”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“You called Elena from the marina.
You put the sedative in her coffee.
You wrote every message.”
“Liar!”
Ruth held up her phone.
“Say it louder, Chloe.
The district attorney is still listening.”
The fight went out of Chloe’s face for one second.
Then she looked at Lily.
“You think your mother came back for you?” she said.
“She was planning to leave your father before any of this happened.”
Elena froze.
“Don’t speak to my daughter.”
“It’s true, isn’t it?
Tell Marcus what was in the letter you hid on the boat.”
I looked at Elena.
“What letter?”
Two officers closed handcuffs around Chloe’s wrists.
She kept her eyes on Elena.
“You may have won today,” Chloe said, “but once he learns why you were leaving, you’ll lose him anyway.”
May you like
As the officers led her away, Elena did not look at me.
Because this time, Chloe had told the truth.
