Released at 24, She Went Back to Her Father’s Old Body Shop — Under the Lift Sat a Welded Trunk
Chapter 9
Claire raised the recorder.
“You were involved.”
Reed nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was blackmailed.”
“By whom?”
Reed looked at the floor.
“Thomas.”
Claire froze.
“My father?”
“Your father discovered the network.”
“And you helped him?”
“At first.”
Reed explained that Thomas had secretly been collecting evidence against the people running the stolen-car operation.
But he had also been forced to cooperate.
Someone powerful controlled the network.
Someone who could destroy careers, families, and lives.
Claire asked:
“Who?”
Reed looked at her.
“I never saw his face.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because Thomas told me.”
Claire felt frustrated.
“My father left clues everywhere.”
“He knew he might die.”
“Did Daniel kill him?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Reed hesitated.
“Thomas had arranged to meet someone that night.”
“Who?”
Reed pulled out an old photograph.
A man stood beside Thomas.
Claire recognized him immediately.
Her aunt Rachel’s husband.
But Rachel had told Claire he had died when she was twelve.
Reed whispered:
“He never died.”
Claire stared at the photograph.
“Where is he?”
“Running the network.”
Silence.
Ethan looked at Claire.
“Your uncle.”
Claire remembered something.
Her aunt had never once mentioned his name.
Not once.
Reed continued.
“He staged his death.”
“Why?”
“To disappear.”
Claire’s mind raced.
Her entire childhood had been built around a lie.
Her uncle wasn’t dead.
He had been running a criminal organization.
And her father had discovered it.
Suddenly, Claire’s father’s final message made sense.
The truth is still waiting for you.
But there was one problem.
If her uncle was alive…
Why had he allowed Claire to go to prison?
Reed answered without being asked.
“Because he needed everyone to believe your father died alone.”
Claire looked at him.
“And I was the perfect person to blame.”
