Chapter 6 - Nora’s Last DraftClayton slept beside Beckett that night.
Not because Beckett asked.
Because Clayton did.
Maddox slept in the crib nearby.
At 3:00 a.m., Clayton woke to the soft sound of Beckett breathing.
For months after Nora died, Clayton had believed grief was the worst thing that could happen to a family.
Now he realized uncertainty could be worse.
Grief at least had a shape.
This had none.
He went downstairs.
Nora’s old office had remained mostly untouched.
Agnes had complained about it.
“You can’t preserve a shrine forever.”
Clayton had ignored her.
Now he opened Nora’s laptop.
Password protected.
He knew it.
BECKETT0712.
Their son’s birthday.
The desktop opened.
Folders.
Photos.
Bills.
Medical documents.
Nothing dramatic.
Clayton searched Warren.
Forty-two results.
Most ordinary.
Family emails.
Dinner plans.
A Christmas list.
Then a draft email never sent.
TO: Clayton.
SUBJECT: We need to talk before Friday.
His heart started pounding.
Clayton,
I know you’re in Chicago and I promised not to dump another family problem into your lap until you got home.
But this is bigger than Agnes being difficult.
Warren has shown her a fake paternity report.
Clayton shut his eyes briefly.
Nora continued:
I had Beckett’s original records pulled. There is no question. I’m arranging a proper test after what Warren did because I want the lie killed permanently.
Maddox is yours. I cannot believe I have to write that sentence.
Clayton covered his mouth.
The anger in Nora’s words felt alive.
Then:
I think Warren is trying to make Agnes question the boys because Silas’s trust review begins next month.
I found vendor transfers that don’t make sense.
Mercer Holdings paid nearly $4.7 million over three years to Armitage Strategic Supply.
Clayton frowned.
He knew the company name vaguely.
Nora wrote:
Armitage has no staff, no office, and no visible operations.
The registered agent connects to an attorney Warren used personally.
I confronted him carefully.
He laughed.
Then he asked me whether I really wanted to “destroy Clayton’s family over bookkeeping.”
Clayton’s stomach tightened.
That sounded exactly like Warren.
Nora continued:
I told him stealing isn’t bookkeeping.
He stopped laughing.
The final paragraph:
There’s another issue.
Agnes knows more than she admits.
She keeps telling me Warren is only protecting the family.
I asked what he’s protecting us from.
She said, “From you.”
Clayton stared.
Then one final line.
I’m starting to think someone is preparing a story about me before I can tell the truth about them.
The draft ended.
No send.
Date:
Two days before Nora’s fall.
Clayton sat in the dark.
She had tried to wait until he got home.
He had asked her to.
That memory hurt.
A call from Chicago.
Nora saying:
“Can you talk?”
Clayton had been entering dinner.
“Can it wait until Thursday?”
Silence.
Then:
“Yeah.”
He had heard disappointment.
He told himself they would have time.
They didn’t.
Clayton pressed both hands against his face.
Then noticed another file.
VOICE MEMOS.
Most were grocery reminders.
A doctor question.
A note to herself about Maddox’s sleeping schedule.
Then one titled:
IF CLAYTON DOESN’T BELIEVE ME.
He stared for almost a minute before opening it.
Nora’s voice filled the office.
“If I’m recording this, I’m officially becoming dramatic.”
A tiny laugh.
Clayton started crying immediately.
“I hope I delete it tomorrow.”
She took a breath.
“Warren forged the paternity report.”
No hesitation.
“I don’t know yet whether Agnes helped him make it, but she believes it.”
Clayton looked toward the ceiling.
Nora continued.
“I think Warren is stealing from Mercer Holdings.”
Then:
“And I think he used your mother because he knew she already wanted a reason to hate me.”
Clayton swallowed.
Nora had understood Agnes clearly.
“She doesn’t hate the boys.”
A pause.
“Not yet.”
That word chilled him.
“She hates what she thinks they prove.”
Nora’s voice softened.
“If that changes how she treats them, you need to see it.”
Clayton stared.
The camera.
Had Nora installed redundancy because she feared exactly that?
“I’ve turned on local backup for the kitchen and rear hall.”
His heartbeat jumped.
“If Warren knows, he’ll probably try to kill the main feed.”
Clayton almost laughed from disbelief.
Nora had predicted it.
Not murder.
The camera.
“I put the backup hub in the utility cabinet.”
Miles had found it there.
She continued.
“I’m not telling Beckett anything except how the switch works. He likes gadgets anyway.”
Clayton closed his eyes.
That was why Beckett knew.
Then Nora’s voice changed.
“I don’t think Warren will hurt me.”
Clayton stopped breathing.
“I want that said clearly.”
She sounded annoyed at herself.
“He’s greedy. He’s manipulative. He’s not violent.”
Clayton stared.
Then:
“But frightened people surprise you.”
A pause.
“And Warren is frightened.”
The memo ended.
Clayton sat for a long time.
At sunrise, Julian arrived.
Clayton played it.
Julian looked grim.
“She created a record.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t she send it?”
“She thought she had time.”
They both understood.
Julian opened another file from Nora’s legal archive.
“Remember the blue folder Warren carried?”
“Yes.”
“I think I know what it was.”
He showed Clayton an inventory Nora had emailed.
Independent DNA documents.
Armitage invoices.
A copy of Silas Mercer’s trust clause.
Bank-routing information.
And a handwritten statement.
“Where is the original folder?”
Julian asked.
“Warren took it.”
“Then he may still have it.”
Clayton looked at him.
“Why keep it?”
“Leverage.”
“Or insurance.”
Julian nodded.
Clayton’s phone rang.
Miles.
“I recovered another audio clip.”
“From the kitchen?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night Nora fell.”
Clayton stood.
“Play it.”
Static.
Warren’s voice:
“Give me the folder.”
Nora:
“No.”
Agnes:
“Warren, leave.”
Then Nora:
“Clayton will see everything tomorrow.”
Warren answered:
“Then there won’t be a tomorrow for this.”
The audio cut.
Clayton went completely still.
Julian looked at him.
“That can mean a lot of things.”
Clayton stared at the speaker.
May you like
“Yes.”
But only one of them had ended with Nora at the bottom of a staircase twenty minutes later.
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