Chapter 12 - The Policy Claire Never SignedForensic accountants worked through the night.
By sunrise, they had reconstructed enough of the financial trail to reveal Ethan and Mara’s method.
They rarely stole directly.
Direct theft attracted attention.
Insurance was cleaner.
Investment accounts passed through beneficiary designations.
Properties transferred through trusts.
Accidents explained deaths.
Mara created paperwork.
Ethan created relationships.
Together, they created widowers out of men who had never truly been husbands.
Except Mara.
She was the real spouse.
Claire stared at the diagram covering the conference-room wall.
Seven women.
At least four deaths.
Possibly more.
“How much?”
A forensic accountant answered.
“Confirmed proceeds? Roughly $6.2 million.”
“And me?”
“Your accidental-death policy alone is three million.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“Would it pay after a waterfall accident?”
“Potentially. Especially if a body was recovered.”
“So he needed my body.”
“Eventually.”
Claire thought of Ethan watching the pool.
Maybe he had expected the current to produce her downstream.
Maybe he planned to discover her later.
Ruiz entered.
“We located Mara.”
“Where?”
“Airport.”
Claire stood.
“Arrested?”
“Yes.”
“Ethan?”
“No.”
“Ava?”
“No.”
Claire’s relief vanished.
Mara refused to talk for forty minutes.
Then police mentioned Rebecca Holloway.
Her confidence cracked.
Claire watched through one-way glass.
Mara was prettier than the photographs suggested.
Controlled.
Elegant.
Not visibly monstrous.
That somehow made Claire hate her more.
Mercer entered the interview room.
“Where’s Ava Bennett?”
Mara smiled.
“I don’t know.”
“Your husband kidnapped her.”
“Then you should ask my husband.”
“We would if we could find him.”
Mara’s smile faded slightly.
Mercer placed photographs of the storage boxes on the table.
“Rebecca. Linda. Paula. Julie.”
No response.
“Claire.”
Mara looked at Claire’s box.
“You created the policies.”
“I sold insurance.”
“Your license was suspended.”
“Administrative issue.”
“You entered Claire’s house yesterday.”
Mara stopped moving.
Mercer showed the security still.
Then another.
Mara kissing Ethan.
“Your marriage license says you’re still legally married.”
Mara shrugged.
“My husband cheats.”
Claire nearly laughed from behind the glass.
Mercer said, “You helped him murder women.”
“No.”
“You helped him insure them.”
“That isn’t murder.”
“You forged Claire Bennett’s signature.”
Silence.
Mercer placed the policy down.
Mara stared.
“Ethan said Claire agreed.”
“Ethan lies.”
“Obviously.”
Something in her tone changed.
Resentment.
Mercer noticed.
“Things not going well?”
Mara looked away.
“He changed.”
“When?”
“Claire.”
Claire felt a strange chill.
Mercer asked, “What about Claire?”
Mara laughed bitterly.
“He was supposed to do what he always did.”
“Which was?”
“Get close.”
“Then kill her?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Mara’s jaw tightened.
“He started sleeping at her house more. Stopped coming home.”
Claire felt no satisfaction.
Mara continued.
“He talked about her.”
“What did he say?”
“That she was different.”
Claire hated how much those words affected her.
“Did he love her?”
Mercer asked.
Mara’s eyes sharpened.
“Ethan doesn’t love anyone.”
“Then why did it bother you?”
“Because he almost canceled.”
Claire leaned forward.
Canceled the murder?
Mercer asked.
“What happened?”
“Three weeks ago, Ethan said Claire was taking him off the insurance policy.”
Claire frowned.
She had never known he was on it.
“He said he couldn’t go through with Raven Falls.”
“Why?”
Mara gave a hollow smile.
“You’d have to ask him.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where would he take Ava?”
Mara hesitated.
Mercer saw it.
“You do know.”
Mara looked toward the mirror.
For one eerie second, Claire felt as though the woman could see her.
“There’s a cabin.”
“Where?”
“Above Timberline Pass.”
Claire grabbed Ruiz’s arm.
Mercer leaned closer.
“Address.”
Mara provided coordinates.
Deputies moved immediately.
Before leaving the room, Mercer asked one final question.
“Why did Ethan change his mind and push Claire?”
Mara looked down.
“Because someone reminded him why Claire had to die.”
“Who?”
Mara answered quietly.
“Michael.”
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“Michael told Ethan that Claire had discovered the policy.”
Mercer stared.
“But Claire says she didn’t know about it.”
Mara smiled.
“Exactly.”
Claire understood.
Michael had lied to Ethan.
He had deliberately made Ethan believe Claire was about to expose them.
Which meant Michael hadn’t merely participated in the scheme.
He had accelerated her murder.
The interview-room door opened.
Ruiz’s radio erupted.
“Shots fired at Timberline cabin.”
Claire’s blood turned to ice.
“Ava.”
Officers shouted in the hallway.
Then came the next transmission.
“One victim located.”
Claire grabbed the radio.
“Who?”
Static.
Then:
May you like
“Female.”
Claire stopped breathing.
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