Chapter 7 - The Photograph at the Basement Stairs
I reached for the truck door.
Luke locked it.
“Open it.”
“You rush in there, he wins.”
“He has his hand on her back.”
“He wants you angry and visible. He wants neighbors to see you breaking into the house.”
“He’s threatening to kill her.”
“He’s creating a record that makes you look unstable.”
Luke held up his phone.
“Think like you do at work. What does a fraudster need?”
“A believable story.”
“And Raymond’s story is that Mom is confused, you’re violent, and he’s protecting both of you.”
I forced myself to breathe.
My hands shook anyway.
“What do we have?”
“A forged order, suspicious transfers, and a photograph he was stupid enough to send.”
“Not enough to remove her immediately if he claims he was helping her down the stairs.”
Luke nodded.
“So we make him believe we’re cooperating.”
He called Raymond.
The call connected on the first ring.
“Put Claire on,” Raymond said.
Luke activated the speaker.
“I’m here.”
Mom cried out faintly in the background.
Raymond lowered his voice.
“You took something from my house.”
“No. You took my phone.”
“You opened the pantry wall.”
“I was looking for towels.”
“Your brother is a terrible liar. You’re worse.”
I looked at Luke.
He gave a slight nod.
I softened my voice.
“Raymond, I panicked. I saw bruises and assumed the worst.”
Silence.
“You accused me of assault.”
“I was wrong.”
The lie tasted like metal.
Luke watched me carefully.
“I want to come back,” I continued. “I want to help.”
“Without Luke.”
“Fine.”
Luke shook his head once, but I ignored him.
Raymond spoke to someone away from the phone. I heard Martin’s voice, too low to understand.
Then Raymond returned.
“You’ll come through the back door. No police. No recording device.”
“You have my phone.”
“You own more than one.”
He was right. My work phone was locked in my suitcase at the motel, but he could not know that.
“What happens when I arrive?”
“You apologize to your mother for upsetting her.”
“And then?”
“We discuss whether you are capable of being part of this family.”
Mom made another sound.
I closed my eyes.
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Ten.”
The call ended.
Luke gripped the steering wheel.
“You’re not going alone.”
“He’ll hurt her if he sees you.”
“He may hurt both of you if he doesn’t.”
I studied the photograph again.
The basement stairwell behind Mom was narrow. Above her left shoulder, an old brass coat hook remained screwed into the wall.
Dad had installed that hook when I was twelve.
Behind it was a ventilation shaft that opened into the workshop.
As children, Luke and I used it to listen when our parents discussed Christmas gifts.
“Can you get into Dad’s workshop without entering the house?” I asked.
Luke’s eyes narrowed.
“The cellar window.”
“You go through there. Listen through the vent.”
“And do what?”
“Record everything.”
“With what?”
I pointed at his phone.
He shook his head.
“Raymond tracks family devices on the house Wi-Fi.”
“Then turn off the Wi-Fi and use airplane mode.”
Luke hesitated.
That hesitation bothered me.
“You said you wanted proof.”
“I do.”
“Then why are you afraid to record him?”
“Because once we do this, there’s no pretending we’re still a family.”
I leaned closer.
“He ended that when he put bruises on Mom.”
Luke looked at the house in the distance.
Finally, he unlocked the door.
Ten minutes later, he dropped me near the alley while he circled toward the workshop.
I approached the back door alone.
It opened before I knocked.
Martin stood inside.
“Raymond is downstairs with Margaret,” he said.
“Why?”
“She fell.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I pushed past him.
The basement door stood open.
At the bottom of the stairs, Mom sat on the concrete floor with Raymond kneeling beside her.
He looked up at me.
“She slipped,” he said.
Mom raised her face.
Blood ran from a cut near her hairline.
But instead of looking at Raymond, she stared beyond me toward Martin.
Her lips formed two silent words.
May you like
He pushed me.
📖 Discover who Margaret accused of pushing her—and why the recording from the workshop vent captured a second voice Claire never expected in CHAPTER 8. 👇
