Chapter 4: The Report That Never Existed
Brooke pushed past me.
“I don’t have to explain anything.”
“Yes, you do,” Claire said.
“I gave you everything.”
“You made your choice.”
“You told me Daniel’s brother requested the test.”
Brooke opened the front door, but Maya spoke behind her.
“If you leave, I’m calling Northstar.”
Brooke stopped with one foot outside.
“They won’t discuss a private report with a child.”
“I’m eighteen next month,” Maya said.
“And my name is on it.”
I photographed every page before Brooke could take the envelope.
Then I called the number printed beneath Northstar’s logo and put the phone on speaker.
A recorded voice said the office was closed.
Brooke smiled.
“There.
Another dead end.”
“Come back tomorrow,” I said.
“Bring the Mustang.”
“No.”
“Then I’ll meet you at the dealership.”
Her smile tightened.
“Claire signed the purchase papers.
You have no claim.”
Claire flinched.
“You said it could be returned.”
“I said anything to get you to stop crying.”
Brooke walked out and started the Mustang.
The red car disappeared down the street while Maya stood beside the empty college account on her phone.
The next morning, Claire, Maya, and I called Northstar together.
A woman named Evelyn asked us to upload the report through a secure portal.
Five minutes later, she returned to the line.
“This document did not come from our laboratory,” Evelyn said.
Claire gripped the table.
“Are you certain?”
“The identification number belongs to a canine ancestry test.”
Maya blinked.
“A test for dogs?”
“Yes.
The formatting is also wrong, and we have no clients under any of your names.”
Claire turned toward the sink and folded over it.
“I gave her ninety-two thousand dollars because of a fake report.”
I wanted to say she had given away Maya’s future because she had chosen fear over us.
Maya said it first.
“You could have asked Dad.”
“I was afraid he would leave.”
“So you made sure he had a reason to.”
Claire sank into a chair.
I had never seen her look smaller, but the bank statement was still on the table between us.
My phone rang.
Brooke’s name appeared.
“Answer it,” Maya said.
I put it on speaker.
Brooke’s voice came through sharp and fast.
“Claire, meet me alone at the salon.
Bring your phone and every copy of that report.”
“I know it’s fake,” Claire said.
Silence followed.
Then Brooke laughed.
“Prove I made it.”
“You used a number from a dog test.”
“And you emptied the account.
You signed the transfer.
You bought the car.
If this becomes public, you lose your husband and your daughter while I lose nothing.”
“You extorted me.”
“Careful with that word.”
“I saved your messages.”
“No, you saved the messages from a prepaid number.”
Maya reached across the table and pressed the recording button on my phone.
Brooke continued.
“Come alone, Claire.
Sign the salon over to me as security against anything you might try, and I may return the car.”
Claire’s eyes widened.
She owned half the salon building after their mother left it to both sisters.
“You want my half of the property too?”
“I want protection.”
“You’ve taken enough.”
“Then I send copies of the report to everyone you know and tell them you knew it was false.
Who do you think they’ll believe?”
The call ended.
Claire stared at the phone.
“She thinks she’s untouchable.”
A voice behind us answered.
“She isn’t.”
We turned.
Evelyn from Northstar stood on our porch, holding a file and an identification badge.
May you like
“I live fifteen minutes away,” she said.
“And the signature copied onto that report belongs to my late husband.”
