Chapter 7 - HANNAH LEFT ONE MORE MESSAGEAfter the criminal case concluded, Hannah’s sister Claire came to visit.
Claire had always hated Rebecca.
Before all of this, I thought it was loyalty to Hannah.
Now I learned it was something else.
“She saw Rebecca once.”
I froze.
“When?”
“Two weeks before the crash.”
“Where?”
“At Hannah’s office.”
My stomach tightened.
“Hannah told you?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell police?”
“I did.”
“What?”
“After the crash.”
Apparently Claire told an officer that Hannah felt harassed by a banker.
But because she did not know Rebecca’s full name, the tip went nowhere.
Later, when I introduced Rebecca as my girlfriend, Claire felt something was familiar.
She asked where Rebecca had worked.
Private banking.
Claire became suspicious.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I did.”
“When?”
“At Christmas.”
I remembered.
Claire took me aside and said:
“There’s something about Rebecca I don’t trust.”
I got angry.
Told her she wasn’t giving me permission to move on.
I shut her down.
Just like that.
Another warning I didn’t hear.
I sat silently.
Claire touched my hand.
“We all missed pieces.”
Yes.
But I had invited Rebecca into Lily’s home.
That responsibility still hurt.
Then Claire gave me a small envelope.
“Hannah left this with me.”
“What is it?”
“She said to give it to you if Lily ever started remembering the crash.”
Inside was a USB drive.
I almost laughed bitterly.
Hannah apparently believed in redundant backups more than most corporations.
The video was short.
Hannah sat in her office.
Alive.
Healthy.
Filmed three weeks before she died.
“Daniel, hopefully you never see this.”
My throat tightened.
“I’m dealing with a problem at the bank.”
She explained enough to identify Rebecca’s suspicious transfers.
Then:
“I may be overreacting.”
Classic Hannah.
She never was.
“But someone followed me home yesterday.”
I closed my eyes.
“I’m handling it.”
A pause.
“And before you get angry, I didn’t tell you because you would turn this into a Liam Neeson movie.”
I laughed through tears.
Lily asked:
“Who’s Liam Neeson?”
“Later.”
Hannah continued.
“If anything ever happens, don’t teach Lily to be afraid of remembering.”
I froze.
“She saw the red vehicle yesterday.”
My daughter looked at me.
“She asked who the woman was.”
Then Hannah said:
“I told her sometimes adults make bad choices and we tell safe people.”
My eyes filled.
“I want that to stay true.”
Safe people.
That was what Rebecca tried to destroy.
Not only Lily’s memory.
Her belief that truth could be brought to someone safely.
Then Hannah smiled.
“And Daniel?”
“Yes,” I whispered to a recording.
“Listen when people who love you say something feels wrong.”
I closed my eyes.
Claire.
Maria.
Lily.
How many times had I been too busy, too defensive, too certain?
The video ended.
I sat there quietly.
Lily touched my arm.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re crying.”
“I know.”
“Mommy says you do that.”
May you like
I laughed.
“Apparently she documented everything.”
