Chapter 17 - The Last Hour The hidden room contained a camera.
The memory was damaged.
But not destroyed.
The final hour had survived.
I watched it with Ruiz.
Claire lay on the mattress.
Marcus entered.
He injected something into her IV.
Then left.
Twenty-three minutes passed.
Claire moved.
She opened her eyes.
She pulled the IV from her arm.
She tried to stand.
She fell.
Then Vanessa entered.
Claire reached toward her.
The two women looked at each other.
For almost a minute.
Vanessa stood.
Walked away.
Then Elliot entered.
He carried a pillow.
I couldn't watch.
"Stop."
Ruiz stopped the video.
Justice would come.
But justice could not change what had happened.
Vanessa eventually gave police the location of Claire's ashes.
She had hidden the urn in our father's family mausoleum.
Behind a loose marble panel.
When I saw the urn, I couldn't breathe.
My sister had been there the entire time.
Under our father's name.
Under our family's silence.
I placed my hand against the cold stone.
"I'm sorry."
For thirteen months, I had believed Claire left.
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The truth was worse.
She had been trying to come home.
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