Chapter 74: Grace’s Visit

Grace returned to Bellhaven on a Friday when the maples were beginning to turn red.
She had asked Eli whether he wanted to meet before booking the trip, and he chose a public coffee shop outside the town center.
I drove him there but waited in the car until he asked me to join them.
Through the window, I could see Grace holding a folded envelope in both hands.
Eli listened while she spoke and occasionally nodded.
After nearly an hour, he waved me inside.
Grace handed me the envelope.
It contained copies of drawings Eli had made for a school theater project before he disappeared.
She saved them because she intended to give them back when he returned from the party.
“I kept moving them from house to house,” she said.
“I thought throwing them away would mean admitting you weren’t coming back.”
Eli unfolded one drawing and smiled at a badly proportioned castle.
“I thought this was impressive,” he said.
“It was impressive,” Grace answered.
“The teacher gave us a terrible grade.”
They laughed, and for a minute I could see the teenagers they had been.
Then Grace told him that she was sorry for leaving.
Eli said she had been threatened too.
He did not ask her to pretend everything was all right.
They agreed to stay in touch without promising that friendship would feel the same as it once had.
That seemed more meaningful than a dramatic declaration of forgiveness.

Chapter 75: Claire’s Own Account

Claire asked to make a formal statement about her time inside Vivian’s house after her advocate helped her find stable housing.
She described the first months as ordinary employment in exchange for a room.
Vivian paid her for shopping and cleaning, and Claire believed the arrangement would help her save money.
The restrictions began when Calvin started bringing boxes through the side gate.
Vivian asked Claire not to mention the deliveries because the family was involved in a legal dispute.
When Claire questioned the explanation, Vivian accused her of being ungrateful.
Later, Vivian withheld access to the car she had promised Claire could use for work.
Claire said she stayed because she feared losing her room, wages, and reputation at once.
The advocate helped her separate the financial questions from the threats and identify people who could confirm her account.
One former delivery driver remembered hearing Claire ask whether a package was meant for the police.
Another remembered Vivian ordering him not to speak with the young woman.
Claire was frustrated that the statements sounded ordinary when read separately.
Vega told her that a pattern could be important even when each incident seemed small.
Claire said she wanted the records preserved because she had spent months being told she misunderstood what was happening.
Her request had nothing to do with my camera anymore.
She wanted someone to understand that she had been asking for a way out long before she held the paper against the window.