Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Came HomeClara had been driving for nearly three days.
She had crossed state lines without sleeping properly, living on coffee, gas-station food, and stubborn determination.
Her olive-green mechanic's coveralls were dusty.
Her boots were worn.
A heavy canvas duffel bag hung from one shoulder.
But none of that mattered.
Because Clara had finally come home.
Three days earlier, she had received a phone call from an unknown number.
The voice on the other end had been frightened.
"Clara?"
"Who is this?"
"You don't know me. But you need to listen."
Clara had almost hung up.
Then the stranger said six words.
"They have your mother in a cage."
Everything inside Clara stopped.
She hadn't spoken to Eleanor in years.
But she knew her mother.
Or she thought she did.
The woman had continued.
"Please. Come home."
Then the line went dead.
Clara spent the next seventy-two hours discovering what had happened.
Documents.
Property records.
Medical reports.
Financial transfers.
A suspicious power of attorney.
Every piece of information made her angrier.
But Clara had learned long ago that anger could be dangerous if you allowed it to control you.
So she turned her anger into preparation.
And now she was standing two blocks away.
May you like
Watching.
Waiting.
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