Chapter 12 - Six Minutes Neither of Them Could Return
Travis sat down without being invited.
For a long time he said nothing.
Then:
“Claire’s boat disappeared behind the point.”
I waited.
“We heard the impact.”
My stomach dropped.
“You heard her crash?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
He covered his face.
“Natalie panicked.”
“What did you do?”
“She said if we called immediately, everyone would know we’d followed Claire. They’d find the paint. They’d find out about us.”
I felt sick.
“How long?”
He didn’t answer.
“How long, Travis?”
“Six minutes.”
Six minutes.
Not hours.
Not a cinematic eternity.
Six ordinary minutes.
Long enough to destroy the rest of several lives.
They sat offshore arguing about what to say.
Then Travis finally called emergency services and claimed he had just received a worried phone call because Claire had not returned.
He never said he was already on the lake.
Never said they had heard the crash.
Never said their boat had struck hers.
“Was Claire still alive after the impact?” I asked.
Travis’s eyes filled.
“I don’t know.”
That answer was honest.
Maybe the first truly honest one.
There was no clean way to know whether an immediate call would have saved her.
That uncertainty would follow us forever.
But one fact required no speculation.
When Claire needed them to choose her life over their secret—
they spent six minutes protecting themselves.
Then they spent three years protecting the lie.
May you like
Until their son built a toy from the evidence.
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