Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Had Been Erased
The investigation became a war.
Within forty-eight hours, Ethan had three detectives, two lawyers, and Daniel working on separate pieces of the same puzzle.
Clare had been declared dead.
Grace had been declared dead.
Lily had been hidden.
Sophia had been threatened.
And the names that kept appearing were the same.
Richard Kensington.
Ethan's uncle, Victor Callaway.
And a private security company called Blackwell Protective Services.
The microSD card contained financial records.
Not photographs.
Not letters.
Numbers.
Transfers.
Shell companies.
Payments.
Millions.
Ethan read them until his eyes hurt.
Then Daniel found the first connection.
"Your uncle transferred two million dollars to Blackwell three days before Grace's accident."
Ethan looked up.
"Reason?"
"Security consultation."
"That's bullshit."
Daniel nodded.
"I know."
A second transfer appeared.
Then a third.
Then a payment to a doctor.
A doctor from the hospital where Grace had supposedly died.
Ethan called Mason.
"We've got enough to reopen the case."
Mason shook his head.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because everything is circumstantial."
"What do you need?"
"Proof Clare knew."
"We have the video."
"We need the original file and the person who recorded it."
"I know who recorded it."
"Who?"
"Clare."
Mason looked at him.
"Then we need evidence that she didn't die when they said she did."
Ethan stared.
"What if I can prove she lived for another six days?"
Mason leaned forward.
"Do you have that?"
"Maybe."
The bracelet had a second compartment.
Inside was a tiny key.
The key opened a safety box at a credit union.
Ethan found the box with Mason beside him.
Inside was a single envelope.
Written on it:
For Ethan, if Grace is alive.
His hands shook.
He opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Ethan,
I know you will think I betrayed you.
I know you will think I lied.
I didn't.
Grace is alive.
Lily is ours.
I am trying to keep both of them safe.
If I die, don't trust Richard. Don't trust Victor. And don't trust Vanessa.
She knows more than she admits.
Ethan's eyes burned.
The letter continued.
You will want revenge.
Don't.
Protect the girls.
That is the only thing that matters.
He lowered the letter.
Mason took a breath.
"There's something else."
A second paper slipped out.
A photograph.
Three women.
Clare.
Sophia.
And another woman Ethan didn't recognize.
On the back:
Margaret.
Saint Mary's.
Ethan recognized the name.
Margaret was Clare's older sister.
Margaret had supposedly died in a car accident twelve years earlier.
But according to the photo...
She had been alive.
"Find her," Ethan said.
They found Margaret in Vermont.
She was seventy-six.
When Ethan arrived, she cried before he said a word.
"You look like your father."
Ethan stood on her porch.
"Did you know Clare had a daughter?"
Margaret nodded.
"Two."
His heart stopped.
"Two?"
"Grace and Lily."
"No."
Margaret stepped aside.
"Come in."
The story she told him lasted three hours.
Clare had discovered that the Callaway family had been hiding money through offshore companies.
When she confronted Victor, he threatened her.
Richard Kensington had been helping him.
Vanessa had learned about it.
Clare had become frightened.
Then she discovered that Lily was not just her daughter.
She was evidence.
Because the paternity test showed Ethan was Lily's father.
And another test showed something else.
Grace was genetically connected to a woman named Margaret.
Not Clare.
Not Ethan.
Margaret's eyes filled.
"Grace wasn't your biological daughter."
Ethan stared.
"What?"
"Clare adopted Grace."
He sat down.
The world tilted.
"Why?"
"Because Clare couldn't have children."
"Then Lily?"
"Clare eventually became pregnant after a treatment. She conceived Lily."
Ethan covered his face.
Everything he believed about his family was shifting.
Grace was not his by blood.
But Lily was.
And somehow, Clare had loved them both equally.
Margaret continued.
"Clare planned to tell you."
"When?"
"After the paternity test."
"What stopped her?"
"Richard."
Ethan's voice became cold.
"What did he do?"
"He threatened to take Lily."
"Why?"
"Because he believed Clare had copied financial records proving illegal activity."
"She did."
Margaret nodded.
"And she hid the evidence."
"Where?"
Margaret looked at him.
"In the only place nobody thought to search."
"Where?"
Margaret whispered:
"With Grace."
Ethan's heart stopped.
"Grace had the evidence?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"The original files were hidden in a toy."
Ethan returned to the estate that night.
He went directly to Grace's room.
For the first time in three years, he unlocked the door.
Dust covered everything.
The small bed.
The stuffed rabbit.
The dolls.
The toy chest.
He knelt.
One by one, he touched the toys.
Then he saw it.
The rabbit.
Its left ear had been sewn back.
He opened it.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
On it was a video.
Grace appeared on screen.
But she wasn't three years old.
She was older.
Maybe six.
And she was sitting beside Clare.
Ethan's breath caught.
This was impossible.
Grace's lips moved.
"Daddy..."
He broke.
He stopped the video.
Pressed play.
Again.
"Daddy, Mommy says I have to remember something."
Clare smiled sadly beside her.
Grace continued.
"If anything happens, don't be mad at Mommy."
Ethan's tears fell.
Then a shadow moved in the background.
Someone entered the room.
Grace turned.
The video stopped.
Daniel's voice came from behind him.
"Ethan."
He turned.
Daniel was pale.
"We found the person who took Grace."
Ethan stood.
"Who?"
Daniel handed him a photograph.
It was Vanessa.
Not three years ago.
Two months ago.
Standing outside a private rehabilitation clinic in Canada.
Beside a young woman.
A young woman with dark curls.
A small daisy necklace.
May you like
And a face Ethan had seen every day in his memories.
Grace.
