Chapter 13 - THE CHILD LINDA COULD NOT PROTECT
Edward left the room.
Nobody tried to stop him.
He walked across the sheriff’s parking lot and stood beneath a dead streetlamp until Margaret followed.
Rain had begun to fall.
“Edward.”
He did not turn.
“I spent seventeen years loving her,” he said.
“You still love her.”
“Was I only useful because I gave Linda access to the house?”
“I do not know.”
“She married me while carrying another man’s child.”
“You raised Ashley.”
“That does not make the lie smaller.”
“No. It makes your love larger.”
Edward covered his face.
Margaret stood beside him without speaking.
Inside the command vehicle, Linda explained the rest.
Calvin had recruited her when she was twenty-three.
She worked as a receptionist for a property-development firm. Calvin noticed her gambling debts and offered to make them disappear.
At first, she copied documents.
Then she delivered envelopes.
Eventually, she helped identify properties owned by isolated elderly people.
She met Arthur during one of the trust’s investigations.
Arthur offered her immunity in exchange for becoming an informant.
She agreed.
Then she became pregnant by Calvin.
Calvin did not want the child.
Arthur arranged a new identity and encouraged Linda to remain close to Edward, who had met her during the investigation.
“What began as surveillance became a relationship,” Linda said.
Margaret sat across from her.
“Did Edward know you were pregnant?”
“He knew. I told him the father had disappeared.”
“He chose to raise Ashley.”
“Yes.”
“Then do not speak as though you gave him nothing.”
Linda looked down.
“I did love him.”
“Did?”
“I still do.”
“Love without truth is ownership.”
Linda began to shake.
“Calvin returned six months ago. He knew Rebecca had found the new list. He threatened to tell Ashley everything and take her.”
“Ashley is nearly an adult.”
“He had documents claiming Edward kidnapped her as an infant.”
“False documents.”
“False documents still destroy lives before the truth catches up.”
Margaret could not deny that.
“Why remove me from the house?”
“Calvin believed the chamber would recognize only a Harper trustee. If you were declared incompetent, Edward would become successor trustee.”
“And you believed you could control Edward.”
Linda did not answer.
Margaret leaned closer.
“You drugged him.”
“Calvin gave me the medication.”
“You put it in his tea.”
“He said it would only make him compliant for a few hours.”
“You watched him enter the chamber.”
“I was trying to protect Ashley.”
“You always have a reason.”
Linda’s eyes filled with anger.
“You have no idea what a mother will do to protect her child.”
Margaret stood.
“I buried mine.”
The anger disappeared from Linda’s face.
Margaret continued.
“And while I mourned her, you helped the people who stole her. Do not explain motherhood to me.”
Linda lowered her head.
Deputy Reynolds entered.
“We located Evelyn’s car near the river.”
“Was she inside?” Margaret asked.
“No.”
“Any sign of Rebecca?”
“Not yet.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed a cabin in Bellhaven.
“The flash drive contained coordinates. We believe Rebecca may have been taken here.”
Arthur joined them.
“I know that cabin.”
“You said you didn’t know where she was,” Margaret replied.
“I didn’t. But the cabin belonged to the trust.”
“Who had access?”
“Evelyn. Rebecca. Me.”
“And H-1,” Deputy Reynolds said.
Arthur nodded.
“Margaret.”
Linda looked at the photograph.
“I’ve seen that place.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“Where?”
“Calvin took me there after Arthur’s poisoning.”
“What was inside?”
“A room with medical equipment.”
Arthur’s face tightened.
“There was no medical room when I knew it.”
Linda pointed toward a window in the photograph.
“Behind that window.”
Margaret examined the image.
A woman stood behind the glass.
The photograph was blurry.
But the woman appeared to have dark hair and Margaret’s eyes.
Rebecca.
Deputy Reynolds prepared a search team.
Arthur insisted on going.
Margaret did too.
Edward refused to remain behind.
Linda watched them leave.
As Margaret reached the door, Linda called her name.
“Margaret.”
She looked back.
Linda’s voice dropped.
“If Rebecca is alive, do not tell her Arthur is with you.”
“Why?”
“Because she wasn’t hiding from Evelyn.”
May you like
Linda looked toward Arthur through the window.
“She was hiding from him.”
