Chapter 13 - THE MISSING FILE
Lily admitted entering the foundation offices.
She denied taking the cassette.
“I went there because Oliver received an anonymous message,” she explained.
They had relocated to a secure apartment arranged by Detective Torres. Police officers guarded the building.
Rachel sat across from Lily at the kitchen table while Amelia listened.
“What message?” Rachel asked.
Lily took out her phone.
The message had been sent from an unregistered number.
Before you marry into the Crane family, ask what happened to Claire Ashford and why your brother paid for emergency relocation.
Rachel read it.
“What did you do?”
“I searched Father’s office.”
“For what?”
“Anything connected to Claire or North Vale.”
“What did you find?”
“A file with my name on it.”
Lily’s voice became unsteady.
“What was inside?”
“Medical records. Psychological evaluations. Photographs of me meeting Oliver. Copies of private messages.”
Rachel understood.
Margaret had prepared a file on her own daughter.
“Why?”
“In case I stopped cooperating.”
“Did you remove it?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it now?”
“Oliver has it.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because it contains something I did not understand.”
Lily opened a photograph on her phone.
It showed a typed report labeled Subject L.A.
One paragraph had been highlighted.
Subject continues to demonstrate emotional attachment to O.C. If separation becomes necessary, reputational event should be initiated before formal marriage. Secondary placement option remains available through Vale network.
Rachel felt cold.
“Secondary placement.”
“The same word Simon Vale used for Claire,” Lily said.
“Margaret planned to make you disappear?”
“I don’t know.”
Amelia zoomed in on the report.
“There is a signature at the bottom.”
Daniel Bennett.
Rachel stared at it.
Daniel had signed surveillance reports concerning his sister.
“Why would Daniel do this?”
Lily shook her head.
“He says Father asked him to sign routine security documents.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
Rachel replayed Daniel’s warning message.
“Why did he tell me not to trust you?”
“Because I know what he paid North Vale to do.”
Rachel waited.
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“Daniel did not hire them to take Emma.”
Relief almost came.
Then Lily continued.
“He hired them to take you.”
The room became silent.
“What?”
“He wanted North Vale to create evidence that you were planning to abandon Emma.”
Rachel could barely speak.
“How?”
“They were supposed to arrange a situation where you appeared to leave the state alone. A hotel reservation. Flight records. Messages from a false account.”
“Why?”
“So Daniel could file for custody before you filed for divorce.”
Rachel looked at Amelia.
“Is that possible?”
“Fabricated evidence can influence emergency proceedings until disproven.”
Lily continued.
“But the engagement party changed the plan.”
“Who changed it?”
“My mother.”
“How?”
“She decided Emma needed to experience what life would be like without you.”
Rachel’s hands shook.
“What does that mean?”
“I heard her arguing with Aaron Pike in the preparation room. She told him to remove Emma briefly and frighten you.”
“Briefly?”
“She said ten minutes.”
Rachel stood so quickly the chair fell backward.
“She ordered him to kidnap my child.”
“Yes.”
“And the sedative?”
“I don’t know. Aaron said the child would cry. Mother said she had handled it.”
Rachel turned away, struggling to breathe.
Margaret had drugged Emma so she would remain quiet.
Aaron had hidden her.
But why inside a trash can?
Why wrap her so tightly?
Why leave her without air?
Perhaps the plan had gone wrong.
Or perhaps someone intended it to look like an accident.
“What did Daniel know?” Rachel asked.
“I don’t think he knew about Emma.”
“You don’t think?”
“I heard him fighting with Mother after the ambulance left. He kept saying, ‘This was not the plan.’”
Rachel closed her eyes.
That sentence could mean anything.
Daniel had still planned to destroy her reputation and take custody.
Whether he intended physical harm no longer changed who he was.
Amelia’s phone rang.
Detective Torres.
She stepped into the hallway to answer.
Lily picked up the fallen chair.
“There is something else.”
Rachel turned.
“In Father’s safe, there was a second file missing.”
“What file?”
“One labeled E.B.”
Emma Bennett.
“What was in it?”
“I don’t know. The folder was empty except for a note.”
Lily showed her another photograph.
The handwritten note read:
Transfer approved upon confirmation of maternal disqualification.
Rachel read it again.
Transfer.
Approved by whom?
Transfer Emma where?
Amelia returned.
“Aaron Pike is awake.”
Rachel’s heart pounded.
“Can he speak?”
“Yes.”
“Did he confess?”
“He asked to speak to you.”
“Why?”
“He says he will only tell the truth if you bring Emma.”
Rachel looked toward the bedroom.
“No.”
Amelia nodded.
“I agree.”
“Why would he want Emma there?”
Lily’s face changed.
“Because he may need to confirm something.”
“What?”
May you like
Lily looked at the note on the screen.
“That she is the child they were supposed to transfer.”
